Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Research Articles

Sustainability in the Design of an Itinerant Cultural Exhibition. Study of Two Alternatives

The sustainability improvement of museums and exhibitions is a recent concern for multiple organisations. The application of sustainability criteria is one of the most important strategies of innovation in design activities, products, and service systems. This study analyses the sustainability of two alternatives to an itinerant cultural exhibition service. The exhibition travels to 12 destinations over 3 years and is within a space of 300 m2. In the first alternative, the contents are printed and exposed on a physical medium, and in the second, audiovisual media projects the contents on the walls. Life cycle sustainability assessment is applied to evaluate the impacts in the environmental dimension and the economic and social dimensions. The calculation of indicators, such as the greenhouse gas emissions, total costs, and working time, which are referred to each sustainability dimension, is conducted. A descriptive, comparative study was performed to identify the impact factors with a higher incidence. The results demonstrate that the audiovisual exhibition is more sustainable than the printed exhibition, with a difference of 8.7%, 7%, and 6.6% in GWP100, CE, and TW indicators, respectively.

A framework for implementing holistic and integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of regional bioeconomy

PurposeCurrently, social, environmental, and economic risks and chances of bioeconomy are becoming increasingly a subject of applied sustainability assessments. Based on life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) aims to combine or integrate social, environmental, and economic assessments. In order to contribute to the current early stage of LCSA development, this study seeks to identify a practical framework for integrated LCSA implementation.MethodsWe select possible indicators from existing suitable LCA and LCSA approaches as well as from the literature, and allocate them to a sustainability concept for holistic and integrated LCSA (HILCSA), based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to conduct a practical implementation of HILCSA, we choose openLCA, because it offers the best current state and most future potential for application of LCSA. Therefore, not only the capabilities of the software and databases, but also the supported methods of life cycle impact assessments (LCIA) are evaluated regarding the requirements of the indicator set and goal and scope of future case studies.Results and discussionThis study presents an overview of available indicators and LCIAs for bioeconomy sustainability assessments as well as their link to the SDGs. We provide a practical framework for HILCSA of regional bioeconomy, which includes an indicator set for regional (product and territorial) bioeconomy assessment, applicable with current software and databases, LCIA methods and methods of normalization, weighting, and aggregation. The implementation of HILCSA in openLCA allows an integrative LCSA by conducting all steps in a single framework with harmonized, aggregated, and coherent results. HILCSA is capable of a sustainability assessment in terms of planetary boundaries, provisioning system and societal needs, as well as communication of results to different stakeholders.ConclusionsOur framework is capable of compensating some deficits of S-LCA, E-LCA, and economic assessments by integration, and shows main advantages compared to additive LCSA. HILCSA is capable of addressing 15 out of 17 SDGs. It addresses open questions and significant problems of LCSAs in terms of goal and scope, LCI, LCIA, and interpretation. Furthermore, HILCSA is the first of its kind actually applicable in an existing software environment. Regional bioeconomy sustainability assessment is bridging scales of global and regional effects and can inform stakeholders comprehensively on various impacts, hotspots, trade-offs, and synergies of regional bioeconomy. However, significant research needs in LCIAs, software, and indicator development remain.

Integrating process modelling and sustainability assessment to improve the environmental and economic sustainability in the cheese industry

