Life Cycle Assesment Report for Centre for the Creative Arts and Media (CCAM) | GMIT

Life Cycle Assessment
Report
24/02/15
Jonathan Flanagan
Innovative Architectural Technology

Galway Mayo Institute of technology
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Table of Contents
Section 1.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................................3
1.1 What is a Life Cycle Assessment?..........................................................................................3
1.2 Why the need for LCA in building? .........................................................................................3
1.3 Life Cycle Assessment Method...............................................................................................4
Stage 01 Goal and Scope...........................................................................................................4
Stage 02 Inventory Analysis.......................................................................................................4
Stage 03 Impact Assessment.....................................................................................................4
Stage 04 Interpretation................................................................................................................5
Section 2.0 Goal and Scope...............................................................................................................6
2.1 Goal of the Assessment ...........................................................................................................6
2.2 Scope ..........................................................................................................................................6
Section 3.0 Life Cycle Costing ...........................................................................................................7
3.1 Cork Insulation ...........................................................................................................................7
Manufacture ..................................................................................................................................7
Transport to Site...........................................................................................................................8
Installation .....................................................................................................................................8
Life Expectancy ............................................................................................................................9
Maintenance..................................................................................................................................9
Demolition/Disposal .....................................................................................................................9
03.2 Expanded Polystyrene Insulation........................................................................................10
Manufacture ................................................................................................................................10
Transport to Site.........................................................................................................................11
Installation ...................................................................................................................................11
Life Expectancy ..........................................................................................................................11
Maintenance................................................................................................................................12
Demolition/Disposal ...................................................................................................................12
Section 4.0 Carbon Foot Print of Rigid Expanded Polystyrene Insulation opposed to Rigid
Cork Insulation in Solid a Floor ........................................................................................................13
4.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................................13
4.2 Case Study: Calculations for Cluain Mhuires Existing Chapel Ground Floor Upgrade 13
Table 4.3 Proposed Solid floor build up with EPS Insulation ..................................................13
Table 4.4 Proposed Solid floor build up with Expanded Cork Insulation...............................15
Section 5.0 Conclusion......................................................................................................................18

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References..........................................................................................................................................19
Online Photographic: .....................................................................................................................19

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Section 1.0 Introduction
1.1 What is a Life Cycle Assessment?
A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method used to assess the environmental
characteristics and possible impacts that are associated with a buildings materials. It
is carried out by gathering an inventory of energy used, material contributions and
environmental emissions that are relevant to the materials under assessment. It is
used to evaluate the possible impacts to the environment that are associated with
their identified contributions and emissions.
Fig 1.01 An illustration showing factors considered in life cycle assessment (Figure 1: Processes
typically considered when conducting an LCA for a product)
1.2 Why the need for LCA in building?
 Reduce the already massive problem of rising CO2 emissions
 Conserve finite resources such as coal and oil
 Conserve ecological systems for future generations
 Create and use cleaner technologies
 Maximize recycling of materials and waste during before and after
construction
Designers and manufacturers have to meet regulations such as TGD Part L that are
put out by the Irish Government and EU. They are required to demonstrate their

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chosen materials and their associated environmental performance in the form of a
LCA to show how they are being compliant with the regulations set out. It is very
easy to select a product a manufacturer has told you is environmentally friendly, by
carrying out the LCA you can determine if this information is true and how much
embodied energy does it really take to create the said material.
1.3 Life Cycle Assessment Method
Carrying out an LCA involves four stages:
Stage 01 Goal and Scope
This stage involves setting out the questions that are to be answered for example,
what is the purpose of the assessment, why is the assessment being done, who are
the beneficiary’s, what is it focusing on, how the assessment will be carried out and
what information is required to carry out the assessment ?
Stage 02 Inventory Analysis
This stage involves compiling all the relevant information on inputs such as
embodied energy, fuel and raw materials used in the products production and the
outputs such as emissions generated, waste created and the product itself. This
information is then translated into emissions released to air water and land and the
resources that were expended. These results are then calculated to gain a total
which is then placed in the inventory table.
Stage 03 Impact Assessment
 Characterization: Selecting impact categories, characterization models and category
indicators.
 Classification: Where the inventory’s constraints are organised and allocated to
particular impact categories.
 Impact measurement: Where the categorized Life Cycle Inventory flows are
characterised into a LCIA methodology. These measurements are sorted into
common equivalence units that are summed to deliver an inclusive impact category
total.

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Stage 04 Interpretation
Interpretation involves identifying, quantifying, checking, and estimating data from the results
of the life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment. The results from the inventory
analysis and impact assessment are summarized during the interpretation phase. The
purpose of executing a life cycle interpretation is to figure out the level of confidence in the
concluding results and convey them in a reasonable, complete, and accurate way. The result
of the interpretation stage is a set of conclusions and recommendations made for the study.

