Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Combining life cycle costing and life cycle assessment for an analysis
of a new residential district energy system design
Miro Ristimki*, Antti Synjoki, Jukka Heinonen, Seppo Junnila
Aalto University, School of Engineering, Department of Real Estate, Planning and Geoinformatics, P.O. Box 15800, 00076 Aalto, Finland

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 19 February 2013
Received in revised form
26 August 2013
Accepted 8 October 2013
Available online 8 November 2013

Due to the growing threat of climate change, we are challenged to nd improved assessment practises to
recognize solutions for sustainable urban development. The focus of the study is on the life cycle design
of a district energy system for a new residential development in Finland. This study analyses LCC (life
cycle costs) and carbon emissions (LCA (life cycle assessment)), i.e., the viability of different energy
systems through a methodological life cycle framework. By combining LCC and LCA, a LCM (life cycle
management) perspective is portrayed to support decision-making on a long-term basis. The comparable
energy design options analysed are (1) district heating (reference design), (2) district heating with
building integrated photovoltaic panels, (3) ground source heat pump, and (4) ground source heat pump
with building-integrated photovoltaic panels. The results show that the design option with the highest
initial investment (4) is in fact the most viable from a life cycle perspective. This study further
strengthens the connection between cost savings and carbon emissions reduction in a life cycle context.
Thus, by implementing LCC and LCA analysis in an early design phase, justied economic and environmental design decisions can be identied to develop more sustainable urban areas.
2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY license.

Keywords:
LCA (life cycle assessment)
LCC (life cycle costing)
LCM (life cycle management)
Sustainable residential development
Energy-efcient design solutions
District energy systems

1. Introduction
It is often stated that the three dimensions of sustainable
development (economic, environmental and equity) tend to
contradict each other in urban planning [1,2]. Finding solutions that
would support progress in all three of these aspects is thus a big
challenge. Godshalk (2004) has further studied the value conicts
within sustainable development between ecology, economy and
equity. He has boldly suggested that ecology (i.e., the environment)
and economy should be the primary values, and that equity should
be seen as a secondary objective in order to enhance urban planning [3]. While opposite opinions exist as well (e.g., in the Nordic
countries, the social aspect of urban development is mandated by
legislative processes), focussing on these two aspects certainly
forges the way in the search for viable sustainable solutions.
The focus in environmental sustainability in urban development
has lately been dominated by climate change. The spotlight in
research and policy-making is on cities, especially on residential
buildings and transportation due to their dominant role in global

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 358 44 3624723.

E-mail address: miro.ristimaki@aalto. (M. Ristimki).

growth [4,5]. Demographic changes indicate that by the year 2050,

70% of the worlds population will live in cities [6]. In terms of
emissions and energy consumption, cities produce about 80% of all
GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and consume 75% of energy
globally [7]. Simultaneously, the global building stock is responsible
for approximately 30e40% of energy use and carbon emissions [8].
In Europe, the major share of these emissions actually derives from
heating alone [9].
It seems that residential development could present a grand
opportunity to decrease energy demand and reduce carbon emissions cost-effectively with combining existing knowledge and
technology [10,11]. The highest economically feasible mitigation
potential is suggested to be found in the residential and commercial
sector; a possible 29% reduction is insinuated in relation to the
projected emission baseline for year 2020 [6].
Public and private acquisitions in present development can be
argued to be made predominantly based on short-term investment
values and not from a life-cycle driven perspective [12]. This may
lead to development potentially conicting with all the sustainability dimensions.
By employing a life cycle perspective through LCM (life cycle
management); LCC (Life cycle costing) and LCA (life cycle assessment) have been introduced to provide information for managing
sustainable development. Hence, the life cycle perspective (or life
cycle thinking) does not get the required attention [13]. Klpffer, W.

