John Basbagill
Integrating Life Cycle
Assessment into Early
Stage Building Design
October 5, 2012
Pavle Bujanovic
Advisors
Michael Lepech Martin Fischer Doug Noble
Outline
Validation
1
Research Approach 3
4
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Motivation
Next Steps 5
2 Intuition
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1 2
3
4
Conceptual Design
Design Development
Construction Administration
Operation
1
2
3
4
Ability to impact cost
Cost of design changes
Traditional design process
Preferred design process
Design Stage
Imp
ac
t Motivation 1
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Motivation 1
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Faça
de
Cladding
Louvers
Glazing
Framing
Fins
Level 1 (class)
Level 2 (sub-component)
Level 3 (category)
Level 4 (property)
Level 5 (type)
Material
Met
al
No
n-
Ferr
ou
s
met
als
Level 6 (processing)
Level 7 (specific database entry)
Ferr
ou
s m
etal
s
Alu
min
um
St
eel
Iro
n Iron cast
Iron pig Iron scrap Steel chromium
Iron4
Steel sheet
Steel coil
Steel unalloyed
Aluminum shaped
Aluminum primary
Cast iron, at plant/RER U Iron, sand casted/US Ferrite, at plant/GLO U Iron and steel, production mix/US
Building Component
Pig iron, at plant/GLO U
Iron scrap, at plant/RER U
Chromium steel 18/8, at plant/RER U Steel, electric, chromium steel 18/8 Steel, converter, chromium steel 18/8 Cold rolled sheet, steel, at plant/RNA Hot rolled sheet, steel, at plant/RNA
Stainless steel hot rolled coil, annealed & pickled
Steel hot rolled coil, blast furnace route
Steel, electric, un- and low-alloyed, at plant
Steel, converter, unalloyed, at plant
Aluminum extrusion profile
Aluminum sheet, primary prod., semi-finished sheet product
Aluminum, primary, at plant Aluminum, primary, liquid, at plant Aluminum, primary, ingot, at plant Aluminum, primary, smelt, at plant
Galvanized steel sheet, at plant/RNA
Syst
em
Motivation 1 6 of 36
Intuition 2
Life cycle assessment integrated with optimization
methods can help designers understand which
design parameters drive a building’s impacts
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Research Approach 3
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
• retrospective case studies
Which design elements drive a building’s life cycle impacts?
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Research Approach 3
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics
Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
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Material and Size Choices 3
• Uniformat 2010
(A) Substructure
(B) Shell
(C) Interiors (D) Services
(E) Equipment and Furnishings
(F) Special Construction and Demolition
(G) Sitework
• RSMeans
• equipment supplier documentation
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Building Component Classification Framework Uniformat
element
Assembly Sub-components Number of
material choices Min (m) Max (m)
Thickness
A: Substructure
B: Shell
C: Interiors
D: Services
piles
footings
mat foundation
columns and beams
floor structure
roof
stairs cladding
exterior walls
glazing
doors
partitions
doors
wall finishes
flooring ceiling
mechanical
electrical
plumbing
fire conveying
piles, vapor barrier, caps, slab-on-grade,
grade beam, rebar, formwork
footings, vapor barrier, slab-on-grade,
grade beam, rebar, formwork
foundation, vapor barrier
stairs, railings
wall structure, insulation, membrane,
gypsum, paint
glass, polyvinyl butyral, frame, hardware door, hardware partition structure, gypsum, paint
door, hardware
covering, paint
surface, insulation
plaster, gypsum, paint
17 sub-components
16 sub-components
22 sub-components
4 sub-components
elevator
2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1
1, 2
10 12 10, 5, 1, 1 3, 3
7
5, 1, 1, 1, 1
