Life cycle assessment of integrated thermal energy storage systems in buildings: A case study in Canada

Abstract

In this study, a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of integrated borehole type thermal energy storage (TES) systems in buildings is performed, and the Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada is selected for a case study. The results are presented comparatively with a conventional Canadian house. The DLSC is considered a successfully developed community energy system integrated with the solar and TES systems. Consequently, the DLSC meets more than 90% of the space heating needs of each home from solar energy and resulting in less reliance on fossil fuels. The present study, therefore, investigates the environmental impact of the Drake Landing houses. The results of this study are illustrated in 10 different impact categories namely; acidification potential, global warming potential, eutrophication potential, abiotic depletion potential, ozone layer depletion potential, human toxicity potential, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity potential, ionising radiation, and photochemical oxidation potential. The present analyses show that a Drake Landing house is found to have much lower environmental impacts than a conventional Canadian house in all studied impact categories. While a conventional Canadian house (145.4 m2) produces 6.34 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, a Drake Landing house produces only 1.91 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, which is a reduction of nearly 4.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per home per year.