301003 Sustainable Systems

Question:
Q1. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Consider a building with a dimension (10+N*0.5)*(7+N*0.6) m2  for ID ending with 0-3, (5.5+N*1.0)*(3+N*0.8) m2 for ID ending with 4-6 and (5.5+N*0.5)*(3+N*0.6) m2 for ID ending with 7-9. N is the last digit of your ID. Assume a number of bedrooms etc. as logically as you could. Provide a sketch similar to the one provided in the workshop hand out (hand drawn sketch is fine). Perform life cycle assessment similar to the workshop assignment. In your LCA calculate the total material/energy/water requirement for construction and operation. In your calculation assume the energy requirement per square meter is similar to that in your Assignment 2. Water requirement is 330 l/person/d. The number of people in the house is similar to Assignment 2. Materials used for the house is similar to that in the workshop. Other materials can be assumed as necessary. From your learning experience in sustainable systems and your preliminary calculations find a material that need to be replaced to achieve the maximum reduction in CO2 emission from the house.
Based on N, the last digit of your ID, implement following modification.

Material used for external wall
Material used for external doors
Material used for windows
Material used for roof
Material used for flooring
Material used for interior wall
Size of living rooms
Materials used for internal doors
Materials used for insulation
Compartmentalisation within the building

Present the information in a report as the first part as given below:
Your report should include
a) Executive summary
b) Introduction:
Problem definition as an introduction (i.e. service wanted, service life and two alternatives and why you chose these alternatives) and briefly describe (flow chart is fine) the procedure recommended by the ISO to conduct LCA
Include the functional unit
c) Life cycle inventory: Include the following and any other necessary information.
Provide the sketch of the house,  
Assign materials to each major elements of the building including that of suggested modification above for the alternative
Estimate weight/volume of each component for both alternatives, include the life of each material etc. (present the material data in Tabular form). Calculate the amount of water and energy use during the use phase of the building.
d) Life cycle impact assessment:
Include the following and any other relevant information
A balanced material flow diagram for each alternative.
Perform the LCA and provide CO2 emission in Tabular form. Provide sample calculation for each alternative. Estimate if any other aspects of CO2 emission is controlled by your modification for alternative. Include the CO2 emission from the water and energy use during the use phase of the building. Use the document provided under workshop 5 for CO2 emission or other relevant document
e) Life cycle interpretation/analysis
Identify the hotspot, evaluate the best of the two evaluated alternatives
Remedial measures for the identified hot spot of each alternative and the feasibility of improvement options
f) Conclusion
g) References  
Q2. Design for the Environment (DFE), Cleaner Production (CP) and Industrial Ecology (IE)
a) Based on the Assignment 2, calculate the eco-efficiency achieved by the modification in the energy improvement.
b) Search internet resources and present one of the cleaner production strategy implemented in any part of the world and summarise the case and findings in your own words. Comment, what would you do if you were the engineer. (please do not include the case study used in Workshop 6)
c) What is design for the environment. Select any product of your choice and suggest what modification would you implement in its design to make it the better design for the environment. Justify with reasoning. (please do not include the products discussed in Workshop 6)
What are the challenges of implementing industrial ecology in your hometown? Justify your answer