Life Cycle Assesment Report for Centre for the Creative Arts and Media (CCAM) | GMIT

Life Cycle Assessment

Report 24/02/15

Jonathan Flanagan Innovative Architectural Technology

Galway Mayo Institute of technology

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Table of Contents

Section 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 What is a Life Cycle Assessment? .......................................................................................... 3

1.2 Why the need for LCA in building? ......................................................................................... 3

1.3 Life Cycle Assessment Method ............................................................................................... 4

Stage 01 Goal and Scope ........................................................................................................... 4

Stage 02 Inventory Analysis ....................................................................................................... 4

Stage 03 Impact Assessment ..................................................................................................... 4

Stage 04 Interpretation ................................................................................................................ 5

Section 2.0 Goal and Scope ............................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Goal of the Assessment ........................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Scope .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Section 3.0 Life Cycle Costing ........................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Cork Insulation ........................................................................................................................... 7

Manufacture .................................................................................................................................. 7

Transport to Site ........................................................................................................................... 8

Installation ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Life Expectancy ............................................................................................................................ 9

Maintenance .................................................................................................................................. 9

Demolition/Disposal ..................................................................................................................... 9

03.2 Expanded Polystyrene Insulation........................................................................................ 10

Manufacture ................................................................................................................................ 10

Transport to Site ......................................................................................................................... 11

Installation ................................................................................................................................... 11

Life Expectancy .......................................................................................................................... 11

Maintenance ................................................................................................................................ 12

Demolition/Disposal ................................................................................................................... 12

Section 4.0 Carbon Foot Print of Rigid Expanded Polystyrene Insulation opposed to Rigid

Cork Insulation in Solid a Floor ........................................................................................................ 13

4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13

4.2 Case Study: Calculations for Cluain Mhuires Existing Chapel Ground Floor Upgrade 13

Table 4.3 Proposed Solid floor build up with EPS Insulation .................................................. 13

Table 4.4 Proposed Solid floor build up with Expanded Cork Insulation ............................... 15

Section 5.0 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 18


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References .......................................................................................................................................... 19

Online Photographic: ..................................................................................................................... 19


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Section 1.0 Introduction

1.1 What is a Life Cycle Assessment?

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method used to assess the environmental

characteristics and possible impacts that are associated with a buildings materials. It

is carried out by gathering an inventory of energy used, material contributions and

environmental emissions that are relevant to the materials under assessment. It is

used to evaluate the possible impacts to the environment that are associated with

their identified contributions and emissions.

Fig 1.01 An illustration showing factors considered in life cycle assessment (Figure 1: Processes

typically considered when conducting an LCA for a product)

1.2 Why the need for LCA in building?

Reduce the already massive problem of rising CO2 emissions

Conserve finite resources such as coal and oil

Conserve ecological systems for future generations

Create and use cleaner technologies

Maximize recycling of materials and waste during before and after

construction

Designers and manufacturers have to meet regulations such as TGD Part L that are

put out by the Irish Government and EU. They are required to demonstrate their


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chosen materials and their associated environmental performance in the form of a

LCA to show how they are being compliant with the regulations set out. It is very

easy to select a product a manufacturer has told you is environmentally friendly, by

carrying out the LCA you can determine if this information is true and how much

embodied energy does it really take to create the said material.

1.3 Life Cycle Assessment Method

Carrying out an LCA involves four stages:

Stage 01 Goal and Scope

This stage involves setting out the questions that are to be answered for example,

what is the purpose of the assessment, why is the assessment being done, who are

the beneficiary’s, what is it focusing on, how the assessment will be carried out and

what information is required to carry out the assessment ?

Stage 02 Inventory Analysis

This stage involves compiling all the relevant information on inputs such as

embodied energy, fuel and raw materials used in the products production and the

outputs such as emissions generated, waste created and the product itself. This

information is then translated into emissions released to air water and land and the

resources that were expended. These results are then calculated to gain a total

which is then placed in the inventory table.

Stage 03 Impact Assessment

Characterization: Selecting impact categories, characterization models and category

indicators.

Classification: Where the inventory’s constraints are organised and allocated to

particular impact categories.

Impact measurement: Where the categorized Life Cycle Inventory flows are

characterised into a LCIA methodology. These measurements are sorted into

common equivalence units that are summed to deliver an inclusive impact category

total.


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Stage 04 Interpretation

Interpretation involves identifying, quantifying, checking, and estimating data from the results

of the life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment. The results from the inventory

analysis and impact assessment are summarized during the interpretation phase. The

purpose of executing a life cycle interpretation is to figure out the level of confidence in the

concluding results and convey them in a reasonable, complete, and accurate way. The result

of the interpretation stage is a set of conclusions and recommendations made for the study.


