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Sustainable Living: the Role of Whole Life Costs and Values PDF

247 Pages·2007·1.74 MB·English
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Sustainable Living The role of whole life costs and values This page intentionally left blank Sustainable Living The role of whole life costs and values Nalanie Mithraratne Brenda Vale and Robert Vale AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier Ltd Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 30 Corporate Road, Burlington, MA 01803 First edition 2007 Copyright # 2007, Nalanie Mithraratne, Brenda Vale and Robert Vale. Published by Elsevier Limited. All rights reserved The right of Nalanie Mithraratne, Brenda Vale and Robert Vale to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher Permission may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone (þ44) (0) 1865 843830; fax (þ44) (0) 1865 853333; email: Contents Preface ix List of illustrations x Acknowledgements xii Part A: Construction industry and resource issues 1 1. Introduction 3 The situation 4 Environmental effects of energy use 6 Climate change 7 New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions 11 Buildings and energy 16 Urban development and residential constructions 17 Housing in New Zealand 18 Notes 19 References 20 2. Life cycle analysis 23 Life cycle analysis methodology 24 Definition of goal and scope 24 Inventory 25 Impact assessment 26 Evaluation and interpretation 28 Life cycle analysis of buildings 30 Functional unit 31 Useful life of buildings 32 Life cycle energy analysis 34 Embodied energy analysis 34 Embodied energy analysis in New Zealand 37 Operating energy analysis 37 Operating energy analysis in New Zealand 38 Conclusions 38 References 39 3. Life cycle energy of houses 41 Energy sources 41 Renewable energy 42 Non-renewable energy 42 vi Contents Energy use 43 Energy use in residential buildings 46 Embodied energy 47 Operating energy 47 Space heating 47 Water heating 54 Cooking 56 Lighting 56 Refrigerators and freezers 57 Domestic appliances 57 Life cycle energy 58 Recurrent embodied energy 58 Domestic appliances and equipment 59 Furniture 59 Demolition and recycling 59 Conclusions 59 Notes 60 References 60 4. Life cycle costing of buildings 63 Time value of money 68 Inflation 69 Costs in LCC 69 Real costs, nominal costs and discounted costs 72 Current dollars and constant dollars 75 Discount rate 76 Investment appraisal methods used for LCC 78 Net present value method 79 Annual equivalent value method 80 Prediction errors and risk management 81 Conclusions 84 References 86 5. Environmental impact assessment 88 Development and the ecosystem 88 Carrying capacity 90 Environmental impact assessment 91 Limits to growth 91 Human appropriation of net primary productivity 91 IPAT formula 92 Ecological footprint calculation 93 Environmental impacts of building construction 96 Global atmospheric pollution 97 Contents vii Local environmental effects 101 Impact of climate change on buildings 102 Environmental impact assessment of buildings 102 Conclusions 108 Notes 109 References 110 Part B: Life cycle analysis model, results and lessons 113 6. Development of a New Zealand model 115 A life cycle analysis model for New Zealand houses 116 Establishing the knowledge base of the model 117 Generic construction types based on the elements of a house 117 Embodied energy of NZ building materials, domestic appliances and furniture 125 Replacement cycles for building elements/materials, appliances and furniture for a New Zealand house 128 Installed prices of building materials/components and price of energy used in a New Zealand house 136 Operating energy requirements of space conditioning, appliances, lighting and hot-water system 137 Greenhouse gas emissions due to NZ building materials, appliances and furniture 140 Environmental impacts other than greenhouse gases due to construction 143 User interface of the model 145 Inference engine of the model 146 Notes 146 References 147 7. Life cycle performance of an average New Zealand house 150 Average NZ house 150 Common design used for the New Zealand house 151 Foundations 153 Doors and windows 153 Electrical services 154 Plumbing and sanitary fittings 155 Domestic appliances and furniture 156 Operating energy requirements 156 Life cycle energy analysis of an NZ house – model results 158 Life cycle cost analysis of NZ house – model results 177 viii Contents Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions analysis of the NZ house – model results 184 Life cycle environmental impact analysis of an NZ house – model results 189 Conclusions 192 Notes 194 References 195 8. Life cycle assessment results and the building user 197 Operating energy 197 Building characteristics 197 Building insulation during refurbishment 200 Ventilation 202 Lighting 204 Hot water 205 Appliances 205 Embodied and maintenance energy 206 Finishes 206 Furniture 208 Guidelines on dealing with the issues 209 Conclusion 210 Notes 210 References 211 Appendix A 212 Appendix B 214 Appendix C 220 Index 226 Preface Lifetime studies are becoming commonplace in product evaluations. However, this does not apply to buildings and related activities owing to the relatively longer period involved, which leads to uncertainty. Many books which deal with the design and construction of sustainable houses have been published. However, sustainability also depends on the post-occupation activities of the users, which have not been highlighted. This book attempts to fill that gap in knowledge through the use of results from a recently completed research project. The book demonstrates the implications of choices the designers, developers and building-users make to achieve sustainability in the residential building sector, through an analysis that covers the full lifespan. It identifies the problems associated with current practices through a lifespan model that considers costs, embodied and operating energy use, environmental impact, and global warming potential. The model was developed based on current practices employed in New Zealand and highlights the need for a new holistic approach to be taken. By considering the full lifespan, and many items such as finishes, furniture and appliances, which are usually disregarded in evaluations, the text demonstrates the importance of material and systems selection and user behaviour. It discusses the major issues ranked based on their importance for achieving greater sustain- ability in residential projects and highlights those which are not in common knowledge. The book also demonstrates the practical use of life cycle analysis for achieving best practice in construction and use of residential buildings. It provides a practical guide to designers and the general public in applying the lessons learnt to individual projects to achieve sustainability in residential buildings. The book consists of a general discussion of issues ranked based on their importance for achieving sustainability, with case studies intended for the general reader and detailed justification of the importance of issues for the more specialised reader.

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