0360-5442 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY license.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.10.030

M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

(2008) and Finkbeiner et al. (2010) have introduced a tool for LCSA
(life cycle sustainability assessment), which is dened as:
LCA LCC SLCA (LCA Environmental Life Cycle Assessment,
LCC Life Cycle Costing, SCLA Social Life Cycle Assessment)
[14,15]. Connecting both environmental and economic aspects
would further strengthen the importance of the concept life cycle
management in the early design stages of urban development [16].
When combining economic and ecological dimensions, they can
be claimed to complement each other in residential development.
Lower energy consumption equals lower running costs. When this
thinking is extended throughout the life cycle of a new residential
development, the savings might be signicant compared to the
initial investment. According to McKinsey & Company (2009), the
built environment sector has an excellent economic potential to
reduce GHG emissions by the year 2030 [17]. Accordingly, only the
power generation sector has more potential. Energy efciency as a
category has the most abatement opportunities, in which building
insulation possesses a signicant role [17]. The study suggested that
minor design changes in construction have a signicant carbon
reduction impact with a payback-time close to zero for both carbon
emissions and the respective operational costs.
The existing literature presents some examples of combining
the economic and ecological dimensions of life cycles. Carlsson
Reich (2005) attempted to combine economic LCC with environmental LCA in the case of municipal waste management systems.
The environmental effects were monetized in order to introduce a
common unit to measure both life cycle costs and environmental
effects [18]. The methodology enabled the analysis, but issues of
consistent methodology between economic assessments and
environmental LCAs remained. Heijungs et al. (2012) introduce a
way of calculating economic and ecological life cycle costs in one
assessment model [19]. Similarly, Junnila (2007) has presented a
combined LCC and LCA framework for life cycle management of
energy-consuming products [20]. Lijing Gu et al. (2008) have
created a method where LCA and LCC are combined for addressing
the life cycle green costs of buildings. LCA of different building
design options was analysed and converted into LCC costs for
emissions. Afterwards the emission costs derived from LCA were
added to the conventional LCC outcome [21]. Brown et al. (2011)
have proposed a life cycle management approach for large-scale
development resorts, where LCC and LCA are combined in order
to create designs that provide environmental benets with low
operational costs [22].
The purpose of this study is to examine whether a residential
development can in practice deliver the claimed sustainable
viability, i.e., simultaneous environmental and economic benets.
The study combines LCC and LCA in a case of a residential district
energy system area in Finland aiming to identify the actual technologies that could provide the highest sustainable viability and
assesses the emissions and relative mitigation potentials associated
with the different technologies.
Additionally, this study examines whether investments in
modern energy systems are feasible in both the economic and
ecological perspective. Thus, the LCC and LCA analyses are carried
out separately. Combining LCC and LCA brings added value to life
cycle management. By enhancing the position of life cycle management, profound sustainable solutions can be identied and
implemented.
The study suggests that investments in new technology in heat
and electricity production provide savings in costs and GHG
emissions. However, the break-even points of the investments
occur signicantly sooner ecologically than economically.
The structure of this paper is as follows: The research methods
are presented in Section 2, followed by a detailed description of the
research process in Section 3. The results of the study are presented

