Stages Of Building Life Cycle Research Articles

A Methodology for Evaluating Sustainable Building Technology to Raise the Efficiency of Urban Clusters: Analytical Study

Sustainability evaluation methodologies are distinguished from other evaluation tools, such as the LEED system and the BREEAM system, in that they include a new local evaluation methodology. The life cycle of a building is divided into distinct phases, including production of materials and components, construction and implementation, use/operation, maintenance, demolition, and disposal. Understanding the classification of assessment tools based on the building to be assessed, tool users, and building life cycle stages will inform selection of appropriate assessment tools and development of a comprehensive methodology. The study aimed to extract and evaluate opinions and perspectives from users, stakeholders, and researchers about the current status of sustainable technology in urban communities and to analyze the basic factors and indicators that contributed to the efficiency of urban communities and their relationship to sustainable technology. An inductive and analytical research was conducted using a questionnaire form on a sample of 100 participants to collect the opinions of users, relevant authorities, and researchers in the field. The questionnaire was designed to collect opinions and perspectives from different groups, including residents, local authorities (such as provincial officials, engineering administration, etc.), and experts in the field of sustainable technology. It covered a range of topics related to sustainable technology, including perceptions of current sustainability practices, barriers to implementation, potential areas for improvement, and proposals to enhance the efficiency of urban clusters. The research provided a comprehensive understanding of views on sustainable technology and help identify key areas for evaluation and improvement.

GEOMATICS ALLIED WITH BUILDINGS

We are all aware of the various Building Life Cycle stages. Before one can even start talking about the sustainability or smartness of a building, we should understand the different stages of a building, which are as follows: 1. Raw material extraction 2. Manufacturing 3. Construction 4. In use - Operation and Maintenance 5. Demolition 6. Disposal, Re-use, Recycle Each of the mentioned stages is intricately linked to the use of natural resources for energy consumption, forming the foundation for examining sustainable buildings. This paper will mainly focus briefly on how a 'GIS' can be linked to all or most of these steps. The scope of GIS is expanding every day and will also have a significant impact on architecture. When we think of "Smart Cities" or "Smart Buildings", the first thing that comes to mind is Automation or the Internet of Things, which is an integral part of the fourth phase i.e., Operation/In use. However, the reality is that a Smart Building is developed early in its Life Cycle of a Building. This paper will help people understand and grasp "how modern technologies (GIS and remote sensing) can be useful in the raw material extraction process" and "how GIS can be integrated into the process of Production, Construction, Operation and Maintenance". The study also aims to investigate the domain of demolition and the subsequent processes of disposal, reuse, and recycling, utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS). If you find this topic intriguing and captivating, I encourage you to continue reading. I genuinely hope that this paper proves to be both informative and engaging for you.

BIM-CAREM: Assessing the BIM capabilities of design, construction and facilities management processes in the construction industry

BIM adoption has accelerated worldwide since it is an important enabling technology for digitalisation in the construction industry. Adopting BIM requires transforming the traditional building life cycle stages (planning, design, construction and facilities management) into BIM-integrated project deliveries. Assessing the BIM capabilities of these stages helps organisations to identify gaps in their BIM uses and improve them. There is a lack of a comprehensive model in the literature for assessing the BIM capabilities of individual building life cycle stages and their processes. Existing assessment models focus on assessing the BIM maturity of construction projects and organisations which do not inform the required BIM improvements for individual stages and their processes. Hence, we iteratively developed the Building Information Modelling (BIM) Capability Assessment REference Model (BIM-CAREM) and demonstrated its usability through multiple explanatory case studies performed with two international design and engineering companies and two general contractors in Turkey. We assessed the BIM capabilities of design, construction and facility management processes of various buildings i.e. residential, stadiums, hospitals and airports. The results showed that the BIM capability levels of design, construction and facility management processes vary within and across the companies.

Allocating weightage to sustainability criteria’s for performance assessment of group housing developments: Using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process

Sustainability assessment is a method to assess the effectiveness of sustainability performance. The construction industry largely acknowledges Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) as a tool for evaluating sustainability performance. With an emphasis on group housing constructions in India, the present study created a methodology for evaluating sustainability performance. An in-depth analysis of the GBRS and published literature, followed by expert interviews, created a methodology with five building life cycle stages and fifteen criteria’s focusing on sustainability. Stakeholder perception was collected, and the data was assessed using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process, to determine the priority weight of sustainability criteria and sub-criteria (FAHP). The development of a comprehensive system to account for sustainability on both the intergenerational and intragenerational levels for sustainability assessment is required. This study serves to be the first study to develop a comprehensive sustainability assessment system specific to group housing in India throughout the building life cycle stages.