This paper combines process design and modelling with life cycle sustainability assessment to identify opportunities for improving the environmental and economic performance in the cheese industry. Considering both the production and consumption perspectives, the study considers first a range of improvement options in the cheese manufacturing process, followed by an assessment of the rest of the life cycle. For the manufacturing process, the focus is on energy efficiency and valorisation of waste with the following four options considered: Option 1 is a base case that reflects current manufacturing practice and therefore excludes energy recovery and waste utilisation; Option 2 includes heat integration applied to recover waste heat from the process; Option 3 considers the combination of heat integration with treatment of cheese whey via anaerobic digestion to produce biogas; in Option 4, heat integration is combined with treatment of whey via fermentation to produce bioethanol and animal feed. Cheddar cheese has been selected by way of example as one of the most consumed types of cheese in different countries, including the US and the UK. Using life cycle assessment and life cycle costing, the environmental and economic sustainability of cheese have been assessed for these options from farm gate to cheese-plant gate for the production perspective, and from cradle to grave for the consumption perspective. Option 4 is found to be the best alternative across all impacts and costs for both perspectives. For example, compared to the base case, the climate change impact and life cycle costs of cheese are reduced respectively by 148% and 158% for the production perspective, and by 3.4% and 8% for the consumption perspective. These reductions are mainly due to the co-production of bioethanol and animal feed. Production of biogas from whey in Option 3 has higher environmental impacts than the base case, making it the worst alternative. Taking the consumption of cheese at the UK level as an example, improvements in the manufacturing process via Option 4 could reduce the annual climate change impact of the food sector by around 209 kt CO 2 eq./yr and primary energy demand by 6.7 PJ/yr, while increasing the value added of cheese by up to 11%. These results will be of interest to cheese producers, food manufacturers, consumers and policy makers.

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of a Novel Bio-Based Multilayer Panel for Construction Applications

The bioeconomy can be integral to transforming the current economic system into one with reduced environmental and social impacts of material consumption. This work describes a bio-based multi-layer panel that is based on residual coniferous bark. To ensure that the presented bio-based panel positively contributes to environmental protection while remaining competitive with conventional products and meeting high social standards, the development of the panel is accompanied by a life cycle sustainability assessment. This study performs a comparative LCA and LCC of the developed panel to conventional benchmark panels, as well as a qualitative social life cycle assessment. While the panel performs only economically marginally weaker than the benchmarks, the results are more heterogeneous for the environmental dimension with benefits of the bio-based panel in categories such as climate change, acidification, and ozone formation and detriments in categories including eutrophication. The S-LCA analysis shows that all of the involved companies apply social principles in direct proximity; however, social responsibility along the supply chain could be further promoted. All results need to be viewed with the caveat that the manufacturing processes for the new panel have been implemented, to date, on a pilot scale and further improvements need to be achieved in terms of upscaling and optimisation cycles.

Life cycle sustainability assessment of optimized biodiesel production from used rice bran oil employing waste derived-hydroxyapatite supported vanadium catalyst.

The present work encompasses the production of biodiesel from an inexpensive waste, viz., used rice bran oil (URBO) through concurrent esterification and transesterification reactions employing the prepared waste duck bone (WDB)-derived natural hydroxyapatite (NAHAp) supported vanadium impregnated solid catalyst (VNAHAp). The optimal VNAHAp catalyst possessed 92.23 m2/g surface area which was much superior to 61.46 m2/g of the V-catalyst (VCHAp) prepared using commercially available hydroxyapatite (CHAp). The optimal (Box-Behnken design) concurrent trans/esterification reaction conditions for biodiesel (FAME) production from URBO and methanol were 5 wt.% catalyst concentration, 8:1 methanol/URBO mole ratio, and 35 wt% NH4VO3 loaded VNAHAp (35VNAHAp) catalyst that resulted in 99.05% FAME yield deploying a low-energy infrared radiator assisted batch reactor (LIRABR) which ensured significantly high FAME yield at milder temperature (60°C) and in shorter reaction time (30 min) compared to a conventionally heated batch reactor. The product biodiesel and its blend with commercial diesel conformed to ASTM D7467-10 specifications. The life cycle assessment (LCA) of the entire process advocated superior sustainability of the biodiesel production using 35VNAHAp catalyst in the LIRABR compared to their conventional counterparts. Valorization of two potential wastes, viz., URBO and WDB, under milder process conditions involving LIRABR and 35VNAHAp resulted in lower environmental impacts, thus rendering a sustainable biodiesel production process towards a greener earth.

