IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i4p1659-d1592903.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An LCA Study of Various Office Building Shapes Focusing on Operational Energy—A Case of Hamburg

Author

Listed:
  • Samira Shokouhi

    (Technical Infrastructure Management, HafenCity University, Henning-Voscherau-Platz 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Ingo Weidlich

    (Technical Infrastructure Management, HafenCity University, Henning-Voscherau-Platz 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany)

Abstract

The design and configuration of buildings can play a major role in influencing the environmental impacts of the built environment. This paper explores the relation of building shape and it’s environmental impacts by employing a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework. The primary objective is to contribute to the ongoing discourse on sustainable construction practices by exploring alternatives in office building shapes and heights. The initial focus of our study centers on a set of plan shapes based on different combinations of a 12 × 14 square meter modular unit. This set introduces variations with and without courtyards, coupled with three distinct heights of 3, 6, and 12 m (1, 2, and 4 stories). Expanding our exploration, we introduce a second set of standard geometric shapes, namely square, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, and circle. We assess the annual energy demand of buildings with these plan shapes and conduct an LCA analysis focused on the operational energy use stage in the eLCA tool to quantify their environmental implications, focusing on global warming potential (GWP) and primary energy non-renewable total (PENRT) indicators. Through calculations and comparisons of the LCA results, this paper provides insights into the environmental trade-offs and benefits associated with different building plan shapes and heights.

Suggested Citation

  • Samira Shokouhi & Ingo Weidlich, 2025. "An LCA Study of Various Office Building Shapes Focusing on Operational Energy—A Case of Hamburg," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1659-:d:1592903
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1659/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1659/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio Ángel Rodríguez Serrano & Santiago Porras Álvarez, 2016. "Life Cycle Assessment in Building: A Case Study on the Energy and Emissions Impact Related to the Choice of Housing Typologies and Construction Process in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-29, March.
    2. Moein Hemmati & Tahar Messadi & Hongmei Gu & Mahboobeh Hemmati, 2024. "LCA Operational Carbon Reduction Based on Energy Strategies Analysis in a Mass Timber Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-20, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Rui Jiang & Rongrong Li, 2017. "Decomposition and Decoupling Analysis of Life-Cycle Carbon Emission in China’s Building Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Xingqiang Song & Christel Carlsson & Ramona Kiilsgaard & David Bendz & Helene Kennedy, 2020. "Life Cycle Assessment of Geotechnical Works in Building Construction: A Review and Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Luis Claudio A. Borja & Sandro Fábio César & Rita Dione A. Cunha & Asher Kiperstok, 2019. "Getting Environmental Information from Construction Cost Databases: Applications in Brazilian Courses and Environmental Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-28, January.
    4. Chen Chen & Zengfeng Zhao & Jianzhuang Xiao & Robert Tiong, 2021. "A Conceptual Framework for Estimating Building Embodied Carbon Based on Digital Twin Technology and Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Nan Wang & Daniel Satola & Aoife Houlihan Wiberg & Conghong Liu & Arild Gustavsen, 2020. "Reduction Strategies for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from High-Speed Railway Station Buildings in a Cold Climate Zone of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, February.
    6. Luis Claudio A. Borja & Sandro Fábio César & Rita Dione A. Cunha & Asher Kiperstok, 2018. "A Quantitative Method for Prediction of Environmental Aspects in Construction Sites of Residential Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-38, June.
    7. Rongrong Li & Rui Jiang, 2017. "Moving Low-Carbon Construction Industry in Jiangsu Province: Evidence from Decomposition and Decoupling Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-14, June.
    8. Héctor Saldaña-Márquez & Diana C. Gámez-García & José M. Gómez-Soberón & Susana P. Arredondo-Rea & Ramón Corral-Higuera & María C. Gómez-Soberón, 2019. "Housing Indicators for Sustainable Cities in Middle-Income Countries through the Residential Urban Environment Recognized Using Single-Family Housing Rating Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-29, August.

    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:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1659-:d:1592903. 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.