Carbon Reduction Measures-Based LCA of Prefabricated Temporary Housing with Renewable Energy Systems

Ling Dong,Hong Li,Mohamed Al-Hussein,Boya Jiang,Yu Wang

doi:10.3390/su10030718

Ling Dong, Hong Li + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030718

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Abstract

Temporary housing plays an important role in providing secure, hygienic, private, and comfortable shelter in the aftermath of disaster (such as flood, fire, earthquake, etc.). Additionally, temporary housing can also be used as a sustainable form of on-site residences for construction workers. While most of the building components used in temporary housing can be manufactured in a plant, prefabrication technology improves the production efficiency of temporary housing; furthermore, integrated renewable energy systems, for example, solar photovoltaic (PV) system, offer benefits for temporary housing operations. In order to assess the environmental impacts of prefabricated temporary housing equipped with renewable energy systems, this study first divides the life cycle of temporary housing into six stages, and then establishes a life cycle assessment (LCA) model for each stage. Furthermore, with the aim of reducing the environmental impacts, life cycle carbon reduction measures are proposed for each stage of temporary housing. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using a case study in China. Based on the proposed carbon reduction measures, the LCA of a prefabricated temporary housing case study building equipped with renewable energy systems indicates a carbon emissions intensity of 35.7 kg/m2·per year, as well as a reduction in material embodied emissions of 18%, assembly emissions of 17.5%, and operational emissions of 91.5%. This research proposes a carbon reduction-driven LCA of temporary housing and contributes to promoting sustainable development of prefabricated temporary housing equipped with renewable energy systems.

Highlights

The occurrence of natural disasters has been increasing in recent decades, such as the Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008, the typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan in 2009, and the earthquake in the Philippines in 2017, all of which resulted in enormous financial loss and casualties, and destroyed millions of buildings and left victims homeless
Disaster relief (DR) shelters play an important role in providing victims with secure, hygienic, private, and comfortable temporary residences until they are able to settle in new permanent dwellings
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Summary

Introduction

The occurrence of natural disasters has been increasing in recent decades, such as the Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008, the typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan in 2009, and the earthquake in the Philippines in 2017, all of which resulted in enormous financial loss and casualties, and destroyed millions of buildings and left victims homeless. Disaster relief (DR) shelters play an important role in providing victims with secure, hygienic, private, and comfortable temporary residences until they are able to settle in new permanent dwellings. Post-disaster reconstruction usually takes several years, during which period several types of DR shelters are built to provide victims with temporary residences. During the first few weeks after a disaster, emergency activities, such as rescue, medical treatment, and victims camping, must be conducted immediately. Temporary housing should be built to accommodate daily activities for victims for the six months to three years, until they are able to move into permanent dwellings. Temporary housing can be used as on-site residences for construction workers [3]

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