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ExAC > Sustainability > Flashcards

Sustainability Flashcards

1
Q

Explain the difference between a Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle
Costing (LCC).

A

LCA is a methodology for assessing the
environmental performance of a product over its full life cycle, often referred to as cradle-to-grave or cradle-to-cradle analysis.

LCC focuses on the dollar costs of construction,
operating and maintaining a structure over its life cycle, whereas LCA focuses on environmental performance.

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2
Q

What 3 things can proper building
orientation and perimeter design help
reduce?

A
  1. Energy use
  2. Amount of mechanical equipment
  3. Levels of artificial lighting.
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3
Q

What are some solar strategies that are
common among most Canadian buildings?

A
  1. Orient buildings to take advantage of winter solar gain.
  2. Provide year round shading to western exposures.
  3. Provide summer shading for southern exposures.
  4. Incorporate shading using the landscape or
    integrated with the building.
  5. Orient buildings to allow for the addition of solar panels and other ‘plug-in’ elements.
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4
Q

What are the 6 areas of development
addressed in the LEED Green Building
Rating System?

A
  1. Sustainable Sites
  2. Water Efficiency
  3. Energy and Atmosphere
  4. Materials and Resources
  5. Indoor Environmental Quality
  6. Innovation & Design Process
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5
Q

What are the three main environmental
control materials in an assembly that
separates a conditioned space from an
unconditioned space?

A

Thermal insulation, air barrier, and vapour barrier. The code states that all three must be present and that the assembly is constructed in such a way that the properties and relative position of all materials conform to Subsection 9.25.5.

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6
Q

What does LEED stand for, and who
developed it?

A

Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design, developed by the U.S. Green
Building Council

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7
Q

DESCRIBE SOME PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

A

International council for research and innovation in building construction: Reduce resource consumption; reuse resources; recycle resources for reuse; protect nature; eliminate toxins; apply life cycle costing; focus on quality.

RAIC : the overall objective of sustainable site design are: to reduce and minimize the impacts as a result of site selection; to reduce and minimize negative site impacts as a result of the site development and its buildings.

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8
Q

WHAT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF PASSIVHAUS?

A

To produce low energy buildings by combining excellent thermal performance and airtightness with a heat recovery ventilation system that supplies fresh air for indoor environmental air quality.

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9
Q

LIST SOME STORM WATER MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABLE SITE STRATEGIES.

A
  • vegetated filter strips and grass swales
  • bioretention basins and sediment traps
  • bioswales for water filtration
  • porous pavement / permeable surfaces
  • exfiltration basins and trenches
  • dry pond and wet pond systems
  • green roofs
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10
Q

LIST SOME HEAT ISLAND REDUCTION SITE STRATEGIES

A
  • shade
  • minimize footprint
  • reflective surfaces
  • underground parking instead of above ground
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11
Q

WHAT SITING AND FORM RECOMMENDATIONS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR BUILDINGS IN COOL REGIONS?

A
  • Minimize the surface area of the building to reduce exposure to cold temperatures.
  • Maximize absorption of solar radiation.
  • Reduce radiant, conductive, and evaporative heat loss.
  • Provide wind protection.
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12
Q

WHAT SITING AND FORM RECOMMENDATIONS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR BUILDINGS IN TEMPERATE REGIONS?

A
  • Elongate the building along the east-west axis to maximize south facing walls.
  • minimize east-west exposures, which are generally warmer in sum-mer and cooler in winter than southern exposures.
  • Balance solar heat gain with shade protection on a seasonal basis.
  • Encourage air movement in hot weather, protect against wind in cold weather.
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13
Q

WHAT SITING AND FORM RECOMMENDATIONS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR BUILDINGS IN HOT-ARID REGIONS?

A
  • Building forms should enclose courtyard spaces.
  • Reduce solar and conductive heat gain.
  • Promote cooling by evaporation using water features and plantings.
  • Provide solar shading for windows and outdoor spaces.
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14
Q

WHAT SITING AND FORM RECOMMENDATIONS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR BUILDINGS IN HOT-HUMID REGIONS?