BIM-based life cycle assessment for different structural system scenarios of a residential building

This study pinpoints the benefit of integrating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Building information modelling (BIM) for different design scenarios of a residential building’s structural system; (1) reinforced concrete solid slab system, (2) steel and (3) composite structural system. The environmental impacts for each scenario are evaluated, providing insights into the contribution of (1) building life cycle stages, (2) structural systems and (3) building materials. Construction cost and time were also assessed and compared for each. The results show how LCA-BIM integration can streamline the environmental stewardship and prioritize action; showing that the building operation stage, the steel structural system, slabs and beams as well as reinforced concrete have the highest environmental impact, respectively. Hence, this calls for acting on building operation as well as the proper design of building elements and selection of building materials to reduce the associated environmental burden resulting from the building process.

Green Building Rating Systems from the prospect of sustainability dimensions through the building lifecycle.

Rapid developments followed by the industrial revolution had a huge impact on the ecosystem. The concern for the ecosystem paved the way for the concept of sustainability along with its three mutually reinforcing and interdependent economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The need for sustainability is reflected in almost every field and is also seen in the construction industry in the form of green/sustainable building practices. In 2002, World Green Building Council (WGBC) was established with Green Building Councils (GBCs) representing various countries for promoting sustainable buildings. Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) were established by GBCs to acknowledge buildings that adopt sustainable construction practices. In this context, GBRS needs much attention along with its structural framework. Many researchers have analyzed the structural framework of GBRS, and most of the studies were confined to general and category levels. Therefore, the current study attempts to investigate the weightage of sustainability dimensions through the building lifecycle by conducting a criteria-level analysis of GBRS. The weightage for three sustainability dimensions considered by GBRS was investigated through a questionnaire survey using the Budget Allocation Method (BAM). The weightage for each stage of the building lifecycle considered by GBRS was also investigated. The study also explored the relationship between sustainability dimensions and building lifecycle stages. The general framework of GBRS was analyzed, and suggestions for improving and refining GBRS were presented. Even though the study is restricted to four GBRS, the research outcome would be beneficial for developing/improving the GBRS towards accomplishing sustainability.

Challenges of a Healthy Built Environment: Air Pollution in Construction Industry

Air pollution is a global concern, especially in cities and urban areas, and has many implications for human health and for the environment. In common with other industrial sectors, the construction industry emits air pollutants. In scientific literature, the contribution the construction industry makes to air pollution is underexposed. This systematic literature review (SLR) paper gives an overview of the current literature regarding air pollution within the construction industry. Air pollution is discussed focusing mainly on three levels: (i) buildings and their building life cycle stages, (ii) construction processes and components, and (iii) building material and interior. The final sample of the SLR comprises 161 scientific articles addressing different aspects of the construction industry. The results show that most articles address the use stage of a building. Particulate matter in different sizes is the most frequently examined air pollutant within the SLR. Moreover, about a third of the articles refer to indoor air pollution, which shows the relevance of the topic. The construction industry can help to develop a healthier built environment and support the achievement of cleaner air within various life cycle stages, e.g., with optimized construction processes and healthier materials. International agreements and policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can support the sustainable development of the construction industry.

Mitigating the Energy Consumption and the Carbon Emission in the Building Structures by Optimization of the Construction Processes

For decades, among other industries, the construction sector has accounted for high energy consumption and emissions. As the energy crisis and climate change have become a growing concern, mitigating energy usage is a significant issue. The operational and end of life phases are all included in the building life cycle stages. Although the operation stage accounts for more energy consumption with higher carbon emissions, the embodied stage occurs in a time-intensive manner. In this paper, an attempt has been made to review the existing methods, aiming to lower the consumption of energy and carbon emission in the construction buildings through optimizing the construction processes, especially with the lean construction approach. First, the energy consumption and emissions for primary construction materials and processes are introduced. It is followed by a review of the structural optimization and lean techniques that seek to improve the construction processes. Then, the influence of these methods on the reduction of energy consumption is discussed. Based on these methods, a general algorithm is proposed with the purpose of improving the construction processes’ performance. It includes structural optimization and lean and life cycle assessments, which are expected to influence the possible reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions during the execution of construction works.