169

in Section 4. The implications and uncertainties related to the results are discussed in Section 5. Finally, conclusions of the study are
presented in Section 6.
In order to avoid misinterpretation, the terms life cycle viability
and life cycle affordability are dened. Life cycle viability (in urban
development) is dened as merging economic and environmental
sustainability [23]. Life cycle affordability is dened as a calculated
net present value measure (V/m2/a) representing overall costefciency during a dened time period.
2. Research methods
The research methods applied in this study are life cycle costing
(LCC) and environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). It is important
to note that the LCC and LCA methods function similarly, although
they quantify their outcome with different measures: LCC is for
purely economic assessments, whereas LCA is for environmental
assessments.
2.1. Life cycle costing (LCC)
LCC is a valuable nancial approach for evaluating and
comparing different building designs in terms of initial cost increases against operational cost benets with a long-term
perspective. The key incentive for applying an LCC analysis is to
increase the possibility of cost reductions for the operational phase,
even if an additional increase in the initial investment is necessary
[24]. By applying an LCC perspective in the early design phase,
decision makers are able to obtain a deeper understanding of costs
during the life cycle for different design strategies. Buildings are a
long-term investment associated with environmental impacts over
a long duration [25,26]. Fundamental environmental responsibility
aims for a long-term view and with that an understanding that
initial design decisions have a signicant impact over a buildings
life span [25].
LCC is dened as a technique which enables comparative cost
assessments to be made over a specied period of time, taking into
account all relevant economic factors, both in terms of initial costs
and future operational costs (Standardized Method of Life Cycle
Costing for Construction Procurement ISO15686, 2008) [27]. It is
important to notice that traditional LCC is purely economical and
does not take into account environmental aspects [24]. Earlier
development has focused on developing LCC methodology for the
construction industry and placing LCC in an environmental context
[28]. Sterner E. (2002) developed an LCC model to calculate the
total energy costs for buildings [29].
The LCC theory foundation is properly developed by Flanagan
et al. (1989) and Kirk & DellIsola (1995) along with essential decisions and activities to undertake an LCC analysis [30,31]:
- Dening alternative strategies to be evaluated e specifying
their functional and technical requirements
- Identifying relevant economic criteria e discount rate, analysis period, escalation rates, component replacement frequency
and maintenance frequency
- Obtaining and grouping of signicant costs e in what phases
different costs occur and what cost category
- Performing a risk assessment e a systematic sensitivity
approach to reduce the overall uncertainty
In order to compare different alternatives, a derived indicator
consisting of net present cost of all relevant life cycle costs is
calculated. The LCC annual equivalent is dened as V/m2/a (net
present cost) for the chosen evaluation period (Standardized
Method of Life Cycle Costing for Construction Procurement

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M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

ISO15686, 2008, Chapter 5 metrics) [27]. In this study, this indicator

represents a life cycle affordability comparator for the different
options.
The LCC methodology can (and must) be criticized. A LCC
analysis is based on the estimation and valuation of uncertain
future events and outcomes; hence, subjective factors are involved
in the process and will affect the results [24]. As stated above, the
annual energy indexation is an uncertain factor which has an
impact on the life cycle outcome.
Even though LCC is not recognized as theoretically accurate, the
LCC methodology presents many benets. For example, the analysis
provides an indication of what strategic options and aspects to
seriously consider, the results of the LCC analysis are presented
with a common unit (currency), an LCC analysis processes and
simplies a huge amount of information and provides a valuable
life cycle perspective to the different alternative options [24].
From a user and consumer perspective, it is valuable to link
environmental issues with nancial outcomes in a strategic decision making context. However, it is important to note that the LCC
methodology is developed only for nancial analysis, whilst LCA
assessment focuses on the environmental impact.
2.2. Life cycle assessment (LCA)
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an established way of measuring
total environmental effects of products and services. LCA takes all
the phases of a product life cycle into account, starting from the
acquisition of raw materials to the end-of-life phase (e.g., disposal
of product or demolition of a building) [32]. The International
Standard ISO 14040 denes the phases of an LCA as follows [33]:
- Goal and scope denition e denes the goal, characteristics
and borders of an LCA.
- Inventory analysis e denes the characteristics of data collection and calculation procedures.
- Impact assessment e evaluates the potential signicance of the
results of LCA.
- Interpretation of results e the ndings of the inventory analysis and the impact assessment are combined together.
The most established methods in LCAs are process LCA and IOLCA (inputeoutput LCA). The process LCA is a traditional way of
analyzing product life cycle emissions. The principle of the process
LCA is to calculate GHGs of each process of the product life cycle
individually in order to form a chain of the processes that covers the
whole life cycle [34]. Each process analysis is conducted using
process-specic primary (i.e., material and energy ows in the
manufacturing process) and secondary data (i.e., amount of GHG
emissions per manufacturing process), which lead into very accurate results of the modelling [34]. However, there is nearly an indenite amount of single processes in a product life cycle, and
including all of them in the modelling is practically impossible. This
problematic characteristic of process LCA modelling is known as a
truncation problem [35]. A process LCA practitioner has to dene a
border that separates the processes included in the modelling from
those that are left out of it. Thus, it is probable that signicant
processes are also left out of the modelling along with the insignicant ones [35]. Process LCAs are also very laborious and require
a large amount of data since secondary data has to be acquired
separately for each process. Furthermore, process LCA software is
usually expensive.
Another widely used LCA method, IO LCA, was invented in the
1970s by Nobel Prize winner Wassily Leonthief. IO-LCA converts
monetary costs into environmental effects, often according to national inputeoutput matrices. There are a few different IO LCA

