Guideline for evaluating energy saving potential, environmental impact and life cycle cost

The LCA and LCC probabilistic methodology developed and documented in the Probability based Life Cycle Impact Assessment report and the Probability based Life Cycle Cost report has been implemented into a software tool. The software tool allows the real-time calculation of the economic and environmental impacts of insulation systems applied to wall case studies under several possible scenarios (energy scenarios and calculation periods) with a small calculation time.

Furthermore, the software tool can be used to assess other possible renovation measures than internal insulation, in order to maximize the impact of building renovation. The main idea behind the software is to allow a flexible use of it: it already includes a database with national case studies of data inputs on national case studies on internal insulation, that can be edited or enriched according to user preferences.

LCA / LCC tool

A software tool developed using the open source software R. The software tool includes both the LCA and LCC Monte-Carlo based methodologies developed in the project.

Find the software user guide here.

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About LCA & LCC

In addition to the insulation systems recommended by the RIBuild Insulation Calculator Tool, it is advisable to understand the related consequences of the energy saving potentials in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and life cycle costs of the hygrothermal optimized insulation solution.

Energy saving potential

The energy saving potential compares the heat losses through the existing external wall before and after applying an internal insulation system. Heat transmission losses are calculated as soon as there is a temperature difference between the internal temperature and the mean monthly temperature of the exterior climate.

The RIBuild web tool provides the energy saving potential for different internal insulation systems, external wall types, climate and location. The potentials of different systems are only comparable if there is a common basis for the comparison (e.g., the same U-value for each alternative).

In case of comparison for the same added thickness, it is important to keep in mind that systems with a better thermal performance will be favored as they require less thickness to provide the same savings.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

The energy saving potential makes it is possible to calculate the potential environmental impact of applying an internal insulation using LCA. The insulation systems recommended by the webtool are selected on their hygrothermal performance. To choose the most sustainable solution among these solutions, the environmental impact should be taken into consideration.

The potential environmental impacts are calculated based on the energy saving potential of the insulation system and quantification of induced and avoided impacts of the system.

As the environmental impact is mainly driven by the operational energy use, the most influencing factor is whether the heat production system is replaced during the renovation.

Life Cycle Cost (LCC)

Life Cycle Cost assessment (LCC) is a useful decision support method to investigate benefits and risks of investments in the building renovation sector. In practice, LCC can be used to select the most profitable design option, providing estimates of total expected costs and savings (due to lower energy consumption) during an established time period and adjusted for the time value of money.

Concerning LCC of internal insulation solutions, it is important to consider both the initial investment costs and the future costs over a certain time period. In practice, the initial investment cost represents the cost for the purchase and construction/installation of the insulation system.

Replacement costs represent possible maintenance or replacement operations that could occur for preserving and restoring the desired quality of the building element (e.g. in case of mould growth on the new internal surface).

The energy cost is the cost related to heating/cooling the building. It is obtained by multiplying the energy consumption with the tariff for the energy carrier considered.