Land development in an urban megalopolis: A holistic environmental assessment of housing on Chongming Eco-island, China

Over the last decade, the Chinese government has promoted Chongming Eco-Island as an example of sustainable urbanization and a means to mitigate the growth of residential districts within the Shanghai megalopolis. With the immense urbanization pressure of a growing city, we ask “what is an appropriate type and scale of housing for land development on Chongming?” This study uses the method of emergy (with an “m”) synthesis to prepare a holistic assessment of the housing on Chongming, accounting for all renewable, non-renewable and imported resources used as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during building's life cycle stages. To overcome the lack of unit emergy values (UEVs) of building materials used on Chongming, this study first developed a method to derive accurate UEVs of local materials from a regional life cycle inventory (LCI) database. With Chongming Eco-Island as a case study, four typical residential housing types (farmhouse, single-family house, slab housing, high-rise apartment) were classified according to site density, the structure and floor area ratio (FAR) of buildings. Results indicate that slab housing with FAR as 3.1 contributes most to the total emergy and GHG emissions per building area, while it proves to have the highest environmental performance when taking into account the residential density. In this respect, high-rise apartments are not the optimum options for the overall sustainability of Chongming Eco-Island.

Life Cycle Assessment Of Material Waste Generation From Building Construction Projects In Southwest Nigeria

Studies recognized that construction waste constitutes about 30-40% of the overall solid waste deposited at the landfill sites worldwide, and to have impact on our personal lives and the entire world around us. This research studied building life cycle and waste generation by building projects in southwest Nigeria by the use of structured questionnaire applied to representatives of professionally registered firms of the Nigerian construction industry in the region. A total of four hundred and three (403) questionnaires were randomly administered to the professionally registered firms within the study area, out of which only two hundred and sixty-one (261) of those returned were considered valid and usable. The retrieved data was profiled and rank using the 5 points Likert scale. The study found that post-construction stage activities had the greatest affinity for material waste generation with the highest mean score of 3.5172 and followed by the construction stage activities with the mean score of 3.0672 indicating that waste generation at this stage is moderate. Based on this, the study concludes that there is a need to develop incentives that will encourage the industry professionals to imbibe waste prevention and minimization strategies that will help limit waste generation by the different building life cycle stages.

Modern architectural - planning, organizational, technological, constructive solutions at green roofing

The article discusses one of the most urgent problems of Russian cities - the lack of green areas in urban environment. In urbanization process with the growth of large cities and an increase in the population, the ecological state of the environment is transformed, and the concepts of “dwelling - environment” are also changed. One of the effective and rational steps towards solving the problem of the lack of green areas in Russian cities is the green roofs use. At the moment, there is a certain typology, as well as many different design solutions using modern building materials for the organization of green roofs. The article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of roof gardening in detail, also considers the existing regulatory and legal framework governing their structure. Describes the functions of normative documentation on green roofs at all building life cycle stages.

Methodology for a comprehensive analysis of the construction projects’ accidents causes at various stages of their life cycle

Today, accidents at capital construction facilities are encountered at various stages of the buildings’ life cycle, which is associated with errors in the design and construction as well as the rules violation for the buildings’ operation. Now there is no unified system of accounting and technical analysis of the causes in the current situation, therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to monitoring and methods of construction sites accidents causes’ complex diagnosis. The scientific research is devoted to the methodological foundations’ development for a comprehensive analysis of the accidents on the construction sites and the development of organizational and technological measures to reduce the probabilityof their occurrence. The main objective of the scientific article is to consider the causes of the accident at various stages of the building’s life cycle. The article discusses the building life cycle stages and the causes of accidents from the pre-design stage to the capital construction object’s demolition. The buildings and structures’ collapse statistics and their causes are analyzed. An algorithm for analyzing the accidents causes throughout their operation life is proposed. The importance of the capital construction facilities accidents’ monitoring and analysis stage, the improving methods for their diagnosis and warning to prevent the emergency situations recurrence is proved. A set of organizational and technological measures for the capital construction objects accidents’ prevention throughout their operation life is proposed.

