Decarbonisation First
Research and development
Methods for CO2 balancing in the life cycle of infrastructures.
Measures against climate change represent one of the currently greatest social challenges from a national and global view.
Up to 50% of the worldwide CO2 emissions can be directly or indirectly allocated to the building industry – so that its carbon footprint provides enormous potential savings.
In the civil engineering sector decisions, e.g. in the course of tendering and competitions, are primarily taken on the basis of the expected structural life-cycle costs (= primary costs).
A tool for the calculation of the involved environmental impact costs generally applicable for the sector does not exist yet.
DECARBONISATION FIRST pursues the thought that future decisions for building measures are taken on the basis of a considerably greater weighting of the costs due to the carbon footprint and at the same time the acceptance of the associated primary costs is increased.
Location
Austria
Client
BMK, ASFINAG
Main Focus
Competence Centre
„ The project has an essential focus on the environmental impact costs and supplies an important decision basis already in the preliminary project phase – with the connection to imminent Co2 compensation payments “
Dr. Michael Kleiser, ASFINAG
The objective of the research project is to create a database with CO2-equivalents representative for Austria (“Cradle to Grave”) for the relevant building materials of infrastructures (dams/troughs/underground structures, bridges, retaining structures).
For this purpose a methodology for the connection of a life-cycle cost calculation with CO2 balancing (ÖNORM EN ISO 14040 Ökobilanz) considering the spreading of the input parameters is developed. This methodology is based on an inventory of the component-relevant main bodies.
For the performance of variant analyses of infrastructures a practical calculation tool is created which determines costs and CO2 equivalents over the whole life cycle (building, operation, demolition, disposal/re-use).
The methodology and the respective benchmarks and parameters are subsequently summarized in a guideline.
„ The project was submitted on the day when Donald Trump’s “America First” presidency ended :) “
Dr. Robert Veit-Egerer, head of CC of Asset Management & BRIMOS
Services
- Methodology for CO2 balancing in the life cycle of infrastructures
- GWP database
- Development of a calculation tool for variant analyses of infrastructures which determines costs and greenhouse gas emissions (kg CO2e) over the whole life cycle
