Abstract

The awareness of the environmental impact of buildings during their entire whole life cycle has seen a growing interest in recent years. In fact, as buildings become more energy-efficient, life cycle impacts become increasingly important. Investors in the building sector are becoming aware of the direct and indirect benefits of a design process that enables the control of the impact of the building, ensuring the higher quality, intrinsic value of materials under a circular economy point of view. The durability is, together with reusability and recyclability, one of the main characteristics of construction materials. In this framework, the purpose of this paper is to describe a BIM-based approach to life cycle assessment (LCA) from the initial stages of the design of the Socrates Building in Viladecans. For this scope, a digital model in the TCQi GMA software was created to assist in the evaluation, optimization, and comparison of different design and construction alternatives. An integrated project delivery contract was adopted. These aspects altogether showed the potential of increasing the real estate value and the profitability of the building. This paper discusses problems that emerged during the digital project management, assessing criticalities and opportunities.

Abstract

"jats:p" The aim of this paper is to evaluate the sustainability of a novel internet-based system for food logistics and to create a framework for more detailed future sustainability assessments. Digitalization enables food shopping via the internet and food delivery from producers to consumers using only a single terminal. The sustainability of different food logistic options was evaluated through a literature review and life cycle assessment. Given the frame of reference, there is a gap in the knowledge on the sustainability of food logistics. In addition, the current literature does not recognize a novel internet-based system for food logistics, as the literature has focused on evaluating the internet-based food logistics of traditional actors. The life cycle assessment results show that new food logistic options could reduce GHG emissions, but various factors affect the magnitude of the reductions. We also present a systematic approach to which factors should be included in future research. This paper creates a base for more detailed future food logistic sustainability assessments. Document type: Article

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate how manufacturing organisations can decrease their environmental impact in the supply chain. To meet the purpose, two research questions were formulated:  1. How can a manufacturing organisation reduce its environmental impact caused by transportation?  2. How can a manufacturing organisation reduce its environmental impact caused by production?  Method – To provide the opportunity to reach a conclusion and to create a basic understanding of the research area, a literature review was conducted, which formed the basis of the theoretical framework. Through a case study at a manufacturing organisation, interviews and document analyses were used as sources for empirical data. In order to develop solutions and recommendations, collected data and theoretical framework were analysed and discussed.  Findings – The research findings indicate that there are several possible measures to implement to reduce an organisation's environmental impact in the supply chain. A decisive factor is creating a holistic and fundamental understanding of sustainability and enabling everyone involved to work according a common view and in the same direction. In addition, a requirement to pursue the same goal is that all stakeholders are involved where a prerequisite is a well-functioning internal communication.  Implications – The research did not contribute to any new theories, but through the research analysis, statements and theories from previous research were strengthened. The research suggests actions that can be used for organisations to reduce their environmental impact, but also to increase the understanding of why actions should be implemented. Society has an important responsibility for motivating and provide conditions for manufacturing organisations to reduce their footprint. This research is considered to lead to an improved environment in the form of lower emission levels where both organisations and the entire community take responsibility for the planet.  Limitations – The case study is designed as a single-case study which, from a validity perspective, is not considered as advantageous as a multiple case study because the results are difficult to generalize. In order to strengthen the study's reliability, several functional units and / or organisations could have been included in the study.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to explore if, and then how, electric cars and buses can contribute to sustainable personal mobility. Electric vehicles have increasingly been seen as a potential sustainable solution for the transport sector due to their high energy efficiency, close to zero emissions in the use phase, and the possibility to be powered by electricity from renewable resources. However, there are concerns about future scarcity of resources (e.g. lithium and cobalt for batteries), vehicle range, costs, high energy use in the production of batteries, as well as insufficient scientific support for how electric vehicles could be a part of a transition towards sustainability regarding personal mobility.   The challenges for a fast transition towards sustainability are large and many. The transport sector is not contributing to such development, mainly due to emissions, use of fossil energy, and use of materials mined and recycled under unacceptable conditions. Furthermore, existing societal goals (e.g. fossil-fuel independent vehicle fleet by 2030 in Sweden, UN Agenda 2030, and the Paris agreement) are insufficient for sustainability and are not complemented by concrete plans or an approach for how to engage stakeholders and achieve coordinated actions for sustainability. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development includes a principled definition of sustainability that is necessary and sufficient for sustainability and procedural support for collaborative innovation for a strategic transition to fulfillment of that definition, which is why it has been used as an overarching methodology in this thesis.  The research verified through several studies conditions for how electric vehicles can play a vital role in a strategic transition of personal mobility towards sustainability. Through stakeholder collaboration (e.g. interviews and workshops), a vision for sustainable transport with a focus on electric vehicles and an initial development plan towards that vision were designed. Several life cycle focused studies investigated (through calculations and data collection from literature, life cycle databases, interviews and workshops) about environmental and social impacts and costs for electric cars and buses. The stakeholder collaboration, combined with conceptual modelling, also resulted in models for generic support for multi-stakeholder collaboration and planning for strategic sustainable development of transport systems and communities, and for how to include electric buses in the procurement model of public transport. The strategic sustainable development perspective of this thesis broadens the analysis beyond the more common focus on climate change issues and should be able to reduce the risk of sub-optimizations in community and transport system development when applied in that context. The generic support for multi-stakeholder collaboration could potentially also promote a more participatory democratic approach to community development, grounded in a scientific foundation. "p"Contact the author to receive a pdf of the full thesis (papers included): sven.boren@bth.se or telephone +46455385723.

