Towards a multiscale framework for modelling and improving the life cycle environmental performance of built stocks
(2022) Journal of Industrial Ecology — Vol. 26, n° 4, p. 1195-1217 (2022)
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- Abstract
- Cities are complex sociotechnical systems, of which buildings and infrastructure assets (built stocks) constitute a critical part. As the main global users of primary energy and emitters of associated greenhouse gases, there is a need for the introduction of measures capable of enhancing the environmental performance of built stocks in cities and mitigating negative externalities such as pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. To date, most environmental modelling and assessment approaches are often fragmented across disciplines and limited in scope, failing to provide a comprehensive evaluation. These approaches tend to focus either on one scale relevant to a discipline (e.g. buildings, roads, parks) or particular environmental flows (e.g. energy, greenhouse emissions). Here we present a framework aimed at overcoming many of these limitations. By combining life cycle assessment and dynamic modelling using a nested systems theory, this framework provides a more holistic and integrated approach for modelling and improving the environmental performance of built stocks and their occupants, including embodied, operational, and mobility-related environmental flows, as well as cost, and carbon sequestration in materials and green infrastructure. This comprehensive approach enables a very detailed parametrisation that supports testing different policy scenarios at a material, element, building and neighbourhood level, and across different environmental flows. We test parts of our modelling framework on a proof-of-concept case study neighbourhood in Melbourne, Australia, demonstrating its breadth. The proposed modelling framework can enable an advanced assessment of built stocks, that enhances our capacity to improve the life cycle environmental performance of cities.
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Citations
Stephan, A., Crawford, R., Bunster, V., Warren-Myers, G., & Moosavi, S. (2022). Towards a multiscale framework for modelling and improving the life cycle environmental performance of built stocks. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 26(4), 1195-1217. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13254 (Original work published 2022)