TY - GEN
T1 - Functional unit choice for comparative pavement LCA involving use-stage with pavement roughness uncertainty quantification (UQ)
AU - Ziyadi, Mojtaba
AU - Ozer, Hasan
AU - Al-Qadi, Imad L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - An analysis of the use-stage for pavement Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is presented within a framework of an LCA tool developed for Illinois Tollway. Methodological choices that can significantly affect LCA results were evaluated in this study. The share of the use-stage in a comprehensive pavement LCA framework was evaluated with all life-cycle stages including materials, construction, use, maintenance, and end of life. The scope of the use-stage includes albedo, carbonation, and rolling resistance (including pavement roughness and texture components). Uncertainty of the pavement roughness and its effect on the results are investigated using Monte Carlo sampling technique. A discussion on the choice of functional unit and its effect in comparative LCA is presented and an appropriate functional unit is suggested. Four projects were selected as case studies to demonstrate the capabilities of the tool and proposed framework. A multi-point environmental performance evaluation was performed using four environmental indicators for comprehensive interpretation of results. The effect of each stage of LCA was evaluated with emphasis on the results of the use-stage. Additional fuel consumption and emissions, resulting from roughness and texture, constituted the largest share of use-stage impacts while the effect of carbonation was limited. As traffic reduced and the share of the materials and construction stage increased, the share of the use-stage could be decreased to 50% levels.
AB - An analysis of the use-stage for pavement Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is presented within a framework of an LCA tool developed for Illinois Tollway. Methodological choices that can significantly affect LCA results were evaluated in this study. The share of the use-stage in a comprehensive pavement LCA framework was evaluated with all life-cycle stages including materials, construction, use, maintenance, and end of life. The scope of the use-stage includes albedo, carbonation, and rolling resistance (including pavement roughness and texture components). Uncertainty of the pavement roughness and its effect on the results are investigated using Monte Carlo sampling technique. A discussion on the choice of functional unit and its effect in comparative LCA is presented and an appropriate functional unit is suggested. Four projects were selected as case studies to demonstrate the capabilities of the tool and proposed framework. A multi-point environmental performance evaluation was performed using four environmental indicators for comprehensive interpretation of results. The effect of each stage of LCA was evaluated with emphasis on the results of the use-stage. Additional fuel consumption and emissions, resulting from roughness and texture, constituted the largest share of use-stage impacts while the effect of carbonation was limited. As traffic reduced and the share of the materials and construction stage increased, the share of the use-stage could be decreased to 50% levels.
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U2 - 10.1201/9781315159324-15
DO - 10.1201/9781315159324-15
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85053267511
SN - 9781138066052
T3 - Pavement Life-Cycle Assessment - Proceedings of the Pavement Life-cycle Assessment Symposium, 2017
SP - 133
EP - 144
BT - Pavement Life-Cycle Assessment - Proceedings of the Pavement Life-cycle Assessment Symposium, 2017
A2 - Al-Qadi, Imad L.
A2 - Ozer, Hasan
A2 - Harvey, John
PB - CRC Press/Balkema
T2 - Symposium on Life-Cycle Assessment of Pavements, Pavement LCA 2017
Y2 - 12 April 2017 through 13 April 2017
ER -