Dynamic Evaluation of Water Utilization Efficiency in Large Coal Mining Area Based on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Theory

Coal mining enterprises have a variety of water sources, complex drainage structures, long production chain, and many links, which lead to uncoordinated water utilization and low water efficiency. Taking a large coal mining area of China as an example, a dynamic model was established to evaluate the water utilization efficiency based on the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) theory. In the model, the influence of five aspects (including resources, economy, technology, society, and environment) and 19 factors was considered. The game theory method was adopted to calculate the fusion weights of the 19 factors according to the analytic hierarchy process and CRITIC method. The CW-VIKOR method was used to explain the dynamic evaluation results of water efficiency in the coal mining area. The results show that the environmental impacts of the mining system mainly come from three aspects: regional drainage, domestic sludge landfill and disposal, and water system electricity consumption. Electricity consumption in water systems has the greatest environmental impact, accounting for about 73%, regional drainage for about 26%, and domestic sludge landfill and disposal for about 1%.The CW-VIKOR approach can harmonize the interrelationships among resources, economy, technology, society, and environment. It is an effective method for LCSA of water resource in the coal mining area. The reliability of the evaluation results is high and close to the actual situation. The dynamic model established in this paper is also applicable to other coal mine areas, and only the factor weights need to be modified according to the specific characteristics of each coal mine. The model can provide guidance for optimal exploitation and allocation of coal mine water resources.

Life-cycle sustainability assessment of geotechnical site investigation

The life-cycle impacts of site characterization, an important component of most geotechnical engineering projects, are typically not considered in practice nor have they been studied in detail. A life-cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) was performed to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of several common site investigation methods. The potential impacts of these methods were computed to provide normalized metrics for the mobilization, drilling, sampling and (or) testing, and borehole sealing phases of the life cycle. These environmental impact and cost metrics were then applied to a “typical” 30 m exploration to compare different site investigation methods. Next, the metrics were used to assess the impacts of small and midsized industry investigation programs to investigate how impacts scale with project size. Scenario analyses were then performed on the midsized project to consider how different mobilization choices, grouting materials, and exploration methods influence total impacts. Collectively, this study provides a reference and framework that allows practitioners to assess environmental impacts in parallel with cost when designing site investigation scopes of work.

Provisions of Sustainability in Structural Design Approaches in Different Codes

Concrete has changed the norms in the Construction industry, it has modified the thinking and possibilities of the general public. Particularly, Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) is being used throughout the world; whether it be tall sky scrapers in the Middle East, or the vast buildings in Central Europe, RCC has altered the construction Industry. But then again, RCC has its fair share of shortcomings, in recent times it has been recorded that RCC structures collapse due to brittle failure. Seismic loading, mainly from earthquakes are mostly responsible for structure failure as seismic waves generally lead towards overloading and ultimately the structure fails. Cement is generally an energy releasing material and it releases immense amount of CO2 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere, causing the ozone layer to deplete. Hence to minimize this impact and to provide a sustainable solution and to minimize the accidents different sustainable houses are being provided to the people. By doing this, we can reuse existing building assets to minimize the waste and to reduce the pollution. In 2011, International Organization launched the Life cycle Sustainability assessment to have a more sustainable approach towards construction by using different techniques. Life cycle sustainability assessment is a suitable too used for environmental performance of buildings. In this paper we will look to observe different provisions of sustainability in different structural designs taking different codes as a reference.

Application of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment in the Construction Sector: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper reviews actual sustainability assessments in the construction sector to define whether and how a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is applied and interpreted in this sector today. This industry has large shares in global energy (33%), raw material consumption (40%) and solid waste generation (40%). Simultaneously, it drives the economy and provides jobs. The LCSA is a method to identify environmental, social and economic impacts of products/services along their life cycles. The results of this study showed a mismatch between sectoral emissions and the number of LCSA-based impact evaluations. It was found that only 11% of papers reviewed assessed all three sustainability pillars. The economic and especially the social pillars were partly neglected. In Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), 100% made use of Global Warming Potential (GWP) but only 30% assessed more than five indicators in total. In Life Cycle Costing (LCC), there were a variety of costs assessed. Depreciation and lifetime were mainly neglected. We found that 42% made use of Net Present Value (NPV), while over 50% assessed individual indicators. For the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), the focus was on the production stage; even the system boundaries were defined as cradle-to-use and -grave. Future approaches are relevant but there is no need to innovate: a proposal for a LCSA approach is made.

