Sustainability appraisal of residential energy demand and supply - a life cycle approach including heating, electricity, embodied energy and mobility

Gernot Stoeglehner,Hermine Mitter,Bettina Lancaster,Karl-Heinz Kettl,Michael Weiss,Wolfgang Baaske,Nora Niemetz,Georg Neugebauer

doi:10.1186/s13705-014-0024-6

Abstract

This paper introduces the concepts, methods and the implementation of a calculator for the energetic long term analysis of residential settlement structures (ELAS). The freely available online tool addresses, on the one hand, the complexity of the environmental impacts of buildings and settlements including embodied energy and on the other hand, the mobility of the inhabitants and the necessity to provide ecological and socio-economic valuation on the base of a coherent data set. Regarding the complexity of ecological impacts, housing was represented as a life cycle network, combining the life cycles of energy provision as well as buildings and infrastructure depending on the location and supply structure of the settlement. Comprehensive inventories for these different aspects were included. They were then used to evaluate the whole system of activity linked to buildings and settlements with three different ecological valuation methods and then coupled with a socio-economic appraisal. With the ELAS calculator, a status quo analysis for existing settlements can be carried out, as well as planning alternatives can be assessed which include new developments, the renovation of buildings in the settlement, the change of energy supplies as well as the demolition of settlements with reconstruction on the same or a different site.

Highlights

The Energy Roadmap 2050 of the European Union aims at 80% to 95% greenhouse gas reduction until 2050 [1]
In order to fill this gap, we developed a model to calculate the energy demand of households related to dwelling and location, as well as its overall environmental and socio-economic impacts, based on a life cycle approach: the Energetic Long term Analysis of Settlement structures (ELAS)
Results from the ELAS calculator Ecological evaluation results from the ELAS calculator are represented in terms of total energy consumption, life cycle CO2 emissions and sustainable process index (SPI) in graphical as well as tabular form

Summary

Introduction

The Energy Roadmap 2050 of the European Union aims at 80% to 95% greenhouse gas reduction until 2050 [1]. Energy efficiency and the shift towards renewable energy supplies have to be jointly applied in order to reduce the environmental overshoot of the current energy systems This environmental overshoot is due to the high energy intensity of society and the extensive use of fossil and nuclear energy sources [2,3,4]. Planning decisions of settlements and houses have considerable impacts on the energy demand and the technological options for the energy supply of residential areas, and, on the energy consumption of society. These decisions are confined to the energy consumptions of households but affect the transport sector and, via embodied energy in goods and services, many industrial sectors as well. As spatial structures are long lasting, planning decisions determine the energy consumption of society in the long term and include, inter alia, the choice of a site, the determination of the infrastructure, the building densities aspired, the energy standards and the construction materials of buildings as well as the energy sources and energy provision technology

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion