Antonín Lupíšek

New trends in sustainability assessment systems – based on top-down approach and stakeholders needs

Worldwide interest in future-proof buildings is growing, leading to increased demand for suitable methods and systems for assessing and communicating the sustainability of buildings. The number of stakeholders interested in sustainability assessment results as a basis for decision-making is growing. Ultimately, in order to bring about greater sustainability, stakeholders need to understand their potential impacts, but can only do so if this potential is clearly communicated to them through the system structure and through a language and in a format that suits their needs. Numerous systems exist, though these do not always meet the above requirements, do not always address all aspects of sustainability, may have certain methodological issues and may cause confusion through their sheer number. Therefore, there is a clear need for assessment systems to be developed further. This paper proposes that the issues raised can be tackled by a two-pronged approach: Firstly, by adhering to a top-down approach the str...

SBToolCZ: Sustainability rating system in the Czech Republic

Several methods for complex assessment of building performance are available in Europe. The Czech Republic has followed the international group Green Building Challenge since 2005 and participated in the development of the international assessment framework SBTool. The Czech Technical University in Prague in cooperation with National Platform SBToolCZ and International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE) provides a localised national version of the tool called SBToolCZ for wide usage in building practice in the Czech Republic. This paper presents the Czech assessment methodology SBToolCZ, its structure, system of weights setting and form of final certificate. It also introduces one of the certified residential buildings – X-Loft in Prague – and describes the process of its certification and its main outcomes.

Envimat.cz - Online Database of Environmental Profiles of Building Materials and Structures

Envimat.cz is a new online catalogue of environmental profiles of building materials and structures localized for the Czech Republic. It allows users to compare, model and edit chosen elements. One of the main objectives is to help architects and designers to choose appropriate materials for their building and provide information on its environmental impacts. Information from the catalogue can also play a significant role for developers and their customers. Initial data are derived from the Swiss database Ecoinvent but the goal is to replace them continuously with more accurate, localized data coming from Environmental Product Declarations provided by Czech building industry producers. Envimat.cz brings multiple benefits, especially for the following stakeholders: it gives better information to the building owners; architects can easily choose solutions that are environmentally friendly; efficient producers can make profit from their advantage and Czech construction industry as whole is shifted to higher environmental friendly standard.

Carbon dioxide emissions embodied in international trade in Central Europe between 1995 and 2008

Abstract Climate change and environmental policies are widely discussed, but much less is known about emissions embodied in goods traded internationally, and the distinction between emission producers and consumers. The carbon dioxide emissions embodied in international trade in Central European countries are subject to examination in this paper. As a result of industrial restructuring and environmental legislation, air pollution has improved significantly in Central European countries since the 1989 transition. On the other hand, economic growth has been accompanied by a rise in consumerism. Despite the increasing role of exports, the Visegrad group countries have become net importers of carbon dioxide emissions between 1995 and 2008. This seems to be the ‘standard trajectory’ of a country’s transition toward a more developed and consumption-oriented economy. The global patterns of carbon dioxide emissions embodied in manufacturing exports are also mapped, using network analysis and constructing ‘product space’. The analysis confirms that industrial re-structuring played an important role in lowering the production of carbon dioxide emissions in the Visegrad countries.

National platform for LCA data on building elements in the context of the Czech Republic

There has been a lack of environmental data on building products available in the Czech Republic. This data is, however, needed for sustainability assessments of buildings. The aim of our work has therefore been to develop a national framework enabling this kind of building assessment, including a methodology for collecting data and a means for making it accessible to builders. A comparative analysis of several existing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) databases of building materials has been made. It showed that building assessments using different LCA databases as sources can vary considerably, and a localised, unified database needs to be set up. The Envimat web application for calculating the environmental profiles of building structures has been developed, and it will serve as a future interactive LCA database of building products on the Czech national market. Its functionalities include uploading, sorting, searching, composing and editing building products and structures, and calculations and comparisons...

High Performance Concrete for Environmentally Efficient Building Structures

Concrete is the most used man made material nowadays. The environmental impact associated with cement production is very significant due to the extent of concrete use. At the same moment cement production is associated with large energy consumption and high amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Development of concrete technology during last twenty years has lead to a significant quality shift of technical parameters and also of related environmental impacts. New types of optimized concrete mixes have significantly improved characteristics from the perspective of strength, mechanical resistance, durability and resistance to extreme loads. The use of alternative non-steel reinforcement from various types of fibres can increase reliability, durability and reduction of environmental impacts. Due to optimization of production technology, concrete is gradually becoming a building material appropriate and advantageous for sustainable construction of buildings. In this context increase of reliability and durability within whole life cycle is essential. New approaches in concrete technology like utilization of high performance and ultra high performance concretes, use of textile reinforcement, shape optimization and conceptual approach for integrated life-cycle assessment of concrete structures are presented in the paper. Some of principles are demonstrated on results of experimental research performed by author and his team at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU).