Exergy-Based Building Life Cycle Assessment Method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional life cycle assessments (LCA) of buildings do not effectively consider the energetic quality of resource use and emissions, leading to incomplete evaluations of environmental impacts and resource depletion, which hinders efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of buildings.
Innovation Solution
An exergy-based life cycle assessment (Exe-LCA) method that calculates primary and material exergy demands, exergy loss of emissions, and total exergy-based life cycle assessment values, using a system comprising a computing device with an ExeLCA analysis program to determine these values and provide design modifications to reduce the environmental impact of buildings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are used to evaluate building environmental impact, then the assessment process is simple and straightforward, but the evaluation is incomplete and does not effectively consider the energetic quality of resource use and emissions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the conventional LCA approach by changing the fundamental parameter from mass-based assessment to exergy-based assessment. Instead of merely quantifying material flows and emissions, the method calculates exergy demand for resource extraction, processing, and use, and exergy loss for emissions. This parameter change enables the assessment to capture the energetic quality and thermodynamic value of resources, providing a more complete and accurate evaluation of environmental impact while maintaining a systematic assessment framework.
2Measurement precision
If exergy-based life cycle assessment (Exe-LCA) method is implemented to quantify energetic quality of resource use and emissions, then the evaluation accuracy and completeness improve, but the calculation complexity and data requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the building life cycle into distinct stages (construction, operation, demolition) and calculates exergy demand and exergy loss separately for each stage. The construction phase exergy demand covers material extraction, processing, and transportation, while the operation phase exergy demand includes energy consumption for heating, cooling, and electricity. Emissions exergy loss is calculated based on the exergy content of emitted substances. This segmentation approach manages calculation complexity by breaking down the comprehensive Exe-LCA into manageable components while maintaining overall accuracy.
3Productivity
If conventional LCA methods are used, then the data collection and processing requirements are minimal, but the ability to guide effective design modifications for reducing environmental footprint is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where Exe-LCA results provide quantitative guidance for design modifications. By calculating exergy demand and exergy loss for different building components and systems, the method identifies specific areas where design changes can most effectively reduce environmental impact. The feedback loop allows designers to modify building designs based on Exe-LCA results, recalculate the exergy metrics, and iteratively improve the environmental performance. This feedback-driven approach significantly enhances design optimization effectiveness despite increased data requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Various examples are provided related to exergy-based life cycle assessment of buildings. In one example, a method includes obtaining building parameters of a building including material mass values of the building; determining exergy-based life cycle assessment (Exe-LCA) values of the building using the building parameters; and modifying a building design using the Exe-LCA values. The Exe-LCA values can include life cycle resource depletion, life cycle exergy loss of emissions and/or total Exe-LCA of the building. In another example, a system includes a computing device and an ExeLCA analysis program that can cause the computing device to determine Exe-LCA values of a building based at least in part upon building parameters of the building and provide at least one modification of a design of the building based upon the Exe-LCA values.