Multicriteria analysis and information modelling in management of built environment

Building Information Modelling (BIM) proves to be the most urgent trend in construction for the last years. Still the major part of this issue is dedicated only to the first stages of building lifecycle: design and construction. This article goal is to provide a critical overview on recent achievements in BIM application for the different steps of building lifecycle as well as ongoing digitalization of facility management. The paper explores the importance of applying mathematical modelling and multicriteria analysis such as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy logic in management of built environment and provides recent examples of such applications consequently exploring its potential. Method of analysis in this article is horizontal analysis of publication activity in related research topic. Different levels of digital built environment are considered: from building (BIM) to the whole city (GIS). The result of the research reveal that emergence of scan-to-BIM technology brings benefits not only for the buildings which are designed with BIM models (current situation in the market) but for the buildings which are already built (as-built BIM).

Lime binders for the repair of historic buildings: Considerations for CO2 abatement

Abstract Lime binders are utilised worldwide and are associated with a considerable scale of production and corresponding CO2 emissions. The relevance of this review is therefore international in scope, with production transcending geographical boundaries and construction practices. An holistic view of lime binders, considering their provenance, production and utilisation offers the potential for significant CO2 savings urgently required globally. Importantly, the technical aspects of lime materials production is critical, but the alteration of behaviour of both specifier and those undertaking the construction processes is also essential in achieving meaningful CO2 emission reduction. This review paper investigates the life cycle stages of lime binders in line with the features highlighted in the Scottish Building Alliance (SBA) ‘building life cycle stages model’. It attempts to determine what can be learnt from our understanding of the manufacture and use of binders from historic, current and future perspectives in the context of reconciling the production of historically authentic materials in a decarbonising environment. The production and use of such authentic historic lime binders initially appears highly carbon intensive through its utilisation of relatively inefficient kiln technologies and loss of economies of scale associated with larger operations. However, this review shows numerous benefits in the production of such binders; including their CO2 sequestration capability, lower potential processing energy, and a reduction in excessive ‘carbon miles’ associated with transportation. Importantly, we show how historic production and on-site manufacture approaches with lime-based materials also offers exciting potential for carbon savings. Importantly, hot mixed lime mortars offer the promise of higher durability materials compared to their modern cold manufactured counterparts, thereby reducing the frequency of repeat maintenance interventions, again yielding CO2 savings. We suggest hot mixing, whether in an innovative contemporary materials realm or within traditional contexts should be explored. In addition, hot mixed materials can concomitantly satisfy conservation requirements for repairs through better reflecting the aspired to building conservation requirement of like for like materials replacement reflected with historically produced binders. We suggest future paths for the industry that would simultaneously reconcile demands for authentic materials and production methods for the conservation sector with the necessity of achieving cleaner production in a decarbonizing world.

Life cycle analysis of environmental impacts of earthen materials in the Portuguese context: Rammed earth and compressed earth blocks

Abstract In the Portuguese context, the life cycle assessment of building materials is still in its infancy. So far, there is only a small number of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) available, all target for industrially-based materials. Although vernacular earthen materials are seen as ecological materials, with low potential environmental impacts, there are no studies that allow to quantitatively compare these materials with conventional ones, according to the applicable standards. In the case of Portugal, there are no EPDs or studies for these materials and the studies available worldwide are hard to compare, since they not follow the same life-cycle assessment methodology. This paper aims at contributing to a better understanding about the environmental performance of earthen materials by presenting results from the life cycle assessment of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) and Rammed earth, based on specific life cycle inventory values obtained from a producer company, following the guidance provided by the standard EN15804. Among other conclusions, results show that CEB and Rammed earth have a total Embodied Energy of 3.94 MJ/block and 596 MJ/1 m3 and a Global Warming Potential of 0.39 kg CO2 eq/block and 47.5 kg CO2 eq./1 m3, respectively. In a cradle-to-gate analysis of different walls, the use of earthen building elements can result in reducing the potential environmental impacts in about 50%, when compared to the use of conventional ones. Additionally, the advantages of using earthen materials are also discussed for the different building life-cycle stages, focusing on the possibility to recycle these materials in a closed-loop approach.

