Environmental Performance of a Green Educational Building : Case Study of U.S. Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy /

Abstract

Architects and designers are working towards minimizing the impact buildings have on environment over last twenty years. In spite of the fact that many architects claim their buildings are environment friendly, the claims cannot be justified unless a Life Cycle Analysis is conducted since evaluating the impact of building on the eco-system is difficult otherwise. The two major parts of the theoretical basis of the proposed scheme are the concept of sustainability of the building and methods of assessing the building. The objective of this report is to evaluate and comparing the possible ecological impact of office buildings through their life cycle, from extracting raw materials to end of life. The study also shows how to apply the life cycle assessment of a singular material to diverse and complex systems. In order to accomplish the goal of the study, a single-case method of life cycle assessment was used to determine which stage of the life cycle (manufacturing, construction, consumption, maintenance, and dismantling) made the most contribution to the overall impact. The main installation system (foundation, frame, wall, floor, roof) of a building will have an impact on the environment during its life cycle. One typical new educational building was used as a case study in Islamabad and an optimized LCA method based on energy consumption inventories, material input and output, and the assessment of environmental impact. In addition, analysis has been conducted in this study as well for assessing the operational performance of this building. This study shows that the operating phase of a building during its 60-year life cycle has the greatest impact on the following impact categories (90+% of the total impact): global warming potential, overall energy consumption (fossil fuel), and acidification potential & the possibility of health effects on the respiratory system. The production stage holds the greatest impact in the following impact categories: the most significant on the potential for depletion of ozone with 87% of the total impact or eutrophication65% of the total impact. In terms of building assembly systems, this study has shown that wall systems contribute the most to the impacts mentioned as follows, respiratory potential (57%), acidification (40%), global warming (26%) and smoke potential (35%). The structural system comprises of the most contribution to the overall energy consumption (31%) & the eutrophication category (56%). The building’s roof system of also partakes in impacting substantially, second to buildings, on utilization of energy (27%) and global warming (17%). It stands right after the walls causing 29% of potential smog. Studies and research conducted in the future can replicate the same classification technique on other types of building and construction methods (such as wood, concrete and so on) in order to apply life cycle assessment more widely in design & operation of buildings. This is especially vital in the maintenance phase of replacing certain systems. Today, there is a need for higher availability, standardization, and quality of life cycle assessment data in order to be more widely used in building planning and construction.