Abstract

Sweden has the goal of reaching a fossil independent transportation sector by 2030. Two ways to reach the goal is to increase the use of electric vehicles or produce more biofuels. Both alternatives could be powered by forest residue, which is an underutilized resource in the country. Electricity could be produced in a biomass fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, and biofuel could be produced in a biorefinery through gasification of biomass and Fischer-Tropsch process. When located in Stockholm County, both system can also distribute heat to the district heating system. It is however important to use the biomass in an energy-efficient way. The scope of this work has been to analyze the efficiency together with environmental and economic aspects of the two systems.  To assess the efficiency and environmental impact of the two systems a forest to wheel study was made of the systems where the product was studied from harvesting of forest residue to driving the vehicle. The studied functional units were: kilometers driven by vehicle, kWh of district heating, CO2-equivalents of greenhouse gases and MWh of forest residue. The system using CHP technology and electric vehicles outperformed the biorefinery system on the two first functional units. Using the same amount of forest residue more than twice as much district heating and almost twice as many driven kilometers were produced in this system. The study also showed that both systems avoids significant greenhouse gas emissions and can be part of the solution to decrease emissions from road transportation.  The profitability of investing in a CHP plant or a biorefinery was calculated through the net present value method. It showed that the expected energy prices are too low for the investments to be profitable. The CHP plant investment has a net present value of -1.6 billion SEK and the biorefinery investment has a net present value of -4.6 billion SEK. Furthermore, the biorefinery investment entails higher risk due to the high investment cost and uncommercialized technology. Both systems face barriers for implementation, these barriers have been studied qualitatively.  Sverige har som mål att skapa en fossiloberoende fordonsflotta till år 2030. Två vägar som pekats ut för att nå målet är att öka användningen av eldrivna fordon eller att producera mer biobränsle. Båda alternativen kan drivas av skogsavfall, en råvara som det finns gott om i Sverige. Elektricitet kan produceras av skogsavfallet i ett kraftvärmeverk, och biobränsle i ett bioraffinaderi genom användning av förgasning och Fischer-Tropschmetoden. I Stockholms län skulle båda systemen dessutom kunna producera värme till Stockholms fjärrvärmesystem. Det är dock viktigt att använda skogsavfallet på ett resurseffektivt sätt. Därför undersöker detta arbete effektiviteten av de två olika systemen tillsammans med en analys av växthusgasutsläpp och ekonomiska förutsättningar.  För att kunna utvärdera effektiviteten och klimatpåverkan av de två olika systemen utfördes en ”skog-till-hjul”-analys där produkten undersöktes från ursprunget, till drivandet av ett fordon. För att utföra studien definierades fyra funktionella enheter. De funktionella enheterna var: körsträcka med bil mätt i kilometer, kWh fjärrvärmeproduktion, CO2 ekvivalenter av växthusgasutsläpp och MWh skogsavfall. Studien visade att systemet där skogsavfallet används i ett kraftvärmeverk för att producera elektricitet och ladda elbilar hade bättre resultat i de två första funktionella enheterna. Systemet producerade nästan dubbelt så lång körsträcka och mer än dubbelt så mycket fjärrvärme som systemet där skogsavfallet används i ett bioraffinaderi och biobränslet används i dieselbilar. Studien visade även att båda system kan bidra till att sänka växthusgasutsläppen från transportsektorn.  Lönsamheten att investera i ett kraftvärmeverk eller bioraffinaderi beräknades med nuvärdesmetoden. Studien visade att de förväntade framtida energipriserna är för låga för att investeringarna ska bli lönsamma. Kraftvärmeanläggningen hade ett nuvärde på -1.6 miljarder kronor, och bioraffinaderiet ett nuvärde på -4.6 miljarder kronor. Dessutom ansågs investeringen i ett bioraffinaderi vara en hög risk på grund av den höga investeringskostnaden och att tekniken idag inte är kommersialiserad. Det finns även en rad andra barriär för att genomföra de två olika systemen, dessa barriärer har studerats kvalitativt i arbetet. 

