The LCT Challenge: Defining New Design Objectives to Increase the Sustainability of Building Retrofit Interventions

Chiara Passoni, Elisabetta Palumbo, Rui Pinho and Alessandra Marini
Additional contact information
Chiara Passoni: Department of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Bergamo, 24144 Dalmine, Italy
Elisabetta Palumbo: Department of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Bergamo, 24144 Dalmine, Italy
Rui Pinho: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Alessandra Marini: Department of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Bergamo, 24144 Dalmine, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-34

Abstract: The decarbonization of the construction sector, which is one of the most impactful sectors worldwide, requires a significant paradigm shift from a linear economy to a circular, future-proofed and sustainable economy. In this transition, the role of designers and structural engineers becomes pivotal, and new design objectives and principles inspired by Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) should be defined and included from the early stages of the design process to allow for a truly sustainable renovation of the built environment. In this paper, an overview of LCT-based objectives and principles is provided, critically analyzing the current state of the art of sustainability and circularity in the construction sector. The effectiveness of applying such design principles from the early stages of the design of retrofit interventions is then demonstrated with reference to a case study building. Four seismic retrofit alternatives made of timber, steel and concrete, conceived according to either LCT principles or traditional, were designed and compared to a demolition and reconstruction scenario on the basis of five common environmental impact indicators. The indicators were calculated adopting simplified LCA analyses based on Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), considering the product and End of Life stages of the building. The results of the comparative analyses confirm that LCT-based retrofit solutions are less impactful than both the traditional seismic retrofit interventions and the demolition and reconstruction scenario.

Keywords: Life Cycle Thinking (LCT); LCT-based design; sustainable building renovation; seismic retrofit interventions; comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) analyses; Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8860/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8860/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8860-:d:866870

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().