1, 1, 5, 1
3, 1
2, 1, 1
2, 1 2, 1
9, 13
1, 1, 1
1 1
1
1
1
0.1 0.4
0.1 0.4
0.2 1.8
0.02 0.08
0.007 0.02
0.4 0.6
0.009 0.02
0.006 0.02
0.1 0.2
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
3
roof structure, membrane, insulation, paint
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Design Variables 3
• literature review
(1) window-to-wall ratio (WWR)
(2) orientation
(3) massing parameters: length, width, height
(4) materials
(5) building component size ranges
• parameterized
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Life Cycle Phases 3
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Research Approach 3
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics
Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
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Material Quantity Heuristics
• material quantity equations (231)
3
• estimators at Beck Technology
• independent variables (7) length, width, orientation, WWR, # floors, materials, size ranges
• dependent variables (9)
perimeter, slab perimeter, slab area, roof area, height, glazing area, # interior grid intersections,
# exterior grid intersections, floor GFA
• assumptions (6) floor-to-floor height, bay spacing, door area, material densities, building lifetime, building type
• building components (21)
• required inputs (2)
gross floor area, location
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Material Quantity Heuristics
(1)Equation
A10 Foundations
Uniformat Code
A1010.90200.PC 0.2 * density * slab area poured concrete footing
A1020.8010.FW wood formwork for
grade beams
4 * thickness * perimeter
B2010.2010.ST
B2010.2040.WG
density * thickness * (1-WWR) * perimeter * height
10.76 * (GFA + roof area)
B20 Exterior vertical enclosures
C2030.2010.CR ceramic floor tile
C10 Interior Construction
density * thickness * GFA
density * thickness * GFA
Material
steel cladding
WF column/glulam beam
C2030.2010.ST stone floor tile
density * thickness * GFA C2030.2010.CM cement facing tile with fiber
3
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Research Approach 3
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics
Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
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Design-Feedback Method
Pre-
operational
CO2e
Energy
simulation
MRR
Schedule
Pre-
operational
cost
Operational
CO2e
Operational
cost
Life-cycle
CO2e
Life-cycle
cost
Optimizer
1
2 3
4 1,4
2 5
5
6
1 = DProfiler
2 = Athena,
SimaPro
3 = eQUEST
4 = CostLab
5 = Excel
6 = ModelCenter
Software Implementation Key
Building
information
model 1
3
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3: Cost
Pre-
operational
CO2e
Energy
simulation
MRR
Schedule
Pre-
operational
cost
Operational
CO2e
Operational
cost
Life-cycle
CO2e
Life-cycle
cost
Optimizer
1
2 3
4 1,4
2 5
5
6
1 = DProfiler
2 = Athena,
SimaPro
3 = eQUEST
4 = CostLab
5 = Excel
6 = ModelCenter
Software Implementation Key
Building
information
model 1
Research Phases
2: Operational
1: Embodied
3
Impacts by Phase
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BUILDING SYSTEM
BUILDING LIFE CYCLE PHASE
Pre-Operational
Operational
A: Substructure B: Shell C: Interiors D: Services G: Building
Sitework
E: Equipment
& Furnishings
Cost
Impact
Cost
Impact
Utilities
MRR
Beck Technology
Cost Lab
eQuest Utilities
MRR
Beck Technology
Data Sources
Athena / SimaPro
Athena / SimaPro
3
3: Cost
2: Operational
1: Embodied
Impacts by Phase
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Research Approach 3
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics
Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
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Sensitivity Analysis Schemes 3
Which design parameters consistently drive building impacts?
