Exploring the CO2-Premium for Building Height - A Study on Technical Building Installations
Master thesis
Permanent lenke
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2614716Utgivelsesdato
2016Metadata
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Sammendrag
Building tall typically requires a different operational energy demand and additionalmaterial. Consequently, the literature describes a premium on building height, bothregarding energy and CO2 emissions. The purpose of this study is to analyze theadaption of technical systems to increased building height with particular interestto CO2 emissions. In this context, a CO2-premium means: increased greenhousegas emissions per square meter area with increasing building height. The analysisis carried out through a Life Cycle Assessment, using Simapro. The study covers only commercial buildings ranging from 4 to 21 floors.
The system boundaries are limited to cradle-to-gate with options, including operational energy, module B6. The calculation model is divided in two parts. The first part of the calculation model is based on the material quantities of the dierent components in the technical systems and corresponding material emission factors. This is used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from the production phase. The second part of the calculation model is used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from operating the technical systems. This model is based upon the energy use from the dierent technical systems and the emission factor for the energy source utilized.
The results show that HVAC, plumbing and elevator systems in total cause a minimalCO2-premium from the production phase. The premium trend up to 12 foors varies slightly and is highly dependent upon the technical system solution. From 12 to 21 foors there was a small premium. The results from the operational phase show that the technical systems in total cause a minimal premium. It is only for the elevator and cooling systems that there is a clear premium. However, this premium does not affect the overall result when aggregating the greenhouse gas emissions from all technical systems from the operational phase.
As the change in greenhouse gas emissions per square meter appears to be minimal from both the production- and operation phase, it has been concluded in this study that the CO2-premium caused by technical installations for buildings up to 21 floors can be considered negligible