Flat roofs renovation: a life cycle approach for environmental impact assessment and economic effectiveness

The high energy consumption caused by the building sector and the continuous growth and ageing of the existing housing stock show the importance of housing renovation to improve the quality of the environment. This research compares the environmental performance of flat roof systems (insulation, roofing membrane and covering layer) using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The aim is to give indications on how to improve the environmental performance of housing. This research uses a reference building located in the Netherlands and considers environmental impacts related to materials, energy consumption for heating and maintenance activities. It indicates impact scores for each material taking into account interconnections between the layers and between the different parts of the life cycle. It compares the environmental and economic performances of PV panels and of different materials and thermal resistance values for the insulation. These comparisons show that PV panels are convenient from an environmental and economic point of view. The same is true for the insulation layer, especially for materials as PIR (polyisocyanurate) and EPS (expanded polystyrene). It shows that energy consumption for heating causes a larger share of impact scores than production of the materials and maintenance activities. The insulation also causes larger impact scores comparing to roofing membrane and covering layer. The results show which materials are preferable for flat roof renovation and what causes the largest shares of impact. This gives indication to the roofers and to other stakeholders about how to reduce the environmental impact of the existing housing stock.

Environmental impact assessment of the School of Engineering and Architecture (Lazzaretto) - A pathway towards LEED certification

The current work has for object the improvement and the maintenance of the School of Engineering and Architecture in Via Terracini 28 (Bologna), with the prospective to maximize the operative efficiency reducing to the minimum the environmental impact and the costs. In order to realize this work the LEED certification has been used. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a certification system of the buildings. It was born in United States by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

Citizen science as a tool for the environmental quality assessment of the Mediterranean coastal habitats

The growing need to assess the environmental status of the Mediterranean coastal marine habitats and the large availability of data collected by Reef Check Italia onlus (RCI) volunteers suggest the possibility to develop innovative and reliable indices that may support decision makers in applying conservation strategies. The aims of this study were to check the reliability of data collected by RCI volunteers, analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of RCI available data, resume the knowledge on the biology and ecology of the monitored species, and develop innovative indices to asses the ecological quality of Mediterranean subtidal rocky shores and coralligenous habitats. Subtidal rocky shores and coralligenous were chosen because these are the habitats more attractive for divers; therefore mlst data are referring to them, moreover subtidal rocky bottom are strongly affected by coastal urbanisation, land use, fishing and tourist activities, that increase pollution, turbidity and sedimentation. Non-indigenous species (NIS) have been recognized as a major threat to the integrity of Mediterranean native communities because of their proliferation, spread and impact on resident communities. Monitoring of NIS’ spreading dynamics at the basin spatial scale is difficult but urgent. According to a field test, the training provided by RCI appears adequate to obtain reliable data by volunteers. Based on data collected by RCI volunteers, three main categories of indices were developed: indices based on species diversity, indices on the occurrence non-indigenous species, and indices on species sensitive toward physical, chemical and biological disturbances. As case studies, indices were applied to stretches of coastline defined according to management criteria (province territories and marine protected areas). The assessments of ecological quality in the Tavolara Marine Protected Area using the species sensitivities index were consisten with those previously obtained with traditional methods.

Life cycle assessment in construction field: A life cycle cost analysis of reinforcement concrete bridge

The present work is included in the context of the assessment of sustainability in the construction field and is aimed at estimating and analyzing life cycle cost of the existing reinforced concrete bridge “Viadotto delle Capre” during its entire life. This was accomplished by a comprehensive data collection and results evaluation. In detail, the economic analysis of the project is performed. The work has investigated possible design alternatives for maintenance/rehabilitation and end-of-life operations, when structural, functional, economic and also environmental requirements have to be fulfilled. In detail, the economic impact of different design options for the given reinforced concrete bridge have been assessed, whereupon the most economically, structurally and environmentally efficient scenario was chosen. The Integrated Life-Cycle Analysis procedure and Environmental Impact Assessment were also discussed in this work. The scope of this thesis is to illustrate that Life Cycle Cost analysis as part of Life Cycle Assessment approach could be effectively used to drive the design and management strategy of new and existing structures. The final objective of this contribution is to show how an economic analysis can influence decision-making in the definition of the most sustainable design alternatives. The designers can monitor the economic impact of different design strategies in order to identify the most appropriate option.

