Life Cycle Assessment Part 1 Flashcards
What are structures with design life of less than 50 years called?
Temporary structures
What is an example of a temp structure?
London Eye - intended to be dismantled after 5 years
What is the design life of structure of most buildings?
- 50-80 years
- Skin of the structure - 15 to 25 years
What is the design life of most bridges and tunnels?
100/120 years
What is the design life of some iconic public buildings like ‘Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral’?
> 120 years
What has a design life of 1000 years?
Deep repositories for high level radioactive waste.
What are the life cycle stages?
- Material production → Natural resources
- Product manufacture → Planning, Design and Construction
- Product use → including maintenance and repair
- End of first life
What would be the likely impacts of building a new road bridge over the River Thames (financial impacts)?
Stimulates GDP
What makes up sustainability?
- Planet
- Profit
- People
What are the 3 capitals in the LCA?
- Natural Capital
- Human and Social Capital
- Manufacture Capital
What is natural capital?
Clean air, productive land, fresh water, oceans, biosphere
What is sustainable development?
Sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.
What does E-LCA stand for?
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
What does S-LCA stand for?
Social Life Cycle Assessment
What does LCC stand for?
Life Cycle Costing
What steps must you take in the LCSA?
- First you do individual assessments of the 3 Capitals
- Then you do merge assessments → LCSA
- Then you do a sustainability analysis
What is eco-centric?
Having a serious concern for environmental issues.
What is bio-centric?
The ethical perspective is that all living things deserve equal moral consideration.
What is anthropocentric?
Considering human beings as the most significant entity of the universe.
What is system boundary A?
It encloses a single phase of the life cycle.
What is system boundary B?
It encloses the direct inputs and emissions of the entire life.
Why does it not make sense to place the system boundary at C?
It does not have a well-defined edge
What are the social disbenefits of new civil infrastructure?
- Compulsory purchase of obstructing property
- Disruption during construction
- Increased noise levels (around new transport links)
What are areas of protection?
Aspects we wish to preserve/support
What is the life cycle costing?
Estimation of the whole life cost of an asset (e.g. a bridge)
What is included in cost?
- Operation
- Maintenance
- Inflation
- End of life
- Externalities
- Cost of capital
- Installation
What are examples of life cycle costs?
- Construction
- Operation/Occupancy
- Maintenance
- End of life
What’s involved in construction of the life cycle cost?
- Design fees, Planning costs
- Construction work (materials, labor, profit)
What’s involved in the operation/occupancy of the life cycle cost?
- Interest payments on the capital used to pay for the infrastructure
- Cleaning, Energy, Security (these could be whole life costs)
What’s involved the maintenance of the life cycle cost?
- Inspections
- Adaptation
- Replacement of elements and repairs
What’s involved in the end of life of the life cycle cost?
- Residual value
- Demolition
What is externalities?
An Externality is a cost that you create but don’t pay.
What have gov regulations done to do with externalities?
Shifted the cost of some externalities onto those who created them → polluter pays policy
What are life cycle costs?
Life Cycle Costs are those associated directly with constructing and operating the infrastructure
What are whole life cycle costs?
Whole Life Costs also include income from operating the infrastructure and support costs associated with infrastructure activity.
What are fixed costs?
Fixed costs are the upfront costs incurred at the start of life - to
plan, design and construct.
What are variable costs?
- Are the later costs – to maintain, operate, and possibly demolish
- These are the future costs
What is present value?
A metric that combines all costs and reduces (or discounts) those costs that occur in the future.
What is the discount factor?
f = 1/(1+d)^(y-1)
What are the steps in estimating life-cycle costs?
- Goals and scope → who is it for? etc.
- Inventory complications → financial parameters, fixed costs
- Impact assessment → Present value
- Interpretation and AoPs → Net present value
What is an E-LCA?
An E-LCA explores environmental impacts of the life of a product (e.g. a building) or service (e.g a railway).
What is an environmental impact?
An environmental impact is an alteration of the initial
characteristics of the environment caused by a project or activity.
What are examples of environmental impacts?
- human health;
- the welfare of the flora and fauna; or
- the future availability of natural resources
What are the main environmental impact categories?
- Resource depletion
- Water demand
- Energy demand
- Greenhouse gases
- Waste and pollution
What are critical materials?
Materials you need, but may find hard to get
What % of critical materials in in US data are sand, gravel and stone?
72%
What fraction of water is freshwater?
0.8%
How much has world wide demand for water gone up by?
tripled in the past 50 years
What are the 3 categories for fresh water consumptions?
- Municipal
- Industry
- Agriculture
What materials have high embodied energy?
- Silver
- Ti alloys