models for different economies, but also more and more prevalent
are the so-called multi-region IO models. The truncation problem is
not an issue in IO LCAs since every sector of a national economy is
included in a model and the number of included sectorial transactions is indenite [32,36,37]. Additionally, data requirements are
signicantly different between IO LCAs and process LCAs. IO LCAs
require monetary transaction data, whereas process LCAs requires
detailed data on the material and energy ows of all processes in a
production process chain [34]. All required secondary data in the IO
LCAs lie within the IO LCA matrices, while process LCAs require
case-specic secondary data [32,34].
IO LCA suffers from the aggregation problem since even in the
most disaggregated models, several industries as well as all the
products of a specic industry are aggregated into each IO sector.
The industry sectors in IO LCAs thus represent the averages of
several sectors of an economy, making the method not applicable in
modelling specic products or comparing similar products within
one industry [35]. Additionally, IO LCA models in general appear as
a black box to the LCA practitioner [38]. Thus, examining characteristics of a specic process within an IO LCA model is usually
impossible. Partly related to the same issue, two other wellrecognized problems of IO LCAs are homogeneity and proportionality assumptions [39]. Of these, the homogeneity assumption
means that sector outputs are assumed to be proportional to price,
regardless of the variation of products inside a sector [39]. The
proportionality assumption means that the inputs to a sector are
assumed to be linearly proportional to its output [39].
The study utilizes a recently developed IO model, ENVIMAT,
which is based on the IO matrices of the Finnish economy. The
study utilizes the producer price version of the ENVIMAT model
with a table of 151 industries. The model was generated using the
characteristics of 918 Finnish products or services and 722 imported products or services [40]. Seppl et al. (2009) provide more
detailed information on the ENVIMAT model [40].
The hybrid LCA method combines the process LCA and IO LCA
into a single model. The method combines the advantages of the
two traditional LCAs and avoids known problems. Using hybrid LCA
avoids the truncation problem of the process LCA and relieves the
issue of the aggregation problem inherent in IO LCA modelling [41].
One of the most popular applications of hybrid LCA is tiered hybrid
LCA, which consists of process LCA for the emissions of production
processes, whereas the indirect emissions are modelled with IO
LCA. As a result, the model is accurate since process data is used for
the most important processes (avoiding the aggregation problem)
and IO LCA covers the supply chains (avoiding the truncation
problem).
3. Research process
3.1. The residential development of Hrmlnranta
The residential development of Hrmlnranta is located in
Tampere, Finlands third largest city by population (approx. 211,000
residents). The development site is situated about 5 km southwest
of Tampere city centre and has decent public transport connections.
The residential development is divided into two phases, which will
be executed during the years 2012e2020. The rst phase of the
development will be examined in this study; it includes seven
multi-story residential buildings (3078 gross m2 each with 28
apartments), and the area is designed for about 546 residents.
The city of Tampere is one of the fastest growing cities in
Finland. Estimations report that by the year 2030, approximately
45,000 new residents will move to the city, which will further increase energy consumption and GHG emissions. In an attempt to
manage a sustainable urban development, Tampere is currently

M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

pursuing a program (named ECO2) where the objective is to achieve

a 20% GHG emission decrease by 2020, which is an even greater
decrease than European Union requirements. A longer term
objective is to produce 80% of energy production with renewable
energy sources by 2040. The residential development of Hrmlnranta is therefore a signicant development for the city
regarding these energy efciency objectives [42].

