Environmental performance of energy systems of residential buildings: Toward sustainable communities

Abstract

The evaluation of the environmental performance of energy systems used in residential buildings by applying the principles of the Life Cycle Analysis is an established methodological approach. Applying it in practice presents, however, significant interest, as a lack of available data has to be overcome. The research results presented in this paper include the analysis of the production, disposal and transportation of the materials used for the manufacturing processes of the building's energy systems, which include an oil and a gas fired boiler, split unit air conditioners, mono-Si and poly-Si PV arrays, flat plate and evacuated tube solar thermal collectors and their auxiliaries. The data needed for the analysis were taken from audits in the industries producing those systems, from related studies already published and from publicly available databases, when no other source was available. In this way, a comprehensive and fully adjustable database of the systems’ environmental impact has been created. This database can be a part of an integrated dynamic decision support tool, or it can be used in combination with tools commercially available. It can therefore assist prospective users in the selection of the appropriate energy systems that will lead to the minimization of the total environmental impact of new and existing buildings. The results are applied to a representative residential building and its systems are evaluated and analyzed for several scenarios.