Impact Allocation: determines where building impacts lie
Impact Reduction: shows degree to which changes to design
parameters affect impacts
3: Cost
2: Operational
Impacts by Phase
1: Embodied
sampling very large number of building design alternatives
by phase
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Research Approach 3
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics
Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
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Case Study: US Government Building, Middle East 4
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Case Study SCOPE
(1) Housing buildings
OBJECTIVES
(1) Minimize life-cycle cost
(2) Minimize carbon footprint
CONSTRAINTS
(1) Gross floor area (2) Location (3) Building type
DESIGN SPACE SIZE
Possible design configurations: 1.46E11
4
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(1) Number of buildings: 3 or 4
VARIABLES a b
c d
e
f
(3) Number of stories: 5, 6, 7, or 8
(2) Orientation
(4) Building footprint: H-shape
Sensitivity Analysis
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4
(5) WWR
Life
Cy
cle
Co
st (
USD
, M
illio
ns)
Carbon Footprint (met tons CO2e)
275k 280k 285k 290k 295k 165
180
195
210
225
+
KEY
Baseline
Lowest Cost
Lowest Carbon Footprint
3 Buildings, 5 Stories
3 Buildings, 6 Stories
3 Buildings, 7 Stories
3 Buildings, 8 Stories
4 Buildings, 5 Stories
4 Buildings, 6 Stories
4 Buildings, 7 Stories
4 Buildings, 8 Stories
285k
4 Results: Life Cycle Cost vs. Carbon Footprint
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Results: Base Design Configuration
Life-Cycle Performance
Capital
Operational
Baseline
Number of buildings: 4
Number of floors: 8
Glazing: 15%
Baseline
COST (USD, Millions) IMPACT (met ktns. CO2e)
198 286
Design Cycle Duration: 4 wks
Number of cycles: 1
Process Efficiency
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4
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Results: Design 1560 Configuration
Life-Cycle Performance
Capital
Operational
Baseline Design1560
Number of buildings: 3
Number of floors: 6
Baseline Design1560
140 122
58 48
27 26
259 250
(-14%) (-5%)
COST (USD, Millions) IMPACT (met ktns. CO2e)
Design Cycle Duration: 7 s
Number of cycles: 21,360
Process Efficiency
4
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4 Sensitivity Analysis SCOPE
(1) Housing buildings
OBJECTIVES
(1) Calculate impact allocation scheme
(2) Calculate impact reduction scheme
VARIABLES
(1) Number of buildings (3 or 4)
(2) Number of stories (5, 6, 7, or 8)
(3) Building orientation (0-360°)
(4) Building shape
(5) Window-to-wall ratio (0.15-0.50)
(6) Materials
(7) Sizes
CONSTRAINTS
(1) Gross floor area (2) Location (3) Building type
DESIGN SPACE SIZE
(1) Materials: 1.24E14 (2) Sizes: 5.66E10 (3) Total design space: 2.38E16
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Decision
number Assembly
Impact Reduction
(% max embodied impact)
Min Max
Whole building 62.95 74.94
1 Cladding 38.86 59.70
2 Substructure 29.71 44.23
3 Partitions 22.89 32.03
4 Flooring surface 16.11 21.75
5 Floor structural
assembly
10.76 17.28
6 Column and beams 6.50 14.52
7 Window assembly 5.39 8.37
8 Wall assembly 3.14 4.78
9 Wall finishes 1.41 2.97
10 Mechanical system 0.71 1.03
11 Roof assembly 0.32 1.00
12 Stairs 0.07 0.12
13 Interior doors 0.01 0.03
14 Exterior doors 0 0
4 Sensitivity Analysis Results (phase 1: embodied)
Whole Building
Cladding
Substructure
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5 Next Steps
Determine scope
of decisions
· materials
· sizes
· design variables
· life cycle phases
Develop material
quantity heuristics
Provide feedback
1
Perform
sensitivity
analysis
2 3 4
Validate
5
Impacts by Phase
3: Cost
2: Operational
1: Embodied
• case study
• charrette
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5 Next Steps
probability
Impact (kg CO2e)
entire building
WWR
orientation
length
cladding material
SCOPE
SAMPLING METHODS
(1) orthogonal array (2) Latin hypercube
DESIGN SPACE SIZE
2.38E16
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5 Next Steps
Impact
Reduced/$
% Reduction
10 20 30 40 50
piles
mat foundation
footing
columns and beams
roof
floors
cladding
mechanical
electrical
conveying
fire plumbing
partitions
wall finishes
doors
flooring
ceiling
15
SCOPE
SAMPLING METHODS
(1) orthogonal array (2) Latin hypercube
DESIGN SPACE SIZE
> 2.38E16
A: Substructure
B: Shell
C: Interiors
D: Services
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Questions?