Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík

The built environment sector causes significant climate change impacts, which indicates an opportunity for the sector to be of great importance in reducing its global impact. The main strategy has focused on urban density and transport as well as studying the emissions caused by buildings with life-...

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Published in:Sustainability
Main Authors: Hjördís Sóley Sigurðardóttir, Jukka Heinonen, Ólafur Ögmundarson, Áróra Árnadóttir
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065327
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spelling ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2071-1050/15/6/5327/ 2023-08-20T04:07:29+02:00 Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík Hjördís Sóley Sigurðardóttir Jukka Heinonen Ólafur Ögmundarson Áróra Árnadóttir agris 2023-03-17 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065327 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Green Building https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su15065327 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Sustainability; Volume 15; Issue 6; Pages: 5327 life cycle assessment (LCA) neighborhood scale alternative building materials embodied emissions hotspot analysis climate change Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065327 2023-08-01T09:19:01Z The built environment sector causes significant climate change impacts, which indicates an opportunity for the sector to be of great importance in reducing its global impact. The main strategy has focused on urban density and transport as well as studying the emissions caused by buildings with life-cycle assessments (LCAs). However, a holistic approach is often missing, where life-cycle environmental impacts are assessed, and goals are considered at the planning stage. This study proposes LCA on a neighborhood scale for a holistic approach and to identify how LCA can be used to reduce impacts when designing and for decision-making at the planning stage. The focus is on the pre-use phase because that phase has been proven to cause a significant spike in carbon emissions when considering the near future and is crucial in reaching climate goals. The study case is a new neighborhood plan in Reykjavík, Iceland. The assessment focuses on the climate change impact of building a new neighborhood. The study identifies materials as a key factor. It demonstrates how the total emissions of the neighborhood are reduced when more environmentally friendly materials are replaced by traditional ones. It reduces GHG emissions by up to 40% in total. Text Iceland Reykjavík Reykjavík MDPI Open Access Publishing Reykjavík Sustainability 15 6 5327
institution Open Polar
collection MDPI Open Access Publishing
op_collection_id ftmdpi
language English
topic life cycle assessment (LCA)
neighborhood scale
alternative building materials
embodied emissions
hotspot analysis
climate change
spellingShingle life cycle assessment (LCA)
neighborhood scale
alternative building materials
embodied emissions
hotspot analysis
climate change
Hjördís Sóley Sigurðardóttir
Jukka Heinonen
Ólafur Ögmundarson
Áróra Árnadóttir
Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík
topic_facet life cycle assessment (LCA)
neighborhood scale
alternative building materials
embodied emissions
hotspot analysis
climate change
description The built environment sector causes significant climate change impacts, which indicates an opportunity for the sector to be of great importance in reducing its global impact. The main strategy has focused on urban density and transport as well as studying the emissions caused by buildings with life-cycle assessments (LCAs). However, a holistic approach is often missing, where life-cycle environmental impacts are assessed, and goals are considered at the planning stage. This study proposes LCA on a neighborhood scale for a holistic approach and to identify how LCA can be used to reduce impacts when designing and for decision-making at the planning stage. The focus is on the pre-use phase because that phase has been proven to cause a significant spike in carbon emissions when considering the near future and is crucial in reaching climate goals. The study case is a new neighborhood plan in Reykjavík, Iceland. The assessment focuses on the climate change impact of building a new neighborhood. The study identifies materials as a key factor. It demonstrates how the total emissions of the neighborhood are reduced when more environmentally friendly materials are replaced by traditional ones. It reduces GHG emissions by up to 40% in total.
format Text
author Hjördís Sóley Sigurðardóttir
Jukka Heinonen
Ólafur Ögmundarson
Áróra Árnadóttir
author_facet Hjördís Sóley Sigurðardóttir
Jukka Heinonen
Ólafur Ögmundarson
Áróra Árnadóttir
author_sort Hjördís Sóley Sigurðardóttir
title Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík
title_short Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík
title_full Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík
title_fullStr Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík
title_full_unstemmed Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík
title_sort neighborhood-level lca and hotspot analysis of embodied emissions of a new urban area in reykjavík
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
publishDate 2023
url https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065327
op_coverage agris
geographic Reykjavík
geographic_facet Reykjavík
genre Iceland
Reykjavík
Reykjavík
genre_facet Iceland
Reykjavík
Reykjavík
op_source Sustainability; Volume 15; Issue 6; Pages: 5327
op_relation Green Building
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su15065327
op_rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065327
container_title Sustainability
container_volume 15
container_issue 6
container_start_page 5327
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