A Stochastic Formulation to Assess the Environmental Impact of the Life-Cycle of Engineering Systems

Abstract

This paper proposes a stochastic life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a general stochastic formulation to quantify the environmental impact of an engineering system. The assessment is performed in terms of embodied energy, energy consumption, and the carbon footprint during the service life of the system. At the same time, its ability to resist a hazard is considered. The proposed formulation is general and takes into account the effects of shocks (robustness) and gradual deterioration (durability), assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to repair or reconstruction after an undesired event. The formulation is used in an example of a 4-story reinforced concrete (RC) office building, whose construction site is relevantly seismic. Two different seismic design levels are compared.