UBC Undergraduate Research
Life cycle assessment report : UBC Law Building : Allard Hall Guevarra, Dominique Bram; Howie, Eric; Shen, Patti
Abstract
At the end of 2011 the new UBC Law Building, Allard Hall, was completed and opened to the public. This building replaced two older buildings, the Curtis Building and the Curtis Extension. In continuation of adding value to the LCA studies that have been on-going at UBC, another study has been conducted on the new building. A full LCA study has be conducted on Allard Hall, which also includes the environmental impacts from the demolition stage of the pre-existing structures. Using provided structural and architectural drawings, a building model was created, adhering to LCA ISO standards. Using the Athena Impact Estimator and the TRACI impact assessment method, in conjunction with the quantity take off software, On-Screen Take Off, the input parameters for the project were clearly identified and documented. The details provided by our analysis include a Bill of Materials, a Summary of the Environmental Impacts separated into assemblies, a Sensitivity Analysis, and a Chain of Custody inquiry. This LCA report also includes a discussion of the building functions and its’ functional units, for the purpose of setting references for future similar projects. The results found show that the dominating materials in the UBC Law building are Batt Fibreglass, Concrete Blocks, Steel Rebar, Fire-Rated Gypsum Board, and 30MPa Concrete, in which Concrete was found to have the most influence on environmental impacts in regards to material used. The manufacturing stage was found to be the most contributing to environmental impacts. Measurements of performance are outlined in the form of functional units, and are intended to be used as a baseline for future project comparisons. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada