Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project

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-s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Solís-Guzmán, Jaime, Rivero Camacho, Cristina, Alba-Rodríguez, María Desirée, Martínez Rocamora, Alejandro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/75016
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/75016
https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051359
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Life-cycle assessment
carbon footprint
construction materials
non-specialized users
estimation tool
environmental impact assessment
social awareness
sustainability
residential buildings
Descripción
Sumario: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.