Life cycle sustainability assessment of synthetic fuels from date palm waste

The use of biowaste feedstock is often suggested for sustainable production of synthetic fuels through gasification followed by the Fischer-Tropsch process. While the technical performance of this type of bioenergy system has significantly been investigated, comprehensive sustainability analyses are still required. The present study evaluates the life cycle sustainability performance of synthetic diesel and gasoline from Tunisian date palm waste, and compares it with that of conventional fossil fuels. Life cycle inventories are elaborated to subsequently characterise the performance of the synthetic biofuels under a set of 12 environmental, economic and social indicators. Both environmental and economic hotspots were found to be associated with the need for electricity and oxygen. Direct emissions to the air and the investment in the plant's power section were also found to significantly affect the environmental and economic performances, respectively. Potential social impacts were found to be mainly linked to the supply chain of equipment and infrastructure, while electricity arose as the most contributing operational element. Overall, the evaluated synthetic biofuels could be considered competitive with conventional fossil fuels and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals only if environmentally- and socially-friendly (renewable) electricity and oxygen sources are implemented and the scale and configuration of the plant are optimised.

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of a dish-Stirling Concentrating Solar Power Plant in the Mediterranean area

Among the different renewable energy sources, solar energy shows the highest exploitation potential to satisfy a substantial portion of the worlds’ future energy demand, guaranteeing at the same time lower emissions than conventional energy providers. Much of this potential is usable thanks to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies, of which the dish-Stirling concentrator is the most efficient. Nevertheless, the production and installation phases of the dish-Stirling technology can have an environmental impact which motivated the assessment of the plant in the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic and social). The present publication evaluated an existing dish-Stirling plant located in Italy with a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment. The Life Cycle Assessment resulted in the emission of 35 tons of CO2e. The main drivers of emissions were the electronic components (16%) and the steel used for the structure (37%). Life Cycle Costing resulted in total costs of 308,467€. S-LCA resulted in working seconds for skilled and unskilled workers equal to 1,454,400 s and 1,713,600 s, respectively. The main challenges that were identified for this work were the data availability for all pillars and the comparability between the actual study and the publications already available in the relevant literature.

Attributional & Consequential Life Cycle Assessment: Definitions, Conceptual Characteristics and Modelling Restrictions

To assess the potential environmental impact of human/industrial systems, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a very common method. There are two prominent types of LCA, namely attributional (ALCA) and consequential (CLCA). A lot of literature covers these approaches, but a general consensus on what they represent and an overview of all their differences seems lacking, nor has every prominent feature been fully explored. The two main objectives of this article are: (1) to argue for and select definitions for each concept and (2) specify all conceptual characteristics (including translation into modelling restrictions), re-evaluating and going beyond findings in the state of the art. For the first objective, mainly because the validity of interpretation of a term is also a matter of consensus, we argue the selection of definitions present in the 2011 UNEP-SETAC report. ALCA attributes a share of the potential environmental impact of the world to a product life cycle, while CLCA assesses the environmental consequences of a decision (e.g., increase of product demand). Regarding the second objective, the product system in ALCA constitutes all processes that are linked by physical, energy flows or services. Because of the requirement of additivity for ALCA, a double-counting check needs to be executed, modelling is restricted (e.g., guaranteed through linearity) and partitioning of multifunctional processes is systematically needed (for evaluation per single product). The latter matters also hold in a similar manner for the impact assessment, which is commonly overlooked. CLCA, is completely consequential and there is no limitation regarding what a modelling framework should entail, with the coverage of co-products through substitution being just one approach and not the only one (e.g., additional consumption is possible). Both ALCA and CLCA can be considered over any time span (past, present & future) and either using a reference environment or different scenarios. Furthermore, both ALCA and CLCA could be specific for average or marginal (small) products or decisions, and further datasets. These findings also hold for life cycle sustainability assessment.

