Life cycle analysis for sustainability assessment of road projects


Autoria(s): Alam, Shafiqul; Kumar, Arun; Dawes, Les
Contribuinte(s)

Kajewski, Stephen

Manley, Karen

Hampson, Keith

Data(s)

2013

Resumo

Road infrastructure has been considered as one of the most expensive and extensive infrastructure assets of the built environment globally. This asset also impacts the natural environment significantly during different phases of life e.g. construction, use, maintenance and end-of-life. The growing emphasis for sustainable development to meet the needs of future generations requires mitigation of the environmental impacts of road infrastructure during all phases of life e.g. construction, operation and end-of-life disposal (as required). Life-cycle analysis (LCA), a method of quantification of all stages of life, has recently been studied to explore all the environmental components of road projects due to limitations of generic environmental assessments. The LCA ensures collection and assessment of the inputs and outputs relating to any potential environmental factor of any system throughout its life. However, absence of a defined system boundary covering all potential environmental components restricts the findings of the current LCA studies. A review of the relevant published LCA studies has identified that environmental components such as rolling resistance of pavement, effect of solar radiation on pavement(albedo), traffic congestion during construction, and roadway lighting & signals are not considered by most of the studies. These components have potentially higher weightings for environment damage than several commonly considered components such as materials, transportation and equipment. This paper presents the findings of literature review, and suggests a system boundary model for LCA study of road infrastructure projects covering potential environmental components.

Formato

application/pdf

Identificador

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/71239/

Publicador

Queensland University of Technology

Relação

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/71239/1/cibwbc2013_ShafiqulDawes.pdf

http://www.conference.net.au/cibwbc13/papers/cibwbc2013_submission_175.pdf

Alam, Shafiqul, Kumar, Arun, & Dawes, Les (2013) Life cycle analysis for sustainability assessment of road projects. In Kajewski, Stephen, Manley, Karen, & Hampson, Keith (Eds.) Proceedings of the 19th CIB World Building Congress, Brisbane 2013 : Construction and Society, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD.

Direitos

Copyright 2013 [please consult the author]

Fonte

School of Civil Engineering & Built Environment; Division of Administrative Services; School of Earth, Environmental & Biological Sciences; Institute for Future Environments; Science & Engineering Faculty

Palavras-Chave #090501 Civil Geotechnical Engineering #090700 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING #Sustainability #Environmental Indicators #Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) #Global Warming Potential (GWP) #System Boundary
Tipo

Conference Paper