Dynamic relationship between embodied and operational impacts of buildings

Purpose Buildings and their construction activities consume a significant proportion of mineral resources excavated from nature and contribute a large percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere. As a way of improving the sustainability of building construction and operation, various sustainable design appraisal standards have been developed across nations. Albeit criticism of the appraisal standards, evidence shows that increasing sustainability of the built environment has been engendered by such appraisal tools as Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficacy, among others. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the appraisal standards in engendering whole lifecycle environmental sustainability of the built environment. Design/methodology/approach In order to evaluate the adequacy of sustainability scores assigned to various lifecycle stages of buildings in the appraisal standards, four case studies of a block of classroom were modelled. Using Revit as a modelling platform, stage by stage lifecycle environmental impacts of the building were simulated through Green Building Studio and ATHENA Impact estimator. The resulting environmental impacts were then compared against the assessment score associated with each stage of building lifecycle in BREAAM and CfSH. Findings Results show that albeit the consensus that the appraisal standards engender sustainability practices in the AEC industry, total scores assigned to impacts at each stage of building lifecycle is disproportionate to the simulated whole-life environmental impacts associated with the stages in some instances. Originality/value As the study reveals both strengths and weaknesses in the existing sustainability appraisal standards, measures through which they can be tailored to resource efficiency and lifecycle environmental sustainability of the built environment are suggested.

Sustainable Building Life Cycle Design

The current building life cycle management system in the Russian Federation is a family of discrete subsystems that exist independently for different building life cycle stages. In this situation building reliability and sustainable functioning are out of the question. The implementation of a united information model (BIM-model) intended to describe building entire life cycle will allow to raise the sustainability, but this will happen only if goals and concerns of all participants of the project process are properly coordinated. An important figure of process sustainability is the organizational and technological reliability (OTR) that describes the possibility of a system to reach a goal. In case of building life cycle design, the economical efficiency of a building can be considered as the goal. The required technical, ecological, organizational, and other parameters form a complex of constraints that determine the area of allowable values for building functioning. In its broad meaning, OTR may be understood as the probability of receiving an economical effect based on the value of organizational and economical reliability (OER).

Life cycle energy balance of residential buildings: A case study on hypothetical building models in Finland

This study has demonstrated the life cycle primary energy balance of the four residential building types (detached house, row house, townhouse and apartment block) based on current Finnish design. The differences in the energy balance arising from the geometrical characteristics of each housing type were investigated using hypothetical building models. In addition, the influence of structural frame material selection was observed in relation to the housing types. The results showed that there are clear differences between the housing types: the detached house is the highest energy consumer, the row house the second (about 20% less), the townhouse the third (about 30% less) and the apartment block the lowest (about 45% less), regardless of the frame materials selection. The differences appeared evenly among the building life cycle stages. A correlation has been observed between the geometrical factors and life cycle primary energy balance of the reference buildings.

Variability of building environmental assessment tools on evaluating carbon emissions

With an increasing importance of sustainability in construction, more and more clients and designers employ building environmental assessment (BEA) tools to evaluate the environmental friendliness of their building facilities, and one important aspect of evaluation in the BEA models is the assessment of carbon emissions. However, in the absence of any agreed framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking, the results generated by the BEA tools might vary significantly which could lead to confusion or misinterpretation on the carbon performance of a building. This study thus aims to unveil the properties of and the standard imposed by the current BEA models on evaluating the life cycle carbon emissions. The analyses cover the (i) weighting of energy efficiency and emission levels among various environmental performance indicators; (ii) building life cycle stages in which carbon is taken into consideration; (iii) objectiveness of assessment; (iv) baseline set for carbon assessment; (v) mechanism for benchmarking the emission level; and (v) limitations of the carbon assessment approaches. Results indicate that the current BEA schemes focus primarily on operational carbon instead of the emissions generated throughout the entire building life cycle. Besides, the baseline and benchmark for carbon evaluation vary significantly among the BEA tools based on the analytical results of a hypothetical building. The findings point to the needs for a more transparent framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking in BEA modeling.

The Use of the Intelligent Library and Tutoring System at All Stages of a Building Life Cycle

Intelligent Library and Tutoring System for Brita in PuBs Project (ILTS-BPP) developed by the authors have the ability to personalize, maximum-reuse, index, analyze and integrate valuable information and knowledge from a wide selection of existing sources in all building life cycle stages. A number of tightly integrated search components (text search, audio search and video search) can be used. Such search possibilities ensure that stakeholders from construction and real estate industry can take advantage of ąuickly retrieving the most relevant information from the available content that has already been developed and approved for different manuals, handbooks, directives, research, normative documents, databases of best practice and other sources. We suppose that the intelligent libraries and tutoring systems will become a practical knowledge storehouse and will offer intelligent opportunities for learners in construction and real estate industry. The library of e-learning modules is individualized, can operate in distributed universities and institutions and can provide learners withdifferentforms of content.http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.1.214