Water is one of the most fundamental resources on Earth. Most of everyday activities and industries involve the use of water to a greater or lesser extent. Despite popular belief, drinking quality water is not abundantly available in nature, particularly in some regions with established water scarcity. Population growth and climate change are expected to exacerbate water scarcity and water stress. Buildings are some of the largest consumers of freshwater resources and this is already being addressed by both designers and authorities. Water-efficiency measures make part of the regulations, codes, standards and certification schemes in a number of countries. However, large quantities of water, just like energy, are used for the production of the materials that make up the building, particularly for concrete. Embodied water in building materials has not received the attention that is necessary in order to affect a real change in the way water is used in buildings. This thesis analyses and presents the issue of water and the effect of both climate change and the human factor. A critical review of existing measures to mitigate the problem is carried out, and underlines some of the flaws therein, particularly focusing on embodied water. The thesis aims to show why assessing the water footprint is important and proposes Life Cycle Assessment approach as the most adequate tool for it. Concrete is the most used man-made material and it requires significant quantities of water in its production. For this reason, it is proposed that it is of high importance to evaluate the water footprint of concrete using the LCA approach. This is made difficult due to lack of available and accurate data on water flows in the production, therefore cooperation from the industry is paramount. The case study contained herein aims to show just how important water use can be in the production of concrete for the construction of residential buildings and suggests ways to lower its water footprint. It also draws the attention to and quantifies the sources of variability and possible uncertainty in the assessment with the goal of ensuring a good application of the tool and reliable results. This thesis is part of a larger effort towards establishing the water footprint of the concrete production industry. It is the product of a 7-month collaborative research into the variability of concrete’s water footprint developed at ETH Zürich and a subsequent application of the results on the scale of a building at Politecnico di Milano. It was carried out in part under the supervision of professor Guillaume Habert, Chair of Sustainable Construction, ETH Zürich and Yazmin Lisbeth Mack-Vergara, PhD candidate at the University of São Paulo. This research also led to the presentation of two conference papers, at the SETAC 24th LCA Symposium in September 2018 and the RILEM International Conference on Sustainable Materials , Systems and Structures in March 2019.
L’acqua è una delle risorse più importanti sulla Terra. La maggior parte delle attività quotidiane, comprese quelle industriali, implicano l’utilizzo di acqua. Rispetto a quanto si possa pensare, l’acqua potabile non è così abbondantemente presente in natura, particolarmente nelle zone del mondo che soffrono di scarsità d’acqua. La continua crescita della popolazione e i cambiamenti climatici degli ultimi anni contribuiranno a peggiorare la situazione in termini di scarsità d’acqua e “water stress”. Gli edifici sono considerati tra le maggiori fonti di utilizzo di acqua dolce, e la cosa è da tempo nota sia tra i progettisti che le autorità. Misure sull’efficienza d’uso dell’acqua sono già parte di regolamenti, codici e standard di certificazione in un numero sempre crescente di paesi. Tuttavia, per la produzione dei materiali che costituiscono gli edifici, ed in particolare per il calcestruzzo, viene fatto utilizzo di grandi quantità d’acqua, così come succede per l’energia. La quantità d’acqua utilizzata per la realizzazione di questi materiali non ha finora ricevuto però l’attenzione che sarebbe necessaria al fine di indurre cambiamenti concreti nel modo in cui l’acqua viene utilizzata per la costruzione degli edifici. Questa tesi analizza ed espone il problema dell’acqua e le conseguenze che hanno il cambiamento climatico ed i comportamenti umani su tale problema. Viene effettuata una analisi critica sulle attuali misure utilizzate per mitigare il problema, sottolineando alcuni dei principali difetti di tali misure e concentrandosi in particolare sul problema dell’acqua virtuale. L’obiettivo della tesi e quindi di dimostrare perchè la valutazione del ‘water footprint’ è importante e di proporre un approccio Life Cycle Assessment come lo strumento più indicato per affrontare tale problematica. Il calcestruzzo è il materiale artificiale più utilizzato e richiede ingenti quantità di acqua per la sua produzione. Per