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Section 2.0 Goal and Scope

2.1 Goal of the Assessment

The goal set out for this report is to show the total carbon foot print of Expanded

Polystyrene Insulation (EPS) opposed to Expanded Cork Insulation, cradle to site in

the proposed solid floor build-up of the Cluain Mhuire chapel.

2.2 Scope

The author hopes to prove this by calculating the weight of materials involved in the

build up in conjunction with the figures provided in the ICE Database V2.0 which

gives cradle to gate data relating to Embodied Energy and Carbon Coefficients of the

materials conatined in it. Embodied energy of the transport required to ship these

materials from their retailers to the site will be added to this calculation also.


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Section 3.0 Life Cycle Costing

Life-cycle Costing (LCC) is a technique used to estimate the total cost of ownership.

It allows comparative cost assessments to be made over a specific period of time,

taking into account relevant economic factors both in terms of initial capital costs and

future operational and asset replacement cost.

3.1 Cork Insulation

Manufacture

Cork itself is a natural product that is made from the external layer of bark of certain

oak trees that are cultivated in western Mediterranean regions of Europe and North

Africa, Portugal being the world’s main supplier. Being that the product comes from a

tree means it is a renewable source for insulation, once harvested it regenerates and

can be harvested every 9 years of the trees life span which is over 200 years. It has

been defined by the LEED rating system as being one of the most natural materials,

as it is biodegradable, manufactured from sustainable forests and is a derivative of

the cork stop industry making it a recycled product.

Fig 1.02 Cork harvested by hand with the aid of a hatchet (2010 Cork Harvest Restores Inventory

Levels n.d.)

Cork insulation in the construction industry is an important contribution with

significant advantages when it comes to insulating materials. The production process

involves its extraction from the bark of trees by hand and is then transported to its

manufacturing plant where superheated steam powered by steam generators which

are fed by their waste generated in the cork grinding process and board finishing


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procedures. Heating the cork in this way activates suberin (natural resin), which acts

as the binder to hold the cork granules together. By this process it does not include

any other products that aren’t solely cork to manufacture the board.

The production of cork and its utilization In the construction industry is closely related

to the conservation of biodiversity and the reductions in emissions of CO2 gases.

With this in mind Cork Oak forests provide an ecosystem for many flora and fauna

that include endangered species. This in contrast with the environmental importance

of cork, boosts its sustainability in the world.

Fig 1.03 Billets of cork insulation in its expanded manufactured form (Expanded cork insulation n.d.)

Transport to Site

There is a substantial amount of embodied energy required to transport cork from its

original source, but this is usually done so by sea which is fairly energy efficient

when the weight of cork is considered being very light. Cork can be transported via

road, rail and sea via trucks, vans, trains and freight cargo ships. There are no

special conditions for the transport of cork other than that they are stored in a dry

space.

Installation

Cork comes in standard board sizes of 600x1200mm in varying thicknesses and is

applied on site by manual labour with little to no embodied energy involved in its

installation.


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Life Expectancy

Cork insulation board is believed to have a design life that would equate to the life

span of the building it is installed within as it is a very durable building product.

Maintenance

Cork has very little if at all any maintenance associated with it especially when it is

going to be installed within a solid floor structure meaning it would be very hard to

conduct any form of maintenance upon the insulation as it is embedded under a

layer of tiles and a screed which would prove costly to remove to get at the

insulation.

Note:

With this in mind the only element that can be maintained within a solid floor build up

is its surface finish being the clay tiles and parquet flooring. These floors should be

maintained by weekly vacuuming and mopping with the aid of a cleaning solution not

comprised of any ammonia, bleach or any product listed as an abrasive cleaner. For

the most appropriate cleaning solution for a tiled floor it is best to seek consultation

from the tiles manufacturer. In the instance of parquet flooring it is advised to clean

the floor with a commercial grade hardwood cleaner. The parquet then needs to be

sanded down with the use of an orbital sander and vacuumed removing the waste

accumulated. Then it is required to varnish the floor, sand it again and varnish. This

process is repeated every 3 to 4 years. To maintain this finish it is advised to mop

the floor weekly to keep it intact. Note: shading the floor itself from the sun can

reduce fading in the parquet.

Demolition/Disposal

Cork cannot be recycled upon its removal, but it is biodegradable.


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03.2 Expanded Polystyrene Insulation

Fig 1.04 Manufacturing process of expandable polystyrene to make expanded polystyrene (Figure

1 n.d.)

Manufacture

Expanded Polystyrene is a rigid closed cell and light weight plastic foam insulation

product made from solid beads of polystyrene. The expandable polystyrene beads

used are plastic materials derived from crude oil. There are three stages involved in

the manufacturing of EPS to turn expandable polystyrene into expanded polystyrene.