Abstract

I denne studien er hydrogen foreslått som et alternativt drivstoff for maritim transport. Miljøpåvirkninger fra å erstatte konvensjonelle fossile brensler i sjøtransport med hydrogen vurderes ved å utføre en livssyklusvurdering av hele transportlivssyklusen. Systemet dekker påvirkninger knyttet til både infrastruktur, fartøy og drivstoff. Bare fullstendige referanser av fyringsoljer, flytende naturgass og hydrogen har vært mulig å oppdrive og begrenser derfor studiet. Batterier blir også vurdert, men bare som en ekstra kraftgenererende enhet i hybridsystemer, da de har en mangel på energi per vektenhet sammenlignet med andre drivstoff. LCAen som er gjennomført i denne studien involverer flere påvirkningskategorier inkludert: forsuring, abiotisk uttømming (av fossilt brensel), overgjødsling, økotoksisitet (gjelder både ferskvann, sjø og land), globalt oppvarmingspotensial, menneskelig toksisitet, nedbryting av ozonlag og fotokjemisk oksidasjon. Energibruk for de forskjellige drivstoffene blir undersøkt ved beregning av kumulativt energibehov. Som resultatene antyder, kan erstatning av deler av den nåværende drivstoffblandingen i sjøtransport med hydrogen føre til en betydelig mindre innvirkning på miljøet. Nytten av å bruke hydrogen i sjøtransport er imidlertid sterkt avhengig av tilgangen til et rent drivstoff. Siden produksjonsnivåene er lave i tillegg til sikkerhetsrisikoer for bruk av hydrogen ombord på skip, er det nødvendig å fortsette å utvikle hydrogenteknologien på både en kostnadseffektiv og energieffektiv måte for å konkurrere med velutviklede teknologier. Masteroppgave i energi ENERGI399 MAMN-ENERG