A framework for the environmental risk assessment of offshore carbon storage in CCS systems

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) represents an interesting climate mitigation option, however, as for any other human activity, there is the impelling need to assess and manage the associated risks. This study specifically addresses the marine environmental risk posed by CO2 leakages associated to CCS subsea engineering system, meant as offshore pipelines and injection / plugged and abandoned wells. The aim of this thesis work is to start approaching the development of a complete and standardized practical procedure to perform a quantified environmental risk assessment for CCS, with reference to the specific activities mentioned above. Such an effort would be of extreme relevance not only for companies willing to implement CCS, as a methodological guidance, but also, by uniformizing the ERA procedure, to begin changing people’s perception about CCS, that happens to be often discredited due to the evident lack of comprehensive and systematic methods to assess the impacts on the marine environment. The backbone structure of the framework developed consists on the integration of ERA’s main steps and those belonging to the quantified risk assessment (QRA), in the aim of quantitatively characterizing risk and describing it as a combination of magnitude of the consequences and their frequency. The framework developed by this work is, however, at a high level, as not every single aspect has been dealt with in the required detail. Thus, several alternative options are presented to be considered for use depending on the situation. Further specific studies should address their accuracy and efficiency and solve the knowledge gaps emerged, in order to establish and validate a final and complete procedure. Regardless of the knowledge gaps and uncertainties, that surely need to be addressed, this preliminary framework already finds some relevance in on field applications, as a non-stringent guidance to perform CCS ERA, and it constitutes the foundation of the final framework.

Analisi e valutazione delle performance acustiche degli aeromobili nella fase di atterraggio

Nella tesi si analizzano le principali fonti del rumore aeronautico, lo stato dell'arte dal punto di vista normativo, tecnologico e procedurale. Si analizza lo stato dell'arte anche riguardo alla classificazione degli aeromobili, proponendo un nuovo indice prestazionale in alternativa a quello indicato dalla metodologia di certificazione (AC36-ICAO) Allo scopo di diminuire l'impatto acustico degli aeromobili in fase di atterraggio, si analizzano col programma INM i benefici di procedure CDA a 3° rispetto alle procedure tradizionali e, di seguito di procedure CDA ad angoli maggiori in termini di riduzione di lunghezza e di area delle isofoniche SEL85, SEL80 e SEL75.

Waste management in Forlì-Cesena province: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Forlì incinerator

This work assesses the environmental impact of a municipal solid waste incinerator with energy recovery in Forlì-Cesena province (Emilia-Romagna region, Italy). The methodology used is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). As the plant already applies the best technologies available in waste treatment, this study focuses on the fate of the residues (bottom and fly ash) produced during combustion. Nine scenarios are made, based on different ash treatment disposing/recycling techniques. The functional unit is the amount of waste incinerated in 2011. Boundaries are set from waste arrival in the plant to the disposal/recovery of the residues produced, with energy recovery. Only the operative period is considered. Software used is GaBi 4 and the LCIA method used is CML2001. The impact categories analyzed are: abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, global warming, human toxicity, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, terrestrial ecotoxicity and primary energy demand. Most of the data are taken from Herambiente. When primary data are not available, data from Ecoinvent and GaBi databases or literature data are used. The whole incineration process is sustainable, due to the relevant avoided impact given by co-generator. As far as regards bottom ash treatment, the most influential process is the impact savings from iron recovery. Bottom ash recycling in road construction or as building material are both valid alternatives, even if the first option faces legislative limits in Italy. Regarding fly ash inertization, the adding of cement and Ferrox treatment results the most feasible alternatives. However, this inertized fly ash can maintain its hazardous nature. The only method to ensure the stability of an inertized fly ash is to couple two different stabilization treatments. Ash stabilization technologies shall improve with the same rate of the flexibility of the national legislation about incineration residues recycling.

Multiphase flow in porous media: meta-modeling techniques for sensitivity analysis and risk assessment

One of the biggest challenges that contaminant hydrogeology is facing, is how to adequately address the uncertainty associated with model predictions. Uncertainty arise from multiple sources, such as: interpretative error, calibration accuracy, parameter sensitivity and variability. This critical issue needs to be properly addressed in order to support environmental decision-making processes. In this study, we perform Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) on a contaminant transport model for the assessment of hydrocarbon concentration in groundwater. We provide a quantification of the environmental impact and, given the incomplete knowledge of hydrogeological parameters, we evaluate which are the most influential, requiring greater accuracy in the calibration process. Parameters are treated as random variables and a variance-based GSA is performed in a optimized numerical Monte Carlo framework. The Sobol indices are adopted as sensitivity measures and they are computed by employing meta-models to characterize the migration process, while reducing the computational cost of the analysis. The proposed methodology allows us to: extend the number of Monte Carlo iterations, identify the influence of uncertain parameters and lead to considerable saving computational time obtaining an acceptable accuracy.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of a bio-fuel cell fed with waste biomass: potential for scale-up and process optimization

In this Thesis, a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a biofuel cell designed by a team from the University of Bologna was done. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possible environmental impacts of the production and use of the cell and a possible optimization for an industrial scale-up. To do so, a first part of the paper was devoted to studying the present literature on biomass, and fuel cell treatments and then LCA studies on them. The experimental part presents the work done to create the Life Cycle Inventory and Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Several alternative scenarios were created to study process optimization. Reagents and energy supply were changed. To examine whether this technology can be competitive, a comparison was made with some biofuel cell use scenarios with traditional biomass treatment technologies. The result of this study is that this technology is promising from an environmental point of view in case it is possible to recover nutrients in output, without excessive energy consumption, and to minimize the use of energy used to prepare the solution.