A generic model of Exergy Assessment of the Environmental Impact for the Building Lifecycle

Yao, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4269-7224 (2010) A generic model of Exergy Assessment of the Environmental Impact for the Building Lifecycle. International Journal of Energy and Buildings, 42 (9). pp. 1482-1490. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.03.018

Abstract/Summary

A generic model of Exergy Assessment is proposed for the Environmental Impact of the Building Lifecycle, with a special focus on the natural environment. Three environmental impacts: energy consumption, resource consumption and pollutant discharge have been analyzed with reference to energy-embodied exergy, resource chemical exergy and abatement exergy, respectively. The generic model of Exergy Assessment of the Environmental Impact of the Building Lifecycle thus formulated contains two sub-models, one from the aspect of building energy utilization and the other from building materials use. Combined with theories by ecologists such as Odum, the paper evaluates a building's environmental sustainability through its exergy footprint and environmental impacts. A case study from Chongqing, China illustrates the application of this method. From the case study, it was found that energy consumption constitutes 70–80% of the total environmental impact during a 50-year building lifecycle, in which the operation phase accounts for 80% of the total environmental impact, the building material production phase 15% and 5% for the other phases.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/16792
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Publisher	Elsevier
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