Production of solid biofuels from organic waste in developing countries: A review from sustainability and economic feasibility perspectives

The current increase in the world population and its energy demand promotes the study and implementation of cleaner energy forms since the traditional energy recovery systems are seriously affecting the environment. Biofuels and especially biomass or solid biofuels represent a sustainable energy source for developed and developing countries. This review aims to discuss the characteristics and advantages of solid biofuels, analyse the pretreatments and thermal treatments required to recover energy, and compare them with traditional fossil fuels. Other areas such as the sustainability and economic feasibility of solid biofuels are likewise addressed by explaining frequently used tools to evaluate the environmental impact as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Comparatively, more recent methodologies are examined as efforts for accomplishing sustainability in the biofuel industry, namely Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) and certification schemes like the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), the Inter-American Development Bank Sustainability Scorecard, and initiatives like the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Finally, it was revealed that the economic feasibility and competitiveness of solid biofuels differ among developing countries but represent a notable contribution to their energy matrix.

Setting Thresholds to Define Indifferences and Preferences in PROMETHEE for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of European Hydrogen Production

The Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is a proven method for sustainability assessment. However, the interpretation phase of an LCSA is challenging because many different single results are obtained. Additionally, performing a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is one way—not only for LCSA—to gain clarity about how to interpret the results. One common form of MCDAs are outranking methods. For these type of methods it becomes of utmost importance to clarify when results become preferable. Thus, thresholds are commonly used to prevent decisions based on results that are actually indifferent between the analyzed options. In this paper, a new approach is presented to identify and quantify such thresholds for Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) based on uncertainty of Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods. Common thresholds and this new approach are discussed using a case study on finding a preferred location for sustainable industrial hydrogen production, comparing three locations in European countries. The single LCSA results indicated different preferences for the environmental, economic and social assessment. The application of PROMETHEE helped to find a clear solution. The comparison of the newly-specified thresholds based on LCIA uncertainty with default thresholds provided important insights of how to interpret the LCSA results regarding industrial hydrogen production.

Life cycle sustainability assessment analysis of different concrete construction techniques for residential building in Malaysia

Life cycle sustainability assessment analysis of different concrete construction techniques for residential building in Malaysia

A holistic life cycle sustainability evaluation of a building project

The current approach to life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is based on a triple-bottom line (TBL) framework, which has recognised limitations due to its predominantly quantitative and reductive summative approach. The increased understanding and importance of an integrative approach for incorporating qualitative sustainability considerations into life cycle choices for the built environment sectors have led this investigation towards a more holistic paradigm. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, to introduce a conceptual method and application process for life cycle sustainability evaluation (LCSE) based on Integral Theory (IT). Secondly, to illustrate the application of LCSE with a case study as a potential advancement to the traditional Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodology. This work is centred around a sequence of methodological stages: (1) literature review, (2) action research with stakeholder groups, and (3) illustrative case study application. It was found that the key effectiveness of the LCSE approach lies in providing an expansive paradigm for sustainability evaluation and delivering a template for identifying missing perspectives or variables in a project. In particular, LCSE achieves increased integration of qualitative sustainability aspects in buildings and has potential to stimulate better long-term built environment outcomes in our cities and communities.