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Section 2.0 Goal and Scope
2.1 Goal of the Assessment
The goal set out for this report is to show the total carbon foot print of Expanded
Polystyrene Insulation (EPS) opposed to Expanded Cork Insulation, cradle to site in
the proposed solid floor build-up of the Cluain Mhuire chapel.
2.2 Scope
The author hopes to prove this by calculating the weight of materials involved in the
build up in conjunction with the figures provided in the ICE Database V2.0 which
gives cradle to gate data relating to Embodied Energy and Carbon Coefficients of the
materials conatined in it. Embodied energy of the transport required to ship these
materials from their retailers to the site will be added to this calculation also.

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Section 3.0 Life Cycle Costing
Life-cycle Costing (LCC) is a technique used to estimate the total cost of ownership.
It allows comparative cost assessments to be made over a specific period of time,
taking into account relevant economic factors both in terms of initial capital costs and
future operational and asset replacement cost.
3.1 Cork Insulation
Manufacture
Cork itself is a natural product that is made from the external layer of bark of certain
oak trees that are cultivated in western Mediterranean regions of Europe and North
Africa, Portugal being the world’s main supplier. Being that the product comes from a
tree means it is a renewable source for insulation, once harvested it regenerates and
can be harvested every 9 years of the trees life span which is over 200 years. It has
been defined by the LEED rating system as being one of the most natural materials,
as it is biodegradable, manufactured from sustainable forests and is a derivative of
the cork stop industry making it a recycled product.
Fig 1.02 Cork harvested by hand with the aid of a hatchet (2010 Cork Harvest Restores Inventory
Levels n.d.)
Cork insulation in the construction industry is an important contribution with
significant advantages when it comes to insulating materials. The production process
involves its extraction from the bark of trees by hand and is then transported to its
manufacturing plant where superheated steam powered by steam generators which
are fed by their waste generated in the cork grinding process and board finishing

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procedures. Heating the cork in this way activates suberin (natural resin), which acts
as the binder to hold the cork granules together. By this process it does not include
any other products that aren’t solely cork to manufacture the board.
The production of cork and its utilization In the construction industry is closely related
to the conservation of biodiversity and the reductions in emissions of CO2 gases.
With this in mind Cork Oak forests provide an ecosystem for many flora and fauna
that include endangered species. This in contrast with the environmental importance
of cork, boosts its sustainability in the world.
Fig 1.03 Billets of cork insulation in its expanded manufactured form (Expanded cork insulation n.d.)
Transport to Site
There is a substantial amount of embodied energy required to transport cork from its
original source, but this is usually done so by sea which is fairly energy efficient
when the weight of cork is considered being very light. Cork can be transported via
road, rail and sea via trucks, vans, trains and freight cargo ships. There are no
special conditions for the transport of cork other than that they are stored in a dry
space.
Installation
Cork comes in standard board sizes of 600x1200mm in varying thicknesses and is
applied on site by manual labour with little to no embodied energy involved in its
installation.

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Life Expectancy
Cork insulation board is believed to have a design life that would equate to the life
span of the building it is installed within as it is a very durable building product.
Maintenance
Cork has very little if at all any maintenance associated with it especially when it is
going to be installed within a solid floor structure meaning it would be very hard to
conduct any form of maintenance upon the insulation as it is embedded under a
layer of tiles and a screed which would prove costly to remove to get at the
insulation.
Note:
With this in mind the only element that can be maintained within a solid floor build up
is its surface finish being the clay tiles and parquet flooring. These floors should be
maintained by weekly vacuuming and mopping with the aid of a cleaning solution not
comprised of any ammonia, bleach or any product listed as an abrasive cleaner. For
the most appropriate cleaning solution for a tiled floor it is best to seek consultation
from the tiles manufacturer. In the instance of parquet flooring it is advised to clean
the floor with a commercial grade hardwood cleaner. The parquet then needs to be
sanded down with the use of an orbital sander and vacuumed removing the waste
accumulated. Then it is required to varnish the floor, sand it again and varnish. This
process is repeated every 3 to 4 years. To maintain this finish it is advised to mop
the floor weekly to keep it intact. Note: shading the floor itself from the sun can
reduce fading in the parquet.
Demolition/Disposal
Cork cannot be recycled upon its removal, but it is biodegradable.

