Life Cycle Assessment Meeting Energy Standard Performance: An Office Building Case Study

Svetlana Pushkar,Abraham Yezioro

doi:10.3390/buildings12020157

Svetlana Pushkar, Abraham Yezioro

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12020157

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Abstract

Transitioning from fossil to renewable energies, particularly photovoltaic (PV) energy, could influence building design in terms of environmental evaluation. The aim of this study was to rate a typical office building that complies with the Israeli Standard SI5282, Energy Rating of Buildings, and to evaluate it by life cycle assessment (LCA). An office building in Tel Aviv with four exterior wall construction technologies was modeled as follows: (1) a concrete-block-based wall with minimal windows; (2) a concrete-block-based wall with maximal windows; (3) an autoclaved aerated-block-based wall with minimal windows; and (4) an autoclaved aerated-block-based wall with maximal windows. The electricity sources used to support the building’s operational energy were: (i) 31% coal, 56% natural gas, and 13% PV (adopted in 2020); (ii) 8% coal, 57% natural gas, and 35% PV (planned for 2025); and (iii) 100% PV (planned for the future). A two-stage nested mixed analysis of variance was used to simultaneously evaluate the results of six ReCiPe2016 methodologies. The results show that as fossil fuels are replaced by PV energy production, there is a greater need to use LCA methodology in building design in conjunction with energy standards. The energy rating is recommended to be carried out with an environmental assessment of the production stage of construction. Ignoring the LCA results could lead to the misinterpretation of a building’s sustainability.

Highlights

The European Union Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings stated that, by 2020, all new buildings should be near zero-energy buildings [1]
The operational energy (OE) stage of the life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted with the following electricity sources: (i) 31% coal, 56% natural gas, and 13% PV; (ii) 8% coal, 57% natural gas, and 35% PV; and (iii) 100% PV
Both production and replacement (P&R) and OE stages were evaluated by ReCiPe2016 impact and damage assessment

Summary

Introduction

The European Union Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings stated that, by 2020, all new buildings should be near zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) [1]. Office buildings, presented by the Standards Institution of Israel (SII) in 2016, should include eight differently weighted sustainable categories: energy (36%); land (15%); water (13%); materials (10%); health and well-being (11%); waste (4%); transport (5%); and construction site management (6%). Office buildings, developed by SII in 2011, should regulate the building energy for heating, cooling, and lighting (operational energy) with the following design variables: lighting control, exterior and interior shading, window size, glazing, thermal mass of exterior walls and roof, and ventilation. To achieve an energy rating, standard SI5282 suggests using the prescriptive–descriptive approach [2], or the performance approach. The prescriptive–descriptive approach presents different presets for the design variables, thereby allowing energy saving to be achieved according to the target energy ranking. The performance approach evaluates a proposed building design according to its energy efficiency ratio in relation to a reference building (simulated with the parameters specified in SI5282) from level F (worst) through levels D, C, B, and A to level A+ (best)

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Conclusion