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Environmental Impact Assessment of Renovated Multi-apartment Building Using LCA
Published on 22 January 2021
Lithuania
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About this good practice
Lithuanian multi-apartment buildings were studied for the environmental impact assessment using Life cycle approach, as these buildings were built during 80's where the energy consumption was much higher than in the average EU member states. In recent times, the old buildings were revised by Governmental agencies through the modernization process. However, the process of renovation and the materials used during the process inclined to speculate its sustainability. Therefore, renovated buildings in Kaunas city were evaluated for the environmental impact using the Life Cycle Assessment. The environment impact study of the identified buildings using LCA was carried out following the procedure and recommendations indicated in the European standards series – ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. This assessment covers the impact of construction materials, and the assessment of the heat energy use pattern. It is said that the renovated buildings using conventional materials without any renewable measures have a great impact on climate change. Moreover, the potential savings in thermal energy used for space heating and domestic hot water preparation are 25% and 40% after conventional renovation and renovation with renewable measures, respectively. It was concluded that the total climate change potential could be reduced from 12% and 48% by retrofitting combined with renewable energy measures. The main stakeholders and beneficiaries are owners of apartments and its communities and Kaunas city.
Resources needed
The LCA was performed by a group of scientists (3 scientists were involved for 6 months) from the Institute of Environmental Engineering of Kaunas University of Technology. The LCA based on data provided by renovation manager.
Evidence of success
This assessment covers the impact of new materials added, and the operational energy use. The study reveals that renovation stage accounts for 19% CO2 emission. The renovated buildings with renewable measures have a significant positive impact over climate change than conventional renovation measures. Moreover, the potential savings in thermal energy used for space heating and domestic hot water preparation are 25% and 40% after conventional and renewable measures renovation, respectively.
Potential for learning or transfer
In fact, renovation will be the key strategy to reduce the environmental impacts from the existing buildings in coming years. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a versatile tool, used for different assessments, such as embodied impacts, emissions, usage of natural resources of a product or service for their entire life cycle, would be very useful for the environmental impacts assessment. The GP could help other regions from the lessons learned during its implementation in our region. After implementation of the GP it was concluded that the total climate change potential could be reduced from 12% and 48% by retrofitting combined with renewable energy measures. Various financial schemes have undertaken to modernise the buildings to ensure energy efficiency. Integrating LCA at regional level could improve the decision making, consumer/builder’s awareness in selecting the materials during construction, help to improve the standardization of the policies and with procurement.
Further information
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Good practice owner
Organisation
Kaunas University of Technology
Lithuania
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