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2013
Conference Paper
Titel
Life cycle assessment of store concepts
Abstract
Issues of environmental protection and sustainability are gaining more and more public attention. In order for companies to set themselves apart from competitors it is increasingly important for them to implement environmental measures while improving production processes and thereby reducing risks. These actions, in turn, result in a better public reputation. In the retail industry as well, it is becoming more and more important to be sustainable. Yet, to date no comprehensive environmental sustainability concept exists for retail stores. For this reason, an approach that attempts to develop an environmental sustainability concept for global stores to optimize future stores effectively by developing a sustainability toolkit is part of a project together with a retail company. Conducting the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important step to evaluate the environmental aspects of sustainability and will be described in the presentation. The focus is on conducting a Life Cycle Assessment of different store concepts. The method includes the definition of the scope of stores on which the Life Cycle Assessment is based. The method is demonstrated through a case study of two retail stores that have recently been refurbished. This allows comparison between previous and new concepts. The LCA focuses on two impact categories: Global Warrning Potential (GWP) and Primary Energy Demand (PE). The LCAs were evaluated using the Software SBS Building Sustainability, which is a web-based tool to support planners and architects. One of the main findings of the LCA is the identification of materials that significantly influence the results of the LCA. Based on those findings, recommendations can be derived. For example, some materials are negligible because they represent only a small part of the overall result.
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