questo motivo viene qui evidenziata l’importanza di valutare il ‘water footprint’ del calcestruzzo utilizzando un approccio LCA. Questo analisi viene complicata dalla mancanza di dati accurati sull’utilizzo dell’acqua nella produzione e per questo motivo il contributo industriale diventa di cruciale importanza. Il case study presentato ha come obiettivo quello di mostrare l’importanza dell’utilizzo dell’acqua nella produzione del calcestruzzo destinato alla costruzione di edifici residenziali e di suggerire modi per limitarne il ‘water footprint’. Viene inoltre posta attenzione sull’identificare ed il quantificare le fonti di variabilità e le possibili incertezze nella valutazione d’impatto, con l’obiettivo di assicurare un corretto utilizzo degli strumenti in modo da produrre risultati affidabili. Questa tesi fa parte di un più grande sforzo verso la valutazione del water footprint dell’industria del calcestruzzo. É il prodotto di sette mesi di collaborazione e ricerca sulla variabilità del water footprint del calcestruzzo svoltasi presso l’ETH Zürich e la successiva applicazione su scala dei risultati su un edificio al Politecnico di Milano. Il lavoro è stato parzialmente realizzato sotto la supervisione del Prof. Guillaume Habert, Presidente del Dipartimento delle Costruzioni Sostenibili, ETH Zürich e di Yazmin Lisbeth Mack-Vergara, candidata PhD presso l’Università di São Paulo. Questa ricerca ha inoltre portato alla produzione di due paper che sono stati presentati in due differenti conferenze, il SETAC 24th LCA Symposium nel Settembre 2018 e il RILEM International Conference on Sustainable Materials , Systems and Structures a Marzo 2019.
Water footprint of concrete in building structures. Variability in the implementation of life cycle assessment
SPIROSKA, ANA
2018/2019
Abstract
Water is one of the most fundamental resources on Earth. Most of everyday activities and industries involve the use of water to a greater or lesser extent. Despite popular belief, drinking quality water is not abundantly available in nature, particularly in some regions with established water scarcity. Population growth and climate change are expected to exacerbate water scarcity and water stress. Buildings are some of the largest consumers of freshwater resources and this is already being addressed by both designers and authorities. Water-efficiency measures make part of the regulations, codes, standards and certification schemes in a number of countries. However, large quantities of water, just like energy, are used for the production of the materials that make up the building, particularly for concrete. Embodied water in building materials has not received the attention that is necessary in order to affect a real change in the way water is used in buildings. This thesis analyses and presents the issue of water and the effect of both climate change and the human factor. A critical review of existing measures to mitigate the problem is carried out, and underlines some of the flaws therein, particularly focusing on embodied water. The thesis aims to show why assessing the water footprint is important and proposes Life Cycle Assessment approach as the most adequate tool for it. Concrete is the most used man-made material and it requires significant quantities of water in its production. For this reason, it is proposed that it is of high importance to evaluate the water footprint of concrete using the LCA approach. This is made difficult due to lack of available and accurate data on water flows in the production, therefore cooperation from the industry is paramount. The case study contained herein aims to show just how important water use can be in the production of concrete for the construction of residential buildings and suggests ways to lower its water footprint. It also draws the attention to and quantifies the sources of variability and possible uncertainty in the assessment with the goal of ensuring a good application of the tool and reliable results. This thesis is part of a larger effort towards establishing the water footprint of the concrete production industry. It is the product of a 7-month collaborative research into the variability of concrete’s water footprint developed at ETH Zürich and a subsequent application of the results on the scale of a building at Politecnico di Milano. It was carried out in part under the supervision of professor Guillaume Habert, Chair of Sustainable Construction, ETH Zürich and Yazmin Lisbeth Mack-Vergara, PhD candidate at the University of São Paulo. This research also led to the presentation of two conference papers, at the SETAC 24th LCA Symposium in September 2018 and the RILEM International Conference on Sustainable Materials , Systems and Structures in March 2019.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2019_4_Spiroska.pdf
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/147492