Assembling a Mixed-Unit Input-Output Model for Australian Construction Materials
Soo Huey Teh
UNSW Sydney
Soo Huey Teh is a PhD candidate at the Sustainability Assessment Program at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales Sydney (UNSW Sydney). Her research topic is integrated carbon metrics and assessment for the built environment as part of a project under the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL).
Her PhD focuses on improving methods for the analysis of indirect carbon flows in Australia by harmonizing Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data from different scales and sources by combining top-down and bottom-up approaches and investigating the consequences for total carbon footprint when building designs shift towards using low-carbon construction materials. Her PhD research is embedded in the Integrated Carbon Metrics project that further uses the LCI data to calculate carbon emission and reduction scenarios for the built environment at precinct level.
Soo Huey Teh is undertaking her research with supervision from Associate Prof. Thomas Wiedmann and Stephen Moore, and is co-supervised by Judith Schinabeck and Dr. Hazel Rowley from the UNSW Sydney.
Abstract
The production of cement contributes around 5-8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. With new types of low-carbon alternatives for cement and concrete being developed, there is a need for more accurate Life Cycle Inventory... [ view full abstract ]
The production of cement contributes around 5-8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. With new types of low-carbon alternatives for cement and concrete being developed, there is a need for more accurate Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) calculations for these types of construction materials. A comprehensive understanding of the full ‘carbon profile’ of the cement/concrete life cycle system is required for a quantitative evaluation of decarbonisation strategies in the built environment.
To date, there have been a number of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Input-Output (IO)-based hybrid LCA work. However, some weaknesses apply with respect to the incomplete system boundary of LCA and uncertainty inherent in price variations in hybrid LCA. Furthermore, hybrid LCA does not reflect the actual, economy-wide physical flows of materials. Alternatively, physical input-output tables (PIOTs) are often aggregated and difficult to compile due to the limited availability of detailed information.
In this study, a mixed-unit IO approach based on a combination of IO-based hybrid LCA and material flow analysis (MFA) is proposed to merge the physical and monetary units of industrial systems related to cement and concrete. The proposed mixed-unit IO model will be able to improve calculations of embodied carbon and track material flows with improved accuracy. The advantage of a mixed-unit IO table is the combination of the precision of process-based MFA with the comprehensiveness of IO analysis. This adds missing upstream supply chains to the MFA component whilst also resolving the price variability issue by introducing physical units in the model. The usefulness of the proposed mixed-unit IO model will be demonstrated through an Australian concrete case study for the year 2009. Scenario-based projections of implementing alternative materials will be performed in a second phase. The results of this study will help inform decarbonisation strategies in the built environment sector.
Keywords: Hybrid LCA, Material Flow Analysis (MFA), Mixed-unit input-output model, cement and concrete
Authors
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Soo Huey Teh
(UNSW Sydney)
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Thomas Wiedmann
(UNSW Australia)
Topic Area
• Environmentally and socially-extended input-output analysis
Session
WS-15 » Special Session: “Method development in EEIO – novel advances and best practices” (13:45 - Wednesday, 28th June, Room F)
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