A
  • Elongate the building along the east-west axis to minimize east and west exposures
  • Reduce solar heat gain.
  • Utilize wind to promote evaporative cooling.
  • Provide solar shading for windows and outdoor spaces.
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15
Q

NAME THE THREE WAYS IN WHICH PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED.
DESCRIBE AND GIVE EXAMPLES.

A
  1. Direct gain: Collects heat directly within an interior space using a ‘storage mass” like a floor or wall. This storage mass should be 50-60% the total surface area of the space.
  2. Indirect gain: Controls heat gain at the exterior skin of a building using a concrete or masonry Trombe wall; a drumwall of water-filled barrels or tubes; a sunspace; or roof pond. The absorbed solar energy moves through the wall by conduction and then to the space by radiation or convection.
  3. Isolated gain: Collects and stores solar radiation (in air or water) away from the space to be heated. A natural convection loop brings warm air or water to the space and expels the cool.
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16
Q
A
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16
Q

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A VEGETATED ROOF?

A
  • Natural covering protects the waterproof membrane from daily temperature fluctuations and the ultraviolet radiation of the sun that breaks down conven-tional roofing systems.
  • Conserves a permeable area that would otherwise be replaced by the build-ings footprint.
  • Controls the volume of stormwater runoff
  • Improves air and water quality
  • Helps reduce the heat island effect
  • Increases the insulation value of the roof and stabilizes indoor air tempera-tures and humidity, potentially reducing operating costs to heat and cool the building.
17
Q

What is Embodied Carbon

A

Emissions derived from the manufacturing, transport, installation, use, and end-of-life of building materials.

Storing (or ‘sequestering’) carbon in building materials is one way to reduce upfront carbon. Materials can lock carbon away over many decades and, in some instances, in perpetuity. It is sometimes even possible to store more carbon than results from the manufacturing and other upfront life-cycle stages of materials; in other words, upfront carbon emissions can be a negative value.

18
Q

WHAT IS A HEAT PUMP?

A

Heat pumps are electrically powered heating and cooling units.
For cooling, the normal compressive refrigeration cycle is used to absorb and transfer excess heat to the outdoors. For heating, heat en-ergy is drawn from the outdoor air by reversing the cooling cycle and switching the heat exchange functions of the condenser and evapora-tor.
**Heat pumps are most efficient in moderate climates where heating and cooling loads are almost equal.

19
Q

What is Greenhouse Gas Intensity

A

Total greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of all energy utilities on site. The metric is reported using kg of equivalent CO2 emissions per square metre of area of conditioned space and expressed in kg CO2e/(m2 year).

20
Q

What is an ERV

A

Energy Recovery Ventilator
An electrical energy saving device, it recovers heat from air leaving the building using a passive heat exchanger. It also controls the transfer of moisture to help maintain the interior humidity levels.

21
Q

What is Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)

A

Proportion of solar radiation transferred through the glass and framing of a product.
It is measured as a decimal fraction between 0.0 (completely opaque) and 0.1 (a hole in the wall)

22
Q

What are Heating Degree days and Cooling Degree Days

A
23
Q

What are the 8 principals of the WELL standard

A
  1. Daylighting
  2. Fresh Air
  3. Improved Thermal Comfort
  4. Quality of Sound
  5. Movement - Accessibility
  6. Materials
  7. Mind
  8. Community
24
Q

What are 4 key features of high performance buildings?

A
  1. Enclosure First
    - better insulated enclosure
    - increased air tightness
    - optimized solar shading
  2. High-efficiency HVAC
  3. Heat Recovery System
  4. Operable vents enabling cross ventilation
25
Q

What are key strategies to improve air-tightness?

A
  • Compact Massing to reduce the number of corners
    -Limiting building envelope penetrations
  • Paying careful attention to detailing at interfaces
  • Ensuring strict adherence to construction practices
26
Q

What are keys to reducing energy use intensity?

A
  • Optimise fenestration
  • Increase building R value
  • Increase airtightness
  • Recover heat during ventilation
  • Separate heating and cooling from ventilation
  • Maximize daylighting
27
Q

What are key strategies to reduce Thermal Energy Demand

A
  • Minimise heat loss
  • Consider occupant and unit density
  • Optimise fenestration
  • Increase building R values
  • Reduce thermal bridging
  • Increase air-tightness
  • Recover heat during ventilation
28
Q

What are strategies to reduce the embodied carbon in concrete?

