PSI - Issue 64

Federica Russo et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 1752–1758 Federica Russo, Gabriella Maselli, Antonio Nesticò/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

1755

4

emissions and energy consumption during the different stages of the life cycle, which may include extraction, production, distribution, use and disposal. • S TEP 3 – A SSESSMENT OF IMPACTS . The potential effects of the system or product on the environment are determined by linking inventory data to specific impact categories. These categories can relate either to materials and resources consumed by the system, such as depletion of mineral, fossil or water resources and land consumption, or to impacts caused by emissions of substances into the environment, such as climate change, ozone depletion, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, tropospheric ozone formation, acidification and eutrophication (Rigamonti & Grosso, 2009). Each specific impact on the environment is measured by an indicator. Among the most common are: (i) the Global Warming Potential (GWP), which provides a measure of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane, contributing to the greenhouse effect and potentially affecting ecosystem and human health; (ii) the Acidification Potential (AP), which indicates the emission of substances that can alter the acid-base balance of the environment, affecting biodiversity and building materials; (iii) the Eutrophication Potential (EP), which assesses the effects of excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus on the ecosystem, potentially causing imbalances in species and excessive biomass proliferation; (iv) the Smog Formation (SFP), which measures tropospheric ozone produced by chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, with implications for human health and ecosystems; (v) Primary Energy Demand (PED), which expresses the total amount of energy extracted from the earth, monitoring the use of energy resources, although it does not include the environmental impacts associated with their use (Lavagna, 2008). • S TEP 4 – I NTERPRETATION AND IMPROVEMENT . The data obtained are analyzed to contextualize the result of the study and identify opportunities for improvement through the identification of factors on which action can be taken to reduce the environmental impact of the product and the entire system, providing recommendations for improving the company ’ s environmental performance. LCC is a methodology for assessing costs over the entire product life cycle, including planning, design, acquisition, operation, maintenance and decommissioning costs, minus residual value. This approach is of significant importance because it provides the opportunity to improve cost transparency and facilitates more effective and sustainable decision making. It allows initial costs to be balanced against future revenues, identifying opportunities to maximize economic efficiency and sustainability (Moins et al, 2020). Although there is no international standard that uniquely defines the approach, several standards and guidelines are available that provide guidance on how to apply it. In Italy, for example, the UNI 11469:2018 standard “ LCC - Life Cycle Costing - Guide to Life Cycle Cost Assessment ” provides specific guidelines for the application of LCC to the construction sector. The methodological framework of LCC usually follows four main steps: (a) Briefing , in which the objectives of the analysis, scope and time horizon of the assessment are defined (b) Problem analysis , during which the cost items to be estimated are identified, including construction, maintenance, operation and end-of-life costs; (c) Study and calculation , which involves data collection and the application of models to estimate costs and benefits; and (d) Validation and interpretation of the results to ensure their accuracy and reliability. The results of the analysis are expressed in terms of Global Cost (CG), which is the sum of the present value of all life cycle costs, including residual values ((Panza Uguzzoni et al., 2023). The Global Cost can be formalized as shown in the equation: CG = C c +∑ C + C 0 + C − V ( 1 + r ) t n t =1 Where:

- C c = investment costs; - C m = maintenance costs; - C o = operation costs; - C el = end of life costs; - V r = residual value;