The first stage involves heating the expandable polystyrene beads with steam by the

use of a pre-foamer causing the beads to expand 40 times their original size.

Pentane (solvent) is then used as the blowing agent that boils when heated by the

steaming process which in turn creates the closed cell honey comb structure in the

beads.

During the second stage the expanded polystyrene beads are allowed to cool for 12

– 24 hours in a storage hopper.

At the third stage the beads are then placed in a mould that reheats the beads. The

beads then fuse together, expand further to form a rigid mould of EPS board and

upon cooling are cut into different sizes. When a board has been processed it

contains only 2% expandable polystyrene and 98% air.


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EPS is not biodegradable therefore does not degrade over time. It is also unaffected

by moisture penetration, non-toxic and does not produce any airborne fibres. There

is no by-product of EPS throughout its manufacture, resulting in no waste being

created, any left overs are recycled and put back into the production process to be re

used.

Transport to Site

There is a substantial amount of embodied energy required to transport EPS from its

source, but this is usually done so by sea which is generally energy efficient when

the weight of EPS is considered to be very light. EPS can be transported via road,

rail and sea via trucks, vans, trains and freight cargo ships. There is a special

requirement that EPS be contained and transported in a well ventilated environment

as pentane vapours are flammable and cause harm and damage.

Installation

EPS comes in standard board sizes of 600x1200mm in varying thicknesses and is

applied on site by manual labour with little to no embodied energy involved in its

installation.

Fig 1.05 Sheets of Extruded Polystyrene in its manufactured form (EPS T-FONOPOR, n.d.)

Life Expectancy

EPS is believed to have a design life of 60 – to 80 years before its thermal properties

are spoiled.


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Maintenance

EPS has very little if at all any maintenance associated with it especially when it is

going to be installed within a solid floor structure meaning it would be very hard to

conduct any form of maintenance upon the insulation as it is embedded under a

layer of tiles and a screed which would prove costly to remove to get at the

insulation.

Demolition/Disposal

Used EPS is recycled and collected from recycling centres and depots, set up by

EPS manufacturers and local authorities who have signed an international

agreement on recycling to mitigate against burning or throwing it into land fill. The

recycled EPS can be remoulded again to make more insulation boards.


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Section 4.0 Carbon Foot Print of Rigid Expanded Polystyrene

Insulation opposed to Rigid Cork Insulation in Solid a Floor

4.1 Introduction

Cluain Mhuire’s Chapel existing ground floor is comprised of a raft foundation,

Limestone rubble infill, a concrete slab, mixed parquet and clay tile flooring. The

proposed build up shall be a solid floor build for both build-ups analysed, as required

to keep within architectural conservation principles, replacing like for like as the

existing structures floor is comprised of a solid floor construction. The first floor

composition shall contain Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Insulation and the second,

Expanded Cork Insulation.

4.2 Case Study: Calculations for Cluain Mhuires Existing Chapel Ground Floor

Upgrade

The surface area of the proposed upgrade to the existing ground floor is 359m2,

10% of waste generated from the materials used when installing the floor is added to

the floor surface giving a total of 394.9m2. An illustration of the two floor build–ups,

their embodied energy and carbon coefficients are provided on the A3 sheet that

accompanies this report. The calculations provided are based on embodied energy

and carbon co-efficients of materials taken from the ICE Database V2.0. Transport of

the materials is by road from the different locations within Ireland, where these

materials can be acquired and is typically transported via a 32 tonne diesel artic

truck with an embodied energy of 0.94MJ/t/km (data from Argonne National

Laboratory).

The total embodied energy and carbon emmissions of the solid floor is given in the

calculation below:

Table 4.3 Proposed Solid floor build up with EPS Insulation

Material Calculation

Clay Tiles

Embodied Energy 62.5kg/m2 x 394.9m

2 = 24,681kg

24,681kg x 6.50MJ/kg = 160,427MJ


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Embodied Carbon Emmission 62.5kg/m2 x 394.9m

2 = 24,681kg

24,681kg x 0.45kgCO2/kg = 11,106kgCO2e

Transport Embodied Energy

24.681 x 220km = 5,430tkm

5,430tkm x 0.94MJ = 5,104MJ

Total Embodied Energy 160,427MJ + 5,430MJ = 165,857MJ

Total Embodied Carbon 11,106kgCO2e

Screed

Embodied Energy 120kg/m2 x 394.9m

2 = 47,388kg

47,388kg x 1.33MJ/kg = 63,026MJ

Embodied Carbon Emmission 120kg/m2 x 394.9m

2 = 47,388kg

47,388kg x 0.208kgCO2/kg = 9,857kgCO2e


47.388t x 10km = 47,388tkm

47,388tkm x 0.94MJ = 44,545MJ



Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)


