IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i7p2633-d337384.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Uncertainty Analysis of Embedded Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Using BIM in Early Design Stages

Author

Listed:
  • Patricia Schneider-Marin

    (Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building, Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich, TUM), 80333 München, Germany)

  • Hannes Harter

    (Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building, Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich, TUM), 80333 München, Germany)

  • Konstantin Tkachuk

    (Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building, Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich, TUM), 80333 München, Germany)

  • Werner Lang

    (Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building, Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich, TUM), 80333 München, Germany)

Abstract

With current efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of buildings in the operational phase, the share of embedded energy (EE) and embedded GHG emissions is increasing. In early design stages, chances to influence these factors in a positive way are greatest, but very little and vague information about the future building is available. Therefore, this study introduces a building information modeling (BIM)-based method to analyze the contribution of the main functional parts of buildings to find embedded energy demand and GHG emission reduction potentials. At the same time, a sensitivity analysis shows the variance in results due to the uncertainties inherent in early design to avoid misleadingly precise results. The sensitivity analysis provides guidance to the design team as to where to strategically reduce uncertainties in order to increase precision of the overall results. A case study shows that the variability and sensitivity of the results differ between environmental indicators and construction types (wood or concrete). The case study contribution analysis reveals that the building’s structure is the main contributor of roughly half of total GHG emissions if the main structural material is reinforced concrete. Exchanging reinforced concrete for a wood structure reduces total GHG emissions by 25%, with GHG emissions of the structure contributing 33% and windows 30%. Variability can be reduced systematically by first reducing vagueness in geometrical and technical specifications and subsequently in the amount of interior walls. The study shows how a simplified and fast BIM-based calculation provides valuable guidance in early design stages.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia Schneider-Marin & Hannes Harter & Konstantin Tkachuk & Werner Lang, 2020. "Uncertainty Analysis of Embedded Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Using BIM in Early Design Stages," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2633-:d:337384
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2633/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2633/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kovacic, Iva & Zoller, Veronika, 2015. "Building life cycle optimization tools for early design phases," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 409-419.
    2. Cabeza, Luisa F. & Rincón, Lídia & Vilariño, Virginia & Pérez, Gabriel & Castell, Albert, 2014. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of buildings and the building sector: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 394-416.
    3. Tian, Wei & Heo, Yeonsook & de Wilde, Pieter & Li, Zhanyong & Yan, Da & Park, Cheol Soo & Feng, Xiaohang & Augenbroe, Godfried, 2018. "A review of uncertainty analysis in building energy assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 285-301.
    4. Röck, Martin & Saade, Marcella Ruschi Mendes & Balouktsi, Maria & Rasmussen, Freja Nygaard & Birgisdottir, Harpa & Frischknecht, Rolf & Habert, Guillaume & Lützkendorf, Thomas & Passer, Alexander, 2020. "Embodied GHG emissions of buildings – The hidden challenge for effective climate change mitigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    5. Paolo Tecchio & Jeremy Gregory & Elsa Olivetti & Randa Ghattas & Randolph Kirchain, 2019. "Streamlining the Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings by Structured Under‐Specification and Probabilistic Triage," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 268-279, February.
    6. Dixit, Manish K. & Fernández-Solís, Jose L. & Lavy, Sarel & Culp, Charles H., 2012. "Need for an embodied energy measurement protocol for buildings: A review paper," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3730-3743.
    7. Shannon M. Lloyd & Robert Ries, 2007. "Characterizing, Propagating, and Analyzing Uncertainty in Life‐Cycle Assessment: A Survey of Quantitative Approaches," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(1), pages 161-179, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maximilian Schildt & Johannes Linus Cuypers & Maxim Shamovich & Sonja Tamara Herzogenrath & Avichal Malhotra & Christoph Alban van Treeck & Jérôme Frisch, 2023. "On the Potential of District-Scale Life Cycle Assessments of Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-33, July.
    2. Sebastian Theißen & Jannick Höper & Jan Drzymalla & Reinhard Wimmer & Stanimira Markova & Anica Meins-Becker & Michaela Lambertz, 2020. "Using Open BIM and IFC to Enable a Comprehensive Consideration of Building Services within a Whole-Building LCA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-25, July.
