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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Engineering

Optimisation Of Retrofit Wall Insulation: An Irish Case Study, Rakshit D. Muddu, D M. Gowda, Anthony James Robinson, Aimee Byrne Jan 2021

Optimisation Of Retrofit Wall Insulation: An Irish Case Study, Rakshit D. Muddu, D M. Gowda, Anthony James Robinson, Aimee Byrne

Articles

Ireland has one of the highest rates of emissions per capita in the world and its residential sector is responsible for approximately 10% of total national CO2 emissions. Therefore, reducing the CO2 emissions in this sector will play a decisive role in achieving EU targets of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030. To better inform decisions regarding retrofit of the existing building stock, this study proposes Optimum Insulation Thicknesses (OIT) for typical walls in 25 regions in Ireland. The calculation of OIT includes annual heat energy expenditure, CO2 emissions, and material payback period. The approach taken is based on Heating …


The Effects Of Physical Activity On Greenhouse Gas Emissions For Common Transport Modes In European Countries, Aidan Duffy, Robert Crawford Mar 2013

The Effects Of Physical Activity On Greenhouse Gas Emissions For Common Transport Modes In European Countries, Aidan Duffy, Robert Crawford

Articles

This paper applies a life cycle methodology to estimate activity-related contributions of transport modes to GHG emissions. The methodology uses national input-output tables, environmental accounts, household budget data and nutritional data to derive food-sector GHG coefficients of consumption for ten European countries. The food energy requirements for each mode of transport are estimated taking account of the modal activity level and energy requirements. Walking, cycling, driving and bus travel are considered. Typical national food energy-related emissions for walking, cycling, and driving ranged from 25.6 - 77.3 gCO2-eq/pass.km, 10.4 - 31.4 gCO2-eq/pass.km and 1.7 - 5.2 gCO2-eq/pass.km; passenger transport was found …


Input-Output Analysis Of Irish Construction Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy Apr 2010

Input-Output Analysis Of Irish Construction Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy

Articles

Ireland is committed to limiting its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 113% of 1990 levels over the period 2008-12 and to 84% of 2005 levels by 2020 under the Kyoto Agreement and the EU’s ’20 20’ by 2020 respectively. National policies have targeted many industry sectors but have failed to directly tackle GHG emissions associated with construction activity. This paper estimates energy and GHG emissions intensities of the Irish construction sector and subsectors and estimates its contribution to Irish national emissions. This information is used to identify and assess the impacts of policy measures which would result in a reduction …


Assessment Of The Embodied Co2eq In Buildings Towards A Sustainable Building Design And Construction, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu Jul 2009

Assessment Of The Embodied Co2eq In Buildings Towards A Sustainable Building Design And Construction, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Conference Papers

Research studies have shown that the initial energy embodied in a building can be as much as 67% of the operational energy over a 25 year period. With growing global concerns over material and resource consumption and the emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere, the energy embodied in buildings constructed in town and cities becomes important and one of the key issues that needs to be tackled in the design stages in order to strive towards sustainable buildings design. In this paper, a hybrid embodied carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) methodology used to assess the CO2eq embodied in buildings is presented. …