Economic and Environmental Evaluation of a Single-Story Steel Building in Its Life Cycle: A Comprehensive Analysis

Silvia Vela, Chiara Calderini (), Paolo Rosasco and Carlo Strazza
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Silvia Vela: Business Integration Partners S.p.A., 20122 Milan, Italy
Chiara Calderini: Department of Civil, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Paolo Rosasco: Department Architecture and Design, University of Genoa, 16123 Genoa, Italy
Carlo Strazza: Golder Associates S.r.l, Via Antonio Banfo 43, 10155 Torino, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: In this study, the possibility of applying the Life Cycle Thinking approach to structural design, considering all aspects and phases of the structure’s life, is investigated. The idea is to develop a procedure for the analysis of the economic and environmental impacts of structures in their life cycle, including not only ordinary costs along life cycle phases but also the extraordinary costs resulting from damage and anticipated end-of-life caused by unexpected natural hazards. The building performance under extraordinary conditions is calculated according to a time-based Loss Assessment Analysis. Such analysis provides the probable performance of a building and its components over a given period of time, considering all the hazardous events that can occur in that period, the probability of occurrence of each event, and the related effects. The outlined approach is applied to a case study of a single-story steel office building located in Italy. Two LC scenarios, having a duration of 2 years and 50 years, are considered. Results show that contributions of environmental impacts and benefits related to end-of-life management and economic losses for natural hazards are significant and not negligible. It is highlighted that the greatest challenge faced when using such a comprehensive approach is represented by data availability and representativeness that deeply limits the possibility of its implementation.

Keywords: life cycle thinking; loss assessment analysis; building costs analysis; hazard analysis; damage analysis (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 (2)

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