Selection of alternative fuel taxis: a hybridized approach of life cycle sustainability assessment and multi-criteria decision making with neutrosophic sets

This study presents a combined application of hybrid life cycle sustainability assessment and multi-criteria decision-making, aiming to further advance an integrated sustainability assessment and decision-making for the selection of alternative-fuel taxis. First, a multiregional hybrid life cycle sustainability assessment model is built to evaluate macro-level sustainability impacts of various vehicle types: conventional gasoline vehicles, compressed natural gas vehicles, hybrid, and battery electric vehicles. Second, considering the subjective nature of the evaluation process, the interval-valued neutrosophic sets-based analytic hierarchy process is suggested to assess the results obtained from the life cycle model to determine the weight of each evaluation criterion. Then, the technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution is used to rank the sustainability performance. Two different charging scenarios are also tested. The results show that solar-powered BEVs are the best in the environmental impacts with the exceptions of water consumption and land use. Solar-powered BEVs are superior in human health impact, while, ICVs are the best in compensation and employment generations. The ranking results reveal that solar-powered BEVs are the best alternatives when all indicators are considered, followed by CNG vehicles. The proposed method provides a practical and life cycle-based decision-making approach to support and prioritize effective policies for more sustainable transportation.

Systematic literature review on the application of life cycle sustainability assessment in the energy sector

Systematic literature review on the application of life cycle sustainability assessment in the energy sector

Visualization supported corporate decision making for life cycle sustainability assessment – Illustrated using a case study for selecting a sustainable packaging system for self-leveling compounds

Product life cycle assessment (LCA) and sustainability assessment have proven as powerful methods to identify sustainability hotspots and support decision making. In practice, corporate decision support is often hampered by the complexity resulting from the three sustainability dimensions and inherent uncertainties. In this study, a novel a posteriori visualization is presented, based on the concept of satisficing or similarly sustainable alternatives integrating scenarios to account for different use options. This allows the decision makers (DMs) including management-relevant information in their decision while selecting a satisficing alternative. The presented approach supports consensus building among DMs with differing weighting preferences for the three pillars of sustainability as common in life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) and leads to a consensus in product selection for relevant scenarios. This also supports the selection of more robust alternatives under a variety of use cases compared to the common focus on best performing alternatives for a particular use case.For illustration, a case study of a self-leveling compound (mortar) manufacturer interested in selecting a sustainable packaging system for a variety of different use cases is presented. Paper bags, flexible intermediate bulk container, one-way cardboard container and a pumping truck, all used with different machinery, are evaluated under several scenarios. Using first-hand field data, this case study shows how the proposed visualization supports consensus building among DMs. The case study shows that in 87% of all scenarios the use of the 25 kg paper bag in combination with a mixing drum and cart resulted as a satisficing sustainable alternative.

Life cycle sustainability assessment of a light rail transit system: Integration of environmental, economic, and social impacts.

The transition towardsustainable urban transportation has gained importance in recent decades. However, urban transportation has not been addressed for all dimensions of sustainability. This study presents a life cycle sustainability assessment of a light rail transit system in Kayseri, Turkey, by integrating environmental, economic, and social aspects. The sustainability performance of the light rail transit system is evaluated using a cradle-to-grave approach to assess three aspects of sustainability. For the environmental evaluation, a life cycle assessment was applied using SimaPro 8.4.1 PhD version based on ISO 14040 and 14044. The method, which includes nine environmental impact categories, was employed to assess the environmental performance of the light rail transit system with a functional unit of 1 passenger-km. For the economic assessment, life cycle costing was utilized with the functional unit of USD for 1 passenger-km. A social life cycle assessment was applied to assess the social performance of the light rail transit system based on guidelines published by the United Nations Environment Programme in collaboration with the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. For the determination of social impacts, 11 subcategories and 18 social indicators were selected. The results showed that the global warming potential and abiotic depletion potential of the light rail system per passenger-km were 2.4E - 02 kg CO2 eq. and 2.7E - 01 MJ, respectively, with a service life of 50 years. The total life cycle cost of the light rail system was calculated as 0.046 USD for 1 passenger-km. The results also revealed that the main contributor to the total life cycle cost was energy cost, with 92% (2.88E + 08 USD) of the total cost. In the social performance evaluation, it is found that the industry performs well for society, the local community, and workers but has a weaker social performance for the consumer due to a weak feedback mechanism. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:1070-1082. © 2021 SETAC.