Search results for "LIFE-CYCLE"
showing 10 items of 166 documents
From material flows to cash flows — an extension to traditional material flow modelling
2000
Financial Behaviour Under Economic Strain in Different Age Groups: Predictors and Change Across 20 Years
2021
AbstractThe present study examined the multiple micro- and macro-level factors that affect individuals’ financial behaviour under economic strain. The following sociodemographic and economic factors that predict financial behaviour were analysed: age group, year of data gathering, and attitudes towards consumption (economical, deprived, and hedonistic). Subjective financial situations and demographic characteristics were controlled for. Finnish time series data that consisted of five cross-sectional nationally representative surveys were used (n = 10 043). The analyses revealed four types of financial behaviour: cutting expenses, borrowing, increasing income, and gambling. Young adults aged…
Modeling the energy and environmental life cycle of buildings: A co-simulation approach
2017
Abstract Building simulation is currently looking towards interdisciplinary experiences, aiming to the integration of simulation tools in different technical domains. At the same time, the interest of the building community to high performance buildings has also strengthened the interest on Life Cycle performances of such buildings, due to the reduction in their operational stage impacts. In this context, the paper proposes an integration of building simulation and Life Cycle Assessment through the programming of a TRNSYS component. It can perform Life Cycle Assessment studies, while having as output as well energy balances and energy and environmental payback times. Currently, the tool is …
Life-Cycle Costing Decision-Making Methodology and Urban Intersection Design: Modelling and Analysis for a Circular City
2021
The importance of being circular reflects one of the key concepts of the life-cycle thinking that promotes the sustainable production of goods and services. If it is true that the analysis of the product life-cycle is fundamental to optimize the use of resources and to plan for the future reduction of adverse effects on urban environment, it is also true that there are still several barriers covering conceptual and practical issues which hinder the building of shared approaches for the economic evaluation of infrastructure projects. The chapter presents a case study where the Life-Cycle Cost methodology is used to compare three alternative intersection projects based on their total life-cyc…
A Constructal Law optimization of a boiler inspired by Life Cycle thinking
2018
Abstract The aim of the paper is to explore how design optimization contributes to a technology's ecological evolution. The article develops this concept through an application of Constructal Law, used to account for the “evolution” of technologies design (configuration, shape, structure, pattern, rhythm), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), used for quantifying the environmental impacts of the design choices. The combination of both methods assesses how technology evolution affects the environment during its life, extending the concept of evolution of design. The study is applied to a case study of a real biomass boiler. The study analyses basic case and a series of alternative scenarios opti…
Energy and environmental life cycle assessment of an institutional catering service: An Italian case study
2019
Food production is recognised as one of the major drivers for global environmental pressure. In the last years, changes in consumption models result in an increasing population consuming food out of home that pose the catering service sector at the centre of the European Union policies aimed at improving the environmental sustainability of the food sector. In this framework, better technical knowledge on the environmental impacts of catering service is essential in order to identify potential actions towards a more sustainable food sector. This article presents an environmental assessment of a school catering service operating in Italy and delivering approximately 2,518,128 meals per year. …
Environmental Sustainability Approaches and Positive Energy Districts: A Literature Review
2021
During the last decade, increasing attention has been paid to the emerging concept of Positive Energy Districts (PED) with the aim of pushing the transition to clean energy, but further research efforts are needed to identify design approaches optimized from the point of view of sustainable development. In this context, this literature review is placed, with a specific focus on environmental sustainability within innovative and eco-sustainable districts. The findings show that some sustainability aspects such as sustainable food, urban heat islands mitigation and co-impacts, e.g., green gentrification, are not adequately assessed, while fragmented thinking limits the potential of circularit…
Solar heating and cooling systems versus conventional systems assisted by photovoltaic: Application of a simplified LCA tool
2016
Abstract Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an effective methodology to assess the energy and environmental impacts of energy systems during their life cycle, including manufacturing, operation and end-of-life. The aim of the paper is the application of a simplified LCA tool, developed in the framework of the International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Task 48, for comparing different typologies of solar assisted heating and cooling systems. In detail, solar thermal heating and cooling systems located in Palermo (southern Italy) and in Zurich (Switzerland) were compared with conventional systems assisted by grid connected and stand-alone photovoltaic plants. A validation of the tool w…
Environmental impact of submerged anaerobic MBR (SAnMBR) technology used to treat urban wastewater at different temperatures
2013
[EN] The objective of this study was to assess the environmental impact of a submerged anaerobic MBR (SAnMBR) system in the treatment of urban wastewater at different temperatures: ambient temperature (20 and 33 degrees C), and a controlled temperature (33 degrees C). To this end, an overall energy balance (OEB) and life cycle assessment (LCA), both based on real process data, were carried out. Four factors were considered in this study; (1) energy consumption during wastewater treatment; (2) energy recovered from biogas capture; (3) potential recovery of nutrients from the final effluent; and (4) sludge disposal. The OEB and LCA showed SAnMBR to be a promising technology for treating urban…
The energy and environmental impacts of Italian households consumptions: An input–output approach
2011
Abstract Promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns is a key challenge for the future, in order to use the Earth resources efficiently, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, and to decouple the economic growth from the environmental degradation. New or customized methods have to be applied to support decisions makers in the choice of environmental-friendly products, and to select policy priorities and sustainable strategies. A modified input–output model can aid to analyse the relationships among economic growth, energy consumptions and pollutants, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts due to the actual production and consumption patterns. The following pa…