Sustainability and life cycle assessment of timber constuctions

Recommended Prerequisites

- Environmental Impacts.

- Timber Structures.

Teaching Methods

The theoretical concepts defined by the syllabus will be exposed during the classes. These concepts will be consolidated with two practical projects to be developed and presened during the classes. The first project is individual and will allow each student to develop a LCA study proposal on a product choosen by student. The second work will be a group project and will allow the students to identify the environmental impacts of a constructive solution made with wood-based products. The evaluation will be made by the two projects and a final exam.

Learning Outcomes

- To provide a clear understanding of the concepts of Sustainable Development (SD) and Sustainable Construction (SC);

- To understand the challenge of the application of the principles of SD to the construction sector;

- To provide understanding of the challenge of implementing SD principles for the construction sector;

- To provide understanding with LCA methodology;

- To obtain knowledge about the requirements of ISO and EN standards on LCA of buildings and products;

- To obtain knowledge about the application of LCA to timber construction solutions;

- To obtain knowledge on the interpretation and analysis of LCA results.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

- Sustainability of structures: General aspects. Sustainable construction.

- Thermal behavior and Energy efficiency in buildings: Energy Consumption of buildings. Tools for prediction of Energy consumption in buildings (EN ISO 13790). Energy Consumption: climate; building envelope; building services; Human factors. Energy efficiency of timber buildings.

- Life cycle assessment (LCA): Basic principles of LCA; Definition of scope and objectives (functional unit (FU), declared unit and/or functional equivalence (FE); system boundary); Life Cycle (LC) Inventory (LC inventory databases; Data collection for LC modeling); LC impact assessment (Methods of impact assessment; Obtaining results by environmental category and single indicator); LC cost assessment.

- LCA of wood-based construction solutions: LC processes. Definition of FU/FE (structural, thermal, acoustic). End-of-life modelling (incineration or landfill). Carbon cycle.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 50.0%
Project: 50.0%

Bibliography

ISO 14040: Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessment - Principles and Framework. International Standard Organization. 1997

ISO 14044: Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessment - Requirements and Guidelines. International Standard Organization. 2006

EN 15804: Sustainability of construction works - Environmental product declarations - Core rules for the product category of construction products. European Committee for Standardization. 2012

EN 15978: Sustainability of construction works. Assessment of environmental performance of buildings. Calculation method. European Committee for Standardization. 2011

Ferrão, P. Ecologia Industrial. Princípios e ferramentas. Instituto Superior Técnico. 2009

EEBGUIDE (on-line platform)- Operational guidance for life cycle assessment studies of the energy efficient buildings initiative (www.eebguide.eu).