A Life Cycle Framework for the Identification of Optimal Building Renovation Strategies Considering Economic and Environmental Impacts

Martina Caruso, Rui Pinho, Federica Bianchi, Francesco Cavalieri and Maria Teresa Lemmo
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Martina Caruso: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University School for Advanced Studies (IUSS), 27100 Pavia, Italy
Rui Pinho: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Federica Bianchi: European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE), 27100 Pavia, Italy
Francesco Cavalieri: European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE), 27100 Pavia, Italy
Maria Teresa Lemmo: TEAM Srl, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: It is well-known that the existing building stock is responsible for non-renewable resource depletion, energy and material consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Life cycle analysis (LCA) procedures have thus been developed, in recent years, to assess the environmental impact of construction and operational phases through the entire building life cycle. Furthermore, the economic, environmental, and social consequences of recent natural disasters have encouraged the additional integration of hazard-induced impacts into common LCA procedures for buildings. Buildings are however expected to provide the population with safe living and working conditions, even when hit by different types of hazards during their service life, such as earthquakes. Hence, next-generation LCA procedures should include not only hazard-induced impacts, but also the contribution of potential retrofitting strategies that may alter the structural and energy performances of buildings throughout their remaining service life. This study presents a life cycle framework that accounts for the contributions of initial construction, operational energy consumption, earthquake-induced damage repair activities, potential retrofitting interventions, and demolition (considering also its associated potential material recycling), in terms of both monetary costs and environmental impacts. The proposed methodology can be used to undertake cost-benefit analyses aimed at identifying building renovation strategies that lead to an optimal balance, considering both economic and environmental impacts, between reduction of seismic vulnerability and increase of energy efficiency of a building, depending on the climatic conditions and the seismic hazard at the site of interest.

Keywords: building renovation; life cycle analysis; life cycle cost analysis; environmental impact assessment; seismic loss estimation; retrofitting strategies; cost-benefit analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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