2 = 987kg

987kg x 88.60MJ/kg = 87,448MJ


2 = 987kg

987kg x 2.55kgCO2/kg = 2,517kgCO2e


0.987t x 60km = 59.22tkm

59.22tkm x 0.94MJ = 55.67MJ

Total Embodied Energy 87,448MJ + 59.22MJ = 87,507MJ


Damp Proof Membrane


2 = 184kg

184kg x 134MJ/kg = 24,656MJ


2 = 184kg

184kg x 4.2kgCO2/kg = 773kgCO2e


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0.184t x 220km = 40.48tkm

40.48tkm x 0.94MJ = 38.05MJ


Total Embodied Carbon 773kgCO2e

Concrete


2 = 126,171kg

126,171kg x 0.75MJ/kg = 94,628MJ


2 = 126,171kg

126,171kg x 0.100kgCO2/kg = 12,617kgCO2e


126.171t x 60km = 7,570tkm

7,570tkm x 0.94MJ = 7,116MJ



Sum Total of Embodied Energy in all Materials and Transport: 487,374MJ

Sum Total of Embodied Carbon in all Materials: 36,870kgCO2e

Table 4.4 Proposed Solid floor build up with Expanded Cork Insulation

Material Calculation

Clay Tiles


2 = 24,681kg

24,681kg x 6.50MJ/kg = 160,427MJ


2 = 24,681kg

24,681kg x 0.45kgCO2/kg = 11,106kgCO2e


24.681 x 220km = 5,430tkm

5,430tkm x 0.94MJ = 5,104MJ




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Screed

Embodied Energy 120kg/m2 x 394.9m

2 = 47,388kg

47,388kg x 1.33MJ/kg = 63,026MJ

Embodied Carbon Emmission 120kg/m2 x 394.9m

2 = 47,388kg

47,388kg x 0.208kgCO2/kg = 9,857kgCO2e


47.388t x 10km = 47,388tkm

47,388tkm x 0.94MJ = 44,545MJ



Cork Insulation


2 = 4146kg

4146kg x 4.0MJ/kg = 16,584MJ


2 = 4146kg



4.146t x 220km = 912.12tkm

912.12tkm x 0.94MJ = 857MJ



Damp Proof Membrane


2 = 184kg

184kg x 134MJ/kg = 24,656MJ


2 = 184kg



0.184t x 220km = 40.48tkm

40.48tkm x 0.94MJ = 38.05MJ




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Concrete


2 = 126,171kg

126,171kg x 0.75MJ/kg = 94,628MJ


2 = 126,171kg

126,171kg x 0.100kgCO2/kg = 12,617kgCO2e


126.171t x 60km = 7,570tkm

7,570tkm x 0.94MJ = 7,116MJ



Sum Total of Embodied Energy in all Materials and Transport: 309,737MJ

Sum Total of Embodied Energy in all Materials : 35,141kgCO2e


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Section 5.0 Conclusion

Following the results found for the embodied energy and carbon coefficients that are

associated with an expanded cork insulation and expanded polystyrene insulation in

a solid floor build up, the calculations show that cork insulation would have the least

impact on the environment. The results showed that 309,737MJ of embodied energy

is used for expanded cork and 487,374MJ for expanded polystyrene which equates

to embodied energy savings of 177,640MJ if cork is chosen compared to an EPS

insulation solution. Cork insulation as mentioned before is a renewable resource for

insulation which benefits the sustainability of forests it is grown in, preserving

habitats of many flora and fauna which makes cork one of the greenest insulations

available on the market.


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References

Online Photographic:

Figure 1: Processes typically considered when conducting an LCA for a product, n.d.

photograph, viewed 19 March 2015, <http://www.tangram.co.uk/images/LCA-

Boundaries.jpg>.

2010 Cork Harvest Restores Inventory Levels, n.d. photograph, viewed 19 March

2015,

<http://www.winebusiness.com/content/Image/suppliers%5CHarvest_10_0823_web.j

pg>.

Expanded cork insulation, n.d. photograph, viewed 20 March 2015,

<http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/ICB_boards_MedRes.jpg>.

Figure 1, n.d. photograph, viewed 22 March 2015, <http://www.styrouae.com/wp-

content/uploads/2012/07/manufacturing-1.jpg>.

EPS T-FONOPOR, n.d. photograph, viewed 23 March 2015,

<http://img.archiexpo.com/images_ae/photo-mg/rigid-panel-insulation-expanded-

polystyrene-without-vapor-barrier-graphite-55554-6374679.jpg>.