Environmental impact assessment of office building heating and cooling sources: A life cycle approach

Abstract Heating and cooling sources occupy a large proportion of the total energy consumption of office buildings and hence the related environmental impacts cannot be underestimated. In this paper, a localized life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method was established based on local environmental policies and energy regulations according to the framework of life cycle assessment (LCA). It is used to analyze the heating and cooling sources for office buildings in northern China. The environmental impact inventory was classified, characterized, standardized and weighted based on local energy resources. The exergy exhaustion (EE) factor was adopted to analyze the importance of local primary energy. Cost analysis was conducted to increase the practical value and significance of the research results. Questionnaires were used to determine the weight of environmental impact, EE, and cost analysis (CA) for combination scheme selection. Different heating and cooling sources and 7 combination schemes for office buildings in the cold regions of northern China were comprehensively evaluated. Results showed that gas-fired cogeneration + conventional electric refrigeration air conditioners and ground source heat pump (GSHP) for both heating and cooling were two recommended schemes which had the least comprehensive environmental impact index. These investigations can guide decision-makers and designers to choose environment-friendly and economical heating and cooling sources, and help government departments to formulate appropriate incentive policies to encourage the use of suitable, sustainable, and economical energy sources.