Abstract

Electric vehicles can play an important role in a future sustainable road transport system and many Swedish politicians would like to see them implemented faster. This is likely desirable to reach the target of a fossil independent vehicle fleet in Sweden by 2030 and a greenhouse gas neutral Swedish society no later than 2050. However, to reach both these targets, and certainly to support the full scope of sustainability, it is important to consider the whole life-cycle of the vehicles and also the interaction between the transport sector and other sectors. So far, there are no plans for transitions towards a sustainable transport system applying a sufficiently wide systems perspective, in Sweden or elsewhere. This implies a great risk for sub-optimizations. The overall aim of this work is to elaborate methodological support for development of sustainable personal road transport systems that is informed by a strategic sustainable development perspective. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is used as a foundation for the work to ensure a sufficiently wide systems perspective and coordinated collaboration across disciplines and sectors, both in the research and application. Maxwell’s Qualitative Research Design and the Design Research Methodology are used as overall guides for the research approach. Specific research methods and techniques include literature studies, action research seminars, interviews, and measurements of energy use, costs, and noise. Moreover, a case study on the conditions for a breakthrough for vehicles in southeast Sweden has been used as a test and development platform. Specific results include a preliminary vision for electrical vehicles in southeast Sweden, framed by the principled sustainability definition of the FSSD, an assessment of the current reality in relation to that vision, and proposed solutions to bridge the gap, organized into a preliminary roadmap. The studies show that electric vehicles have several sustainability advantages even when their whole life-cycle is considered, provided that they are charged with electricity from new renewable sources. Electrical vehicles also imply a low total cost of ownership and could promote new local ‘green jobs’ under certain conditions. Particularly promising results are seen for electric buses in public transport. As a general result, partly based on the experiences from the specific case, a generic community planning process model is proposed and its usefulness for sustainable transport system development is discussed. The strategic sustainable development perspective of this thesis broadens the analysis beyond the more common focus on climate change issues and reduces the risk of sub-optimizations in community and transport system development. The generic support for multi-stakeholder collaboration could potentially also promote a more participatory democratic approach to community development, grounded in a scientific foundation. Future research will explore specific decision support systems for sustainable transport development based on the generic planning process model. GreenCharge

Abstract

FIBRE4YARDS project aims to improve the competitiveness of small and medium European shipyards working with Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP). To this extent, the project expects to bring new automated cost-efficient production technologies to the shipyard (adaptive moulds, ATP/AFP, 3D printing, curved pultrusion profiles, hot stamping, innovative composite connections) from other competitive industrial sectors, and to transfer, adapt and combine them to improve FRP shipyards’ production and maintenance.

In order to incorporate all new manufacturing technologies into the ship design, FIBRE4YARDS will develop new advanced computational tools and numerical formulations specially developed to characterize the new procedures. Ship design will also take into account the environmental impact of the materials and manufacturing technologies used, based on a Life Cycle Assessment.

All new production procedures will be implemented in a new Shipyard 4.0 environment which, among other features, will be interconnected thanks to IoT technologies, and will be continuously monitored to ensure high quality processes using a digital twin of the shipyard.

Special care will be taken to ensure that all technologies proposed by FIBRE4YARDS project comply with the actual standards, writing new guidelines when those do not exist, and that can be implemented in European Shipyards smoothly and straightforward. With the proposed approach, shipyards will improve their production capacity and the quality of the ships manufactured, making them more safe and efficient.

Abstract

This paper presents a new service life database (DUREE database) for building elements, based on international service life data. The database includes 7‘000 service life data, for more than 2‘000 building elements. In addition, the fitting of the data to a lognormal distribution is presented. The study contributes to the increasing demand of probabilistic building LCA and LCC and provides the possibility to define statistical distributions, with a systematic way, for a large number of building elements and different levels of details (LOD), appropriate for BIM-based assessments.

Abstract

One of the design team’s tasks is assuring that their project has a low negative impact on the environment. This comes from regulations as well as expectations of direct benefits (reduction of operating cost, the project’s improved image in the eyes of the public, etc.). To fulfill this task, one needs to define criteria for assessing the design options. These are to correspond to the individual qualities of the project, and they should be significant and possible to assess. The paper, divided into two parts, presents a review of the literature concerning the criteria for the assessment of design solutions defined as "green" or “environmentally friendly”. Part I presented the method of the analysis and investigates into the number and type of criteria adopted in the sample of papers being the object of analysis. This part focuses on the ways of defining criteria values, weights, and methods of multicriteria assessment.