Robert Crawford

Assessing the impact of buildings and construction across scales using the Australian Industrial Ecology Lab

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 04-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENBUILD.2017.12.056

Towards a multiscale framework for modeling and improving the life cycle environmental performance of built stocks

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 04-2022

DOI: 10.1111/JIEC.13254

Abstract: Cities are complex sociotechnical systems, of which buildings and infrastructure assets (built stocks) constitute a critical part. As the main global users of primary energy and emitters of associated greenhouse gases, there is a need for the introduction of measures capable of enhancing the environmental performance of built stocks in cities and mitigating negative externalities such as pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. To date, most environmental modeling and assessment approaches are often fragmented across disciplines and limited in scope, failing to provide a comprehensive evaluation. These approaches tend to focus either on one scale relevant to a discipline (e.g., buildings, roads, parks) or particular environmental flows (e.g., energy, greenhouse emissions). Here, we present a framework aimed at overcoming many of these limitations. By combining life cycle assessment and dynamic modeling using a nested systems theory, this framework provides a more holistic and integrated approach for modeling and improving the environmental performance of built stocks and their occupants, including material stocks and flows, embodied, operational, and mobility‐related environmental flows, as well as cost, and carbon sequestration in materials and green infrastructure. This comprehensive approach enables a very detailed parametrization that supports testing different policy scenarios at a material, element, building, and neighborhood level, and across different environmental flows. We test parts of our modeling framework on a proof‐of‐concept case study neighborhood in Melbourne, Australia, demonstrating its breadth. The proposed modeling framework can enable an advanced assessment of built stocks that enhances our capacity to improve the life cycle environmental performance of cities.

Hybrid life cycle assessment at the neighbourhood scale: The case of Ydalir, Norway

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 06-2022

DOI: 10.1016/J.CLET.2022.100503

Integrating life-cycle GHG emissions into a building’s economic evaluation

Publisher: Ubiquity Press, Ltd.

Date: 2020

DOI: 10.5334/BC.36

The relationship between house size and life cycle energy demand: Implications for energy efficiency regulations for buildings

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENERGY.2016.10.038

A model for streamlining and automating path exchange hybrid life cycle assessment

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 21-08-2019

DOI: 10.1007/S11367-018-1521-1

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with food packaging for online food delivery services in Australia

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.RESCONREC.2020.105299

Guest editorial: Smart villages, rural infrastructure and sustainable development

Publisher: Emerald

Date: 11-05-2022

DOI: 10.1108/BEPAM-06-2022-195

The ‘building paradox’: research on building-related environmental effects requires global visibility and attention

Publisher: Emerald

Date: 05-08-2020

DOI: 10.35241/EMERALDOPENRES.13838.1

Abstract: The construction and operation of buildings is a major contributor to global energy demand, greenhouse gases emissions, resource depletion, waste generation, and associated environmental effects, such as climate change, pollution and habitat destruction. Despite its wide relevance, research on building-related environmental effects often fails to achieve global visibility and attention, particularly in premiere interdisciplinary journals – thus representing a major gap in the research these journals offer. In this article we review and reflect on the factors that are likely causing this lack of visibility for such a prominent research topic and emphasise the need to reconcile the construction and operational phases into the physical unity of a building, to contribute to the global environmental discourse using a lifecycle-based approach. This article also aims to act as a call for action and to raise awareness of this important gap. The evidence contained in the article can support institutional policies to improve the status quo and provide a practical help to researchers in the field to bring their work to wide interdisciplinary audiences.

Plug n Play: Future Prefab for Smart Green Schools

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 05-07-2018

DOI: 10.3390/BUILDINGS8070088

Directionally selective shading control in maritime sub-tropical and temperate climates: Life cycle energy implications for office buildings

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 08-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.BUILDENV.2016.05.009

The influence of structural design methods on the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of structural systems for tall buildings

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 04-2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.ISTRUC.2020.01.026

Embodied and Operational Energy of a Case Study Villa in UAE with Sensitivity Analysis

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 16-09-2022

DOI: 10.3390/BUILDINGS12091469

Abstract: Extensive focus on operational energy research has positively impacted both academia and policymakers, facilitating new strategies that reduce the energy consumed by building occupants. Much less emphasis has, however, been given to embodied energy. Consequently, although studies now show that embodied energy can be responsible for up to 50% of a building’s life cycle energy, little is known about the embodied energy associated with the construction of buildings, materials, and components in the study context. The aim of this study is to investigate the current scenario in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by calculating the embodied energy of a residential villa, and estimating the initial, recurrent, and demolition and disposal embodied energies over a 50-year building life span. A detailed assessment of the embodied energy associated with the construction of the case study villa was carried out using an input–output hybrid approach, followed by a sensitivity analysis focused on variations related to the energy associated and consumed, as well as the adoption of renewable energy sources. The findings show that the initial embodied energy was 57% of the life cycle embodied energy and 19% of the life cycle energy of the villa while the recurrent embodied energy was 43% of the life cycle embodied energy and 14% of the life cycle energy of the villa. The life cycle embodied energy of the villa, over a 50-year life span was 36% of the life cycle energy. This paper also highlights the impact of adding a solar PV system and lists multiple areas for future studies related to embodied energy and its benefit to stakeholders in the building industry.

Assessing the social life cycle impacts of circular economy

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2023

DOI: 10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2022.135725

Building service life and its effect on the life cycle embodied energy of buildings

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENERGY.2014.10.093

Exploring the environmental assessment of circular economy in the construction industry: A scoping review

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2023

DOI: 10.1016/J.SPC.2023.09.022

A framework for the integrated optimisation of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and cost of buildings

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENBUILD.2018.04.018

University Of Melbourne

Location: Australia

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Deakin University Geelong - Waterfront Campus

Location: Australia

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Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100023

Start Date: 07-2016

End Date: 05-2022

Amount: $4,000,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP120200306

Start Date: 02-2013

End Date: 12-2016

Amount: $100,055.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0667653

Start Date: 03-2006

End Date: 12-2009

Amount: $178,891.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP100200240

Start Date: 06-2011

End Date: 12-2015

Amount: $200,313.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0990261

Start Date: 07-2009

End Date: 07-2013

Amount: $180,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100066

Start Date: 04-2016

End Date: 06-2018

Amount: $260,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH220100016

Start Date: 10-2023

End Date: 10-2028

Amount: $2,959,803.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP150100962

Start Date: 06-2015

End Date: 12-2019

Amount: $266,300.00

Funder: Australian Research Council