Sight beyond reach: Dynamic life cycle assessment to support resilient retrofit decision-making in a changing climate

Vanessa Gomes, Marcella Ruschi Mendes Saade, Leticia Neves, Iris Loche, Lizzie Pulgrossi, Maristela Gomes da Silva

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

During extreme climate events, resilient design relies both on efficient active systems to lower the likelihood of power outages and on passive and mixed-mode strategies to help to maintain adequate comfort when they occur. As most measures to increase building resilience add embodied impacts, designers need a clearer view of the consequences that decisions taken today have on comfort resiliency. Also, will knowing more about future scenarios result in more resilient design in a changing climate? This chapter focuses on the life cycle efficiency of resilient design alternatives, or the balance between emissions embodied in the tested envelope retrofit measures and those avoided by the operational energy they save. Basic design variables for a mixed-mode office room were simulated using climate change-adjusted future weather files. Emission intensity modelling considered operational and embodied sources and addressed temporal variation in energy consumption, electricity mix and material input. This exercise confirms that early decisions to make building features low-carbon, robust and durable may have little extra embodied impact but make a large contribution to reducing emissions in the future. Improved understanding on predicted climate change can support design strategies for ‘acquired resilience’ over time by planning pre-emptive opportunities for next-generation adaptive features.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRoutledge Handbook of Resilient Thermal Comfort
EditorsFergus Nicol, Hom Bahadur Rijal, Susan Roaf
PublisherRoutledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter25
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781003244929
ISBN (Print)9781032155975
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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