Life Cycle Assessment as a Decision Making for Window Performance Comparison in Green Building Design
Life cycle assessment is a technique to assess the
environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a
product, process, or service, by compiling an inventory of relevant
energy and material inputs and environmental releases; evaluating the
potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and
releases; and interpreting the results to help you make a more
informed decision. In this paper, the life cycle assessment of
aluminum and beech wood as two commonly used materials in Egypt
for window frames are heading, highlighting their benefits and
weaknesses. Window frames of the two materials have been assessed
on the basis of their production, energy consumption and
environmental impacts. It has been found that the climate change of
the windows made of aluminum and beech wood window, for a
reference window (1.2m×1.2m), are 81.7 mPt and -52.5 mPt impacts
respectively. Among the most important results are: fossil fuel
consumption, potential contributions to the green building effect and
quantities of solid waste tend to be minor for wood products
compared to aluminum products; incineration of wood products can
cause higher impacts of acidification and eutrophication than
aluminum, whereas thermal energy can be recovered.
[1] James Salazar, Life cycle assessment case study of North American
residential windows, MASTER thesis, the University of British
Columbia December 2007.
[2] Recio, J.M.B, Narvaez, R.P., and P. J. Guerrero. 2005. Estimate of
energy consumption and CO2 emission associated with the production,
use and final disposal of PVC, aluminium, and wooden windows.
Department de Projectes d'Engineyeria, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Environmental Modelling Laboratory Barcelona, Spain.
Retrieved on August 23, 2007 from
http://www.aboutpvc.org/recursos/12recurso.pdf.
[3] Asif M., A. Davidson, and T. Muneer. "Life cycle of window materials-
A comparative assessment." Millennium Fellow School of Engineering,
Napier University, Edinburgh http://www. cibse. org/pdfs/Masif.
Pdf, 2002.
[4] The World Steel Association, “Life cycle inventory study for steel
products”, report, 2011.
[5] Mary A. Curran, “Life cycle assessment handbook: a guide for
environmentally sustainable products”, Wiley, 2012.
[6] Richter K, Kiinniger T, Brunner K. Environmental assessment of
window constructions of different frame materials (without glazing) (in
German). Empa-SZFF-Forschungsbericht, Schweizerische Zentralstelle
fiir Fenster- und Fassadenbau (SZFF), Dietikon, 1996.
[7] Kreissig J, Baitz M, Betz M, Straub W. Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung von
Fenstem und Fassaden. Institut for Kunststoffpriifung der Universitat
Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 1997.
[8] Werner F., et al, Wooden Building Products in Comparative LCA a
Literature Review, Wood and Other Renewable Resource. Int J LCA 12
(7) 47Q-479, 2007.
[9] Jungmeier G. et al, Allocation in LCA of Wood-based Products
Experiences of Cost Action E9, Part II. Examples, LCA Case Studies,
Int J LCA 7 (6) 369 – 375, 2002.
[10] Elizabeth Minne et al, “Influence of climate on the environmental and
economic life cycle assessments of window options in the United
States”, Buildings, Volume 102, Pages 293–306, 2015.
[11] ISO 14040, “Environmental management - Life cycle assessment -
Principles and framework”, 1st Edition, 1997.
[12] Alumina Technology Roadmap (minor update), International
Aluminium Institute, March 2006.
(www.worldaluminium.org/UserFiles/File/AluminaTechnologyRoadma
p%20Update%20FINAL%20M y%20 2006.pdf)
[13] Weir, G. and Muneer, T., Energy and Environmental Impact Analysis of
Double-Glazed Windows, Energy Convers. Mgmt Vol. 39, No.3/4, pp.
243-256, 1998.
[14] Bjorn Berge, The Ecology of Building Materials, Architectural Press,
2001.
[15] Industrial Technologies Program, “U.S. Energy Requirements for
Aluminum Production”, Tech. Report, 2007.
[16] Jungmeier G. et al, Allocation in LCA of Wood-based Products
Experiences of Cost Action E9, Part I. Methodology, LCA case study,
Int J LCA 7 (5) 290 - 294, 2002.
[17] Edwards, D. and Schelling, J., Municipal Waste Life Cycle Assessment
Part1, And Aluminium Case Study, Process Safety and Environmental
Protection, Aug 1996.
[18] Udo de Haes, H. A., Jolliet, O., Finnveden, G., Hauschild, M., Krewitt,
W. & Mueller-Wenk, R. Best available practice regarding impact
categories and category indicators in life cycle impact assessment: Part
1. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 4, 66_74, 1999.
[19] The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute Ottawa, ON, Canada and
Kutztown PA, USA [email protected]. www.athenasmi.org.
[20] Bruce Lippke and President Corri, Wood products life cycle analysis:
New research shows the environmental benefits from using wood.
[21] Pennington, D. W., Potting, J., Finnveden, G, Lindeijer, E., Jolliet, 0.,
Rydberg, T. and G. Rebitzer. Life Cycle Assessment Part 2: Current
Impact Assessment Practice. Env. Int. 30(5): 721-739, 2004.
[22] Mark Goedkoop, SimaPro 5, Toutorial the wood example. November
2002.
[1] James Salazar, Life cycle assessment case study of North American
residential windows, MASTER thesis, the University of British
Columbia December 2007.