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03.2 Expanded Polystyrene Insulation
Fig 1.04 Manufacturing process of expandable polystyrene to make expanded polystyrene (Figure
1 n.d.)
Manufacture
Expanded Polystyrene is a rigid closed cell and light weight plastic foam insulation
product made from solid beads of polystyrene. The expandable polystyrene beads
used are plastic materials derived from crude oil. There are three stages involved in
the manufacturing of EPS to turn expandable polystyrene into expanded polystyrene.
The first stage involves heating the expandable polystyrene beads with steam by the
use of a pre-foamer causing the beads to expand 40 times their original size.
Pentane (solvent) is then used as the blowing agent that boils when heated by the
steaming process which in turn creates the closed cell honey comb structure in the
beads.
During the second stage the expanded polystyrene beads are allowed to cool for 12
– 24 hours in a storage hopper.
At the third stage the beads are then placed in a mould that reheats the beads. The
beads then fuse together, expand further to form a rigid mould of EPS board and
upon cooling are cut into different sizes. When a board has been processed it
contains only 2% expandable polystyrene and 98% air.

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EPS is not biodegradable therefore does not degrade over time. It is also unaffected
by moisture penetration, non-toxic and does not produce any airborne fibres. There
is no by-product of EPS throughout its manufacture, resulting in no waste being
created, any left overs are recycled and put back into the production process to be re
used.
Transport to Site
There is a substantial amount of embodied energy required to transport EPS from its
source, but this is usually done so by sea which is generally energy efficient when
the weight of EPS is considered to be very light. EPS can be transported via road,
rail and sea via trucks, vans, trains and freight cargo ships. There is a special
requirement that EPS be contained and transported in a well ventilated environment
as pentane vapours are flammable and cause harm and damage.
Installation
EPS comes in standard board sizes of 600x1200mm in varying thicknesses and is
applied on site by manual labour with little to no embodied energy involved in its
installation.
Fig 1.05 Sheets of Extruded Polystyrene in its manufactured form (EPS T-FONOPOR, n.d.)
Life Expectancy
EPS is believed to have a design life of 60 – to 80 years before its thermal properties
are spoiled.

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Maintenance
EPS has very little if at all any maintenance associated with it especially when it is
going to be installed within a solid floor structure meaning it would be very hard to
conduct any form of maintenance upon the insulation as it is embedded under a
layer of tiles and a screed which would prove costly to remove to get at the
insulation.
Demolition/Disposal
Used EPS is recycled and collected from recycling centres and depots, set up by
EPS manufacturers and local authorities who have signed an international
agreement on recycling to mitigate against burning or throwing it into land fill. The
recycled EPS can be remoulded again to make more insulation boards.

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Section 4.0 Carbon Foot Print of Rigid Expanded Polystyrene
Insulation opposed to Rigid Cork Insulation in Solid a Floor
4.1 Introduction
Cluain Mhuire’s Chapel existing ground floor is comprised of a raft foundation,
Limestone rubble infill, a concrete slab, mixed parquet and clay tile flooring. The
proposed build up shall be a solid floor build for both build-ups analysed, as required
to keep within architectural conservation principles, replacing like for like as the
existing structures floor is comprised of a solid floor construction. The first floor
composition shall contain Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Insulation and the second,
Expanded Cork Insulation.
4.2 Case Study: Calculations for Cluain Mhuires Existing Chapel Ground Floor
Upgrade
The surface area of the proposed upgrade to the existing ground floor is 359m2
,
10% of waste generated from the materials used when installing the floor is added to
the floor surface giving a total of 394.9m2
. An illustration of the two floor build–ups,
their embodied energy and carbon coefficients are provided on the A3 sheet that
accompanies this report. The calculations provided are based on embodied energy
and carbon co-efficients of materials taken from the ICE Database V2.0. Transport of
the materials is by road from the different locations within Ireland, where these
materials can be acquired and is typically transported via a 32 tonne diesel artic
truck with an embodied energy of 0.94MJ/t/km (data from Argonne National
Laboratory).
The total embodied energy and carbon emmissions of the solid floor is given in the
calculation below:
Table 4.3 Proposed Solid floor build up with EPS Insulation
Material Calculation
Clay Tiles
Embodied Energy 62.5kg/m
2
x 394.9m
2
= 24,681kg
24,681kg x 6.50MJ/kg = 160,427MJ

