LCA of the Zero Emission Neighbourhood Ydalir

Abstract

Buildings represent a critical piece of a low-carbon future and their long lifetime necessitates urgent adoption of state-of-the-art performance standards. So far, LCA studies have assessed buildings, mobility and energy systems mainly individually. Zero Emission Neighbourhoods (ZEN) give a unique chance to combine these elements. In Norway, the Research Centre on ZEN has as a goal to enable the transition to a low carbon society by developing sustainable ZENs. In this study, a LCA model for neighbourhood based on a modular structure with five physical elements; buildings, mobility, infrastructure, networks and on-site energy was applied on Ydalir, a pilot project of the ZEN Centre. Revealing that regardless of which scenario considered, the ZEN Ydalir does not achieve their ambitious goal of zero emissions. Further, the results show that the operation of mobility is a major source of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 21-46%. Considering the life cycle stage materials, buildings are the largest contributor representing 24% of all GHG emissions. Thus, these two areas have been highlighted as the best options for improvement. Parameters related to uncertainties or are large contributors to the environmental impact are included in a sensitivity analysis.