Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project
by
Jaime Solís-Guzmán 1, Cristina Rivero-Camacho 1, Desirée Alba-Rodríguez 1
and Alejandro Martínez-Rocamora 2,*
Jaime Solís-Guzmán 1, Cristina Rivero-Camacho 1, Desirée Alba-Rodríguez 1 and Alejandro Martínez-Rocamora 2,*
1
ArDiTec Research Group, Department of Architectural Constructions II, Higher Technical School of Building Engineering, University of Seville, Av. Reina Mercedes, 4-a. 41012 Seville, Spain
2
GACS Research Group, Department of Construction Sciences, Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design, University of Bío-Bío, Av. Collao, 1202 Concepción, Chile
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2018, 10(5), 1359; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051359
Received: 29 March 2018 / Revised: 18 April 2018 / Accepted: 24 April 2018 / Published: 27 April 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Footprint: As an Environmental Sustainability Indicator)
Existing tools for environmental certification of buildings are failing in their ability to reach the general public and to create social awareness, since they require not only specialized knowledge regarding construction and energy sources, but also environmental knowledge. In this paper, an open-source online tool for the estimation of the carbon footprint of residential buildings by non-specialized users is presented as a product from the OERCO2 Erasmus + project. The internal calculations, data management and operation of this tool are extensively explained. The ten most common building typologies built in the last decade in Spain are analysed by using the OERCO2 tool, and the order of magnitude of the results is analysed by comparing them to the ranges determined by other authors. The OERCO2 tool proves itself to be reliable, with its results falling within the defined logical value ranges. Moreover, the major simplification of the interface allows non-specialized users to evaluate the sustainability of buildings. Further research is oriented towards its inclusion in other environmental certification tools and in Building Information Modeling (BIM) environments.
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Keywords:
life-cycle assessment; carbon footprint; construction materials; non-specialized users; estimation tool; environmental impact assessment; social awareness; sustainability; residential buildings
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MDPI and ACS Style
Solís-Guzmán, J.; Rivero-Camacho, C.; Alba-Rodríguez, D.; Martínez-Rocamora, A. Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1359.
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