[2] Recio, J.M.B, Narvaez, R.P., and P. J. Guerrero. 2005. Estimate of
energy consumption and CO2 emission associated with the production,
use and final disposal of PVC, aluminium, and wooden windows.
Department de Projectes d'Engineyeria, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Environmental Modelling Laboratory Barcelona, Spain.
Retrieved on August 23, 2007 from
http://www.aboutpvc.org/recursos/12recurso.pdf.
[3] Asif M., A. Davidson, and T. Muneer. "Life cycle of window materials-
A comparative assessment." Millennium Fellow School of Engineering,
Napier University, Edinburgh http://www. cibse. org/pdfs/Masif.
Pdf, 2002.
[4] The World Steel Association, “Life cycle inventory study for steel
products”, report, 2011.
[5] Mary A. Curran, “Life cycle assessment handbook: a guide for
environmentally sustainable products”, Wiley, 2012.
[6] Richter K, Kiinniger T, Brunner K. Environmental assessment of
window constructions of different frame materials (without glazing) (in
German). Empa-SZFF-Forschungsbericht, Schweizerische Zentralstelle
fiir Fenster- und Fassadenbau (SZFF), Dietikon, 1996.
[7] Kreissig J, Baitz M, Betz M, Straub W. Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung von
Fenstem und Fassaden. Institut for Kunststoffpriifung der Universitat
Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 1997.
[8] Werner F., et al, Wooden Building Products in Comparative LCA a
Literature Review, Wood and Other Renewable Resource. Int J LCA 12
(7) 47Q-479, 2007.
[9] Jungmeier G. et al, Allocation in LCA of Wood-based Products
Experiences of Cost Action E9, Part II. Examples, LCA Case Studies,
Int J LCA 7 (6) 369 – 375, 2002.
[10] Elizabeth Minne et al, “Influence of climate on the environmental and
economic life cycle assessments of window options in the United
States”, Buildings, Volume 102, Pages 293–306, 2015.
[11] ISO 14040, “Environmental management - Life cycle assessment -
Principles and framework”, 1st Edition, 1997.
[12] Alumina Technology Roadmap (minor update), International
Aluminium Institute, March 2006.
(www.worldaluminium.org/UserFiles/File/AluminaTechnologyRoadma
p%20Update%20FINAL%20M y%20 2006.pdf)
[13] Weir, G. and Muneer, T., Energy and Environmental Impact Analysis of
Double-Glazed Windows, Energy Convers. Mgmt Vol. 39, No.3/4, pp.
243-256, 1998.
[14] Bjorn Berge, The Ecology of Building Materials, Architectural Press,
2001.
[15] Industrial Technologies Program, “U.S. Energy Requirements for
Aluminum Production”, Tech. Report, 2007.
[16] Jungmeier G. et al, Allocation in LCA of Wood-based Products
Experiences of Cost Action E9, Part I. Methodology, LCA case study,
Int J LCA 7 (5) 290 - 294, 2002.
[17] Edwards, D. and Schelling, J., Municipal Waste Life Cycle Assessment
Part1, And Aluminium Case Study, Process Safety and Environmental
Protection, Aug 1996.
[18] Udo de Haes, H. A., Jolliet, O., Finnveden, G., Hauschild, M., Krewitt,
W. & Mueller-Wenk, R. Best available practice regarding impact
categories and category indicators in life cycle impact assessment: Part
1. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 4, 66_74, 1999.
[19] The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute Ottawa, ON, Canada and
Kutztown PA, USA [email protected]. www.athenasmi.org.
[20] Bruce Lippke and President Corri, Wood products life cycle analysis:
New research shows the environmental benefits from using wood.
[21] Pennington, D. W., Potting, J., Finnveden, G, Lindeijer, E., Jolliet, 0.,
Rydberg, T. and G. Rebitzer. Life Cycle Assessment Part 2: Current
Impact Assessment Practice. Env. Int. 30(5): 721-739, 2004.
[22] Mark Goedkoop, SimaPro 5, Toutorial the wood example. November
2002.
@article{"International Journal of Architectural, Civil and Construction Sciences:70676", author = "Ghada Elshafei and Abdelazim Negm", title = "Life Cycle Assessment as a Decision Making for Window Performance Comparison in Green Building Design", abstract = "Life cycle assessment is a technique to assess the
environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a
product, process, or service, by compiling an inventory of relevant
energy and material inputs and environmental releases; evaluating the
potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and
releases; and interpreting the results to help you make a more
informed decision. In this paper, the life cycle assessment of
aluminum and beech wood as two commonly used materials in Egypt
for window frames are heading, highlighting their benefits and
weaknesses. Window frames of the two materials have been assessed
on the basis of their production, energy consumption and
environmental impacts. It has been found that the climate change of
the windows made of aluminum and beech wood window, for a
reference window (1.2m×1.2m), are 81.7 mPt and -52.5 mPt impacts
respectively. Among the most important results are: fossil fuel
consumption, potential contributions to the green building effect and
quantities of solid waste tend to be minor for wood products
compared to aluminum products; incineration of wood products can
cause higher impacts of acidification and eutrophication than
aluminum, whereas thermal energy can be recovered.", keywords = "Aluminum window, beech wood window, green
building, life cycle assessment, life cycle analysis, SimaPro software,
window frame.", volume = "9", number = "9", pages = "1155-9", }