Surveying & Built Environment Vol. 22 Issue 1 (December 2012)

ModEllING GASEouS
EMISSIoNS duRING THE
BuIldING lIfE CYClE
According to Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, 2006),
the basic formula for the estimation
of emissions from a single pollution
source is in Equation (1).
Emissions = AD x EF (1)
where AD is the activity quantity; and
EF the coefficient which quantifies the
emissions or emission removals per unit
of activity.
Different equipment for measuring
the quantity of the gaseous emissions
produced will require calibration at least
every six months, or according to local
standards if these are more frequent, to
ensure accurate data is collected for any
calculation.
Manufacture of building materials
In building materials manufacture, if
the quantity data of each material used
in a building is provided, then by using
the emission factor, emissions can be
calculated through Equation (2).
Emission 1i = ∑Q j x EF ij
Surveying and Built Environment Vol 22, 61-73 Nov 2012 ISSN 1816-9554
(2)
where i ( i = 1, …, 8 ) is a particular
type of emission, such as CO 2, CH 4,
N 2O, SO 2, CO, NO X, NMVOC and
particulates generated by the production
of each material; j ( j = 1, …, 7 ) is a
particular type of material used, such as
cement, steel, aluminium, glass, sand
and timber; Q j is the sum of energy for
producing any material j (kg/kWh); EF ij
is the emission factor of any emission
i generated by producing a unit of
material j (kg/kWh); Emissions ij is
therefore the total quantity of emission
i in material manufacture (g), and
“1” denotes the material manufacture
element. The quantity of each type of
material is calculated in kg.
Transportation of building materials
In transporting building materials, the
following four types of transport are
considered: road transport, railway
transport, aviation transport, and sea
transport. If the distance data and
fuel data are provided, transportation
emissions can be calculated through
Equation (3).
Emission 2i = D x FR x EF ij
(3)
where i ( i = 1, …, 8 ) is one of
the emissions, such as CO 2, CH 4,
N 2O, SO 2, CO, NO X, NMVOC and
particulates; Emissions ij is the quantity
of emission i in transportation (g); D
the total transport distance (km); FR
the fuel consumption rate of the means
of transport (kWh/km); D x FR the
amount of fuel combusted (litre or
kWh); and EF ij the emission factor of
emission i generated from fuel j type
of combustion (kg/kWh). The fuel
consumption data is calculated by fuel
type, by conveyance category and by
transport mode.
Construction
In building construction, emissions
are mainly generated by using electric
power and burning fuel. The data for
electricity and fuel used in this period
are needed to calculate emissions by
using Equation (2) and replacing j ( j
= 1, …, n ) as one of the fuel types and
Q j as the amount of the fuel j burned or
electricity used (kWh).
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