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Embodied Carbon Emmission 62.5kg/m
2
x 394.9m
2
= 24,681kg
24,681kg x 0.45kgCO2/kg = 11,106kgCO2e
Transport Embodied Energy 24.681 x 220km = 5,430tkm
5,430tkm x 0.94MJ = 5,104MJ
Total Embodied Energy 160,427MJ + 5,430MJ = 165,857MJ
Total Embodied Carbon 11,106kgCO2e
Screed
Embodied Energy 120kg/m
2
x 394.9m
2
= 47,388kg
47,388kg x 1.33MJ/kg = 63,026MJ
Embodied Carbon Emmission 120kg/m
2
x 394.9m
2
= 47,388kg
47,388kg x 0.208kgCO2/kg = 9,857kgCO2e
Transport Embodied Energy 47.388t x 10km = 47,388tkm
47,388tkm x 0.94MJ = 44,545MJ
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)
2
x 394.9m
2
= 987kg
987kg x 88.60MJ/kg = 87,448MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 987kg
987kg x 2.55kgCO2/kg = 2,517kgCO2e
Transport Embodied Energy 0.987t x 60km = 59.22tkm
59.22tkm x 0.94MJ = 55.67MJ
Total Embodied Energy 87,448MJ + 59.22MJ = 87,507MJ
Damp Proof Membrane
2
x 394.9m
2
= 184kg
184kg x 134MJ/kg = 24,656MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 184kg
184kg x 4.2kgCO2/kg = 773kgCO2e

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40.48tkm x 0.94MJ = 38.05MJ
Total Embodied Carbon 773kgCO2e
Concrete
2
x 394.9m
2
= 126,171kg
126,171kg x 0.75MJ/kg = 94,628MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 126,171kg
126,171kg x 0.100kgCO2/kg = 12,617kgCO2e
7,570tkm x 0.94MJ = 7,116MJ
Sum Total of Embodied Energy in all Materials and Transport: 487,374MJ
Sum Total of Embodied Carbon in all Materials: 36,870kgCO2e
Table 4.4 Proposed Solid floor build up with Expanded Cork Insulation
Material Calculation
Clay Tiles
2
x 394.9m
2
= 24,681kg
24,681kg x 6.50MJ/kg = 160,427MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 24,681kg
24,681kg x 0.45kgCO2/kg = 11,106kgCO2e
Transport Embodied Energy 24.681 x 220km = 5,430tkm
5,430tkm x 0.94MJ = 5,104MJ

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Screed
Embodied Energy 120kg/m
2
x 394.9m
2
= 47,388kg
47,388kg x 1.33MJ/kg = 63,026MJ
Embodied Carbon Emmission 120kg/m
2
x 394.9m
2
= 47,388kg
47,388kg x 0.208kgCO2/kg = 9,857kgCO2e
47,388tkm x 0.94MJ = 44,545MJ
Cork Insulation
2
x 394.9m
2
= 4146kg
4146kg x 4.0MJ/kg = 16,584MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 4146kg
912.12tkm x 0.94MJ = 857MJ
Damp Proof Membrane
2
x 394.9m
2
= 184kg
184kg x 134MJ/kg = 24,656MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 184kg
40.48tkm x 0.94MJ = 38.05MJ

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Concrete
2
x 394.9m
2
= 126,171kg
126,171kg x 0.75MJ/kg = 94,628MJ
2
x 394.9m
2
= 126,171kg
126,171kg x 0.100kgCO2/kg = 12,617kgCO2e
7,570tkm x 0.94MJ = 7,116MJ
Sum Total of Embodied Energy in all Materials and Transport: 309,737MJ
Sum Total of Embodied Energy in all Materials : 35,141kgCO2e

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Section 5.0 Conclusion
Following the results found for the embodied energy and carbon coefficients that are
associated with an expanded cork insulation and expanded polystyrene insulation in
a solid floor build up, the calculations show that cork insulation would have the least
impact on the environment. The results showed that 309,737MJ of embodied energy
is used for expanded cork and 487,374MJ for expanded polystyrene which equates
to embodied energy savings of 177,640MJ if cork is chosen compared to an EPS
insulation solution. Cork insulation as mentioned before is a renewable resource for
insulation which benefits the sustainability of forests it is grown in, preserving
habitats of many flora and fauna which makes cork one of the greenest insulations
available on the market.

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References
Online Photographic:
Figure 1: Processes typically considered when conducting an LCA for a product, n.d.
photograph, viewed 19 March 2015, <http://www.tangram.co.uk/images/LCA-
Boundaries.jpg>.
2010 Cork Harvest Restores Inventory Levels, n.d. photograph, viewed 19 March
2015,
<http://www.winebusiness.com/content/Image/suppliers%5CHarvest_10_0823_web.j
pg>.
Expanded cork insulation, n.d. photograph, viewed 20 March 2015,
<http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/ICB_boards_MedRes.jpg>.
Figure 1, n.d. photograph, viewed 22 March 2015, <http://www.styrouae.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/manufacturing-1.jpg>.
EPS T-FONOPOR, n.d. photograph, viewed 23 March 2015,
<http://img.archiexpo.com/images_ae/photo-mg/rigid-panel-insulation-expanded-
polystyrene-without-vapor-barrier-graphite-55554-6374679.jpg>.

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