    3. Mustafa S. Al-Tekreeti & Salwa M. Beheiry & Vian Ahmed, 2022. "Commitment Indicators for Tracking Sustainable Design Decisions in Construction Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    4. Rabaka Sultana & Ahmad Rashedi & Taslima Khanam & Byongug Jeong & Homa Hosseinzadeh-Bandbafha & Majid Hussain, 2022. "Life Cycle Environmental Sustainability and Energy Assessment of Timber Wall Construction: A Comprehensive Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-30, March.
    5. Jakub Veselka & Marie Nehasilová & Karolína Dvořáková & Pavla Ryklová & Martin Volf & Jan Růžička & Antonín Lupíšek, 2020. "Recommendations for Developing a BIM for the Purpose of LCA in Green Building Certifications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Patricia Schneider-Marin & Werner Lang, 2022. "A Temporal Perspective in Eco 2 Building Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-28, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vahidi, Ehsan & Kirchain, Randolph & Burek, Jasmina & Gregory, Jeremy, 2021. "Regional variation of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for the United States building sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    2. Maximilian Weigert & Oleksandr Melnyk & Leopold Winkler & Jacqueline Raab, 2022. "Carbon Emissions of Construction Processes on Urban Construction Sites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-14, October.
    3. Rosaria E.C. Amaral & Joel Brito & Matt Buckman & Elicia Drake & Esther Ilatova & Paige Rice & Carlos Sabbagh & Sergei Voronkin & Yewande S. Abraham, 2020. "Waste Management and Operational Energy for Sustainable Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.
    4. Dixit, Manish K., 2017. "Life cycle embodied energy analysis of residential buildings: A review of literature to investigate embodied energy parameters," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 390-413.
    5. Francesco Asdrubali & Gianluca Grazieschi & Marta Roncone & Francesca Thiebat & Corrado Carbonaro, 2023. "Sustainability of Building Materials: Embodied Energy and Embodied Carbon of Masonry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-28, February.
    6. Pan, Wei & Li, Kaijian & Teng, Yue, 2018. "Rethinking system boundaries of the life cycle carbon emissions of buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 379-390.
    7. Pomponi, Francesco & Piroozfar, Poorang A.E. & Southall, Ryan & Ashton, Philip & Farr, Eric. R.P., 2016. "Energy performance of Double-Skin Façades in temperate climates: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1525-1536.
    8. Venkatraj, V. & Dixit, M.K., 2022. "Challenges in implementing data-driven approaches for building life cycle energy assessment: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    9. Huang, Lizhen & Krigsvoll, Guri & Johansen, Fred & Liu, Yongping & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2018. "Carbon emission of global construction sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1906-1916.
    10. Crawford, Robert H. & Bartak, Erika L. & Stephan, André & Jensen, Christopher A., 2016. "Evaluating the life cycle energy benefits of energy efficiency regulations for buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 435-451.
    11. Jiaojiao Yang & Ting Wang & Yujie Hu & Qiyun Deng & Shu Mo, 2023. "Comparative Analysis of Research Trends and Hotspots of Foreign and Chinese Building Carbon Emissions Based on Bibliometrics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-24, June.
    12. Ziyu Duan & Seiyong Kim, 2023. "Progress in Research on Net-Zero-Carbon Cities: A Literature Review and Knowledge Framework," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Apostolopoulos, Vasilis & Mamounakis, Ioannis & Seitaridis, Andreas & Tagkoulis, Nikolas & Kourkoumpas, Dimitrios-Sotirios & Iliadis, Petros & Angelakoglou, Komninos & Nikolopoulos, Nikolaos, 2023. "Αn integrated life cycle assessment and life cycle costing approach towards sustainable building renovation via a dynamic online tool," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    14. Hossein Omrany & Veronica Soebarto & Ehsan Sharifi & Ali Soltani, 2020. "Application of Life Cycle Energy Assessment in Residential Buildings: A Critical Review of Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, January.
    15. Li, Clyde Zhengdao & Lai, Xulu & Xiao, Bing & Tam, Vivian W.Y. & Guo, Shan & Zhao, Yiyu, 2020. "A holistic review on life cycle energy of buildings: An analysis from 2009 to 2019," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    16. Stephan, André & Stephan, Laurent, 2016. "Life cycle energy and cost analysis of embodied, operational and user-transport energy reduction measures for residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 445-464.
    17. Ingrao, Carlo & Lo Giudice, Agata & Bacenetti, Jacopo & Tricase, Caterina & Dotelli, Giovanni & Fiala, Marco & Siracusa, Valentina & Mbohwa, Charles, 2015. "Energy and environmental assessment of industrial hemp for building applications: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 29-42.
    18. Lucas Rosse Caldas & Maykon Vieira Silva & Vítor Pereira Silva & Michele Tereza Marques Carvalho & Romildo Dias Toledo Filho, 2022. "How Different Tools Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation in a Circular Building Environment?—A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-24, March.
    19. Venkatraj, V. & Dixit, M.K., 2021. "Life cycle embodied energy analysis of higher education buildings: A comparison between different LCI methodologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    20. Murat Kucukvar & Gokhan Egilmez & Omer Tatari, 2016. "Life Cycle Assessment and Optimization-Based Decision Analysis of Construction Waste Recycling for a LEED-Certified University Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2633-:d:337384. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.