A

1) Supplementary Cementitious Materials, which reduces the amount of cement required (ex: fly ash).
2) Opting for Portland Limestone Cement, instead of regular Portland cement.
3) Extend curing times, to reduce the amount of concrete used

29
Q

What is the difference between Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Steel

A

BOF uses fossil fuels during manufacturing process, EAF uses electricity.

EAF lower emodied carbon but hard to get in Canada

30
Q

What are the stages of a building life cycle

A

A: Production and construction:
- Production involves energy and resources used to extract raw materials, transport the materials to manufacturing facilities and to produce the final product.
- Construction includes transportation to the construction site, energy used to power the equipment, to supply supporting materials and to dispose of waste.

B: The use stage:
- The impacts of occupying the building including heating, lighting, water use and materials used for maintenance

C: End of Life:
- Involves the demolition and disposal of the building including waste processing

D: Externalised impacts beyond the system boundary
- Gathers all miscellaneous effects of reusing, recycling and/or recovering materials, energy or water from the project. They are called externalised impacts because they manifest outside the system boundary

31
Q

What is acidification potential?

A

describes the acidifying effects of substances in water and soil

32
Q

What is Eutrophication Potential?

A

describes the effect of adding nutrients to the soil or water causing certain species to dominate the ecosystem and compromise the survival of other organisms.

33
Q

What is Ozone Depletion Potential ?

A

describes the degrading effects of substances in the stratosphere on the ozone layer

34
Q

What is Smog Formation Potential?

A

describes the presence of substances such as carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere forming photochemical smog

35
Q

What is Life Cycle Analysis?

A

Addresses all stages of a building or product from resource extraction, assembly and construction to the disposal, recycling and reuse of building materials.

36
Q

What are strategies to reduce outdoor air pollutants?

A

Contamination from outdoor air pollutants can be effectively mitigated by the proper location of outdoor air intakes and the orientation and distribution of operable windows. Prevailing winds and nearby sources of emissions should be studied to understand the be orientation

Adjacent areas of natural vegetation and landscape buffers prevent outdoor pollutants from mixing with the air through operable windows

It is important to specify scrubbers on all stacks, chimneys and fume hoods.

37
Q

What are strategies to reduce indoor air pollutants?

A
  • Minimize HVAC system contamination during construction
  • Provide for an adequate period to flush the building before occupancy
  • Isolate areas and activities that generate VOCs
  • Specify low emission materials that minimize or eliminate off gassing
  • Specify low maintenance materials to reduce the use of chemical cleaning products
  • Select low VOC products
  • Specify certified products that meet a minimum standard
  • Provide maintenance access to all air supply and distribution systems
38
Q

What is a Life Cycle Inventory?

A

Report containing the emissions for different processes that contribute to the creation of a material product

39
Q

What are the steps in a Life Cycle Assessment Calculation?

A
  1. Define goal and scope
    a. Goal examples:
    - Assist in decision making
    - Declare performance with respect to decision making
    - Document environmental performance
    - Support for policy development
    b. Scope requires: functional equivalence and referencing the study period
  2. Collect inventory
    a. Define Materials
    b. Define Scenarios
  3. Perform impact assessment
    a. Software tools to do the number-crunching for you. The tools keep track of materials, scenarios, and impacts, and can organise the results by life cycle stage and building component.
    b. You may also use data from an environmental product declaration (EPD), which are product-specific LCAs produced by manufacturers (consider that EPDs may be developed using different standards or for other regions).
    c. Environmental impacts to be assessed:
    • Global warming potential (GWP)
    • Ozone depletion potential (ODP)
    • Eutrophication potential (EP)
    • Acidification potential (AP)
    • Smog formation potential (SFP)
  4. Interpret Results
    a. Identify major contributors to the environmental impacts by reviewing the results by: material, component, life cycle / stage and then visualise the results (graphs)
    b. LTA is an iterative process
    c. If an element changes (insulation modified or steel to wood) the process should be ran again with the revised system
    d. 3 steps can be taken during this stage:
    - Checking for errors in the analysis
    - Understanding the results
    - Developing conclusions
  5. Report Results

ExAC (8 decks)

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