3.2. Energy systems of the case area

The seven buildings of the residential development have six
stories with one elevator and a single staircase. A heat recovery
system is installed along with water circulation to heat the sanitary
areas. The development of 21,546 m2 consumes 93.60 kWh/m2,
including heating, domestic hot water and communal electricity for
appliances, air-conditioning fans and lighting in the buildings.
Household electricity used by residents is not included in this
study.
The study considers three different energy systems for the
Hrmlnranta residential area along with combinations of some
systems. The following list briey introduces each of the three.
 District heating:
o According to Pyry Management (2011) [43], district heating
(i.e., the joint production of electricity and heat) has a signicant role in providing heat for Finnish buildings, especially
in urban areas. Accordingly, more than 90% of residents live in
district-heated buildings in the major cities in Finland. The
advantages of district heating lie in a good coefcient of efciency and low production-phase emissions due to larger
scale production compared to decentralized heating systems
using fossil fuels. However, district heat production relies
rather heavily on fossil fuels, which results in higher fuel costs
and more GHG emissions compared to renewable energy
technologies [44].
 Ground source heat pump:
o Geothermal Heat Pumps combine a heat pump with a ground
heat exchanger [45]. A ground source heat pump produces
more energy than it requires for operation, thus resulting in
energy savings measured by a performance coefcient [45].
Ground source heat pumps have a performance coefcient of
approximately three [46], which mean that the system provides three times more energy than it uses for operation.
 Building integrated photovoltaic panels:
o According to the Florida Solar Energy Center (2007) [47],
photovoltaics are semiconductor devices that are used to
convert sunlight into direct current electricity. They are often
called solar cells. The advantage of photovoltaic panels is that
fuel (i.e., sunlight) is free and energy generation with photovoltaic panels causes no noise or pollution. However, the high
cost and resource needs of photovoltaic equipment are
currently the primary limiting factor for the technology. The
photovoltaic panels used in this study are designed as standalone panels integrated in the buildings through roof instalment (building-integrated). The panels are calculated to
generate 10% of the overall energy demand of the buildings.
The calculations are performed according to the National
Building Code of Finland. The proposed photovoltaic panels
are calculated to generate 897 kWh/m2 (according to the
location of the development) and have a system efciency of
8.7%. In order to provide 10% of the buildings energy demand,
a total of 2575 m2 photovoltaic panels are to be installed on
the buildings roofs to provide electricity for appliances, airconditioning fans, and lighting in the buildings.

171

3.3. Dening energy options to be evaluated

The energy options to be evaluated are the base case scenario
along with alternative options, where different energy systems are
combined. The four different options are:
1 District heating (the base case scenario): District heating,
since there is an existing infrastructure in the area to be utilized.
The electricity for the building is received from the local
supplier.
2 District heating with building integrated photovoltaic
panels: District heating (for heating) combined with building
integrated photovoltaic panels that will generate 10% of the
overall energy demand allocated to electricity for appliances,
air-conditioning fans and lighting in the buildings.
3 Ground source heat pump: Ground source heat pump system
to produce the heating of the building (operating electricity
bought from a local energy supplier). The electricity for the
building is received from the local supplier.
4 Ground source heat pump with building-integrated photovoltaic panels: Ground source heat pump system to produce
the heating for the building (operating electricity bought from a
Table 1
Origin of data.
Data category

Origin of data

Investment cost data

Investment cost data concerning

construction and infrastructure
(including district heating and
ground source heat pump options)
of the residential area is attained
from cost estimators representing
the construction company. Costs
representing the photovoltaic
panels are acquired from a
local supplier.
IDA ICE (IDA Indoor Climate and Energy)
building simulation
performed by the building
services project manager of
the construction company
Local energy company for
district heating and electricity.
Characteristics (including
cost/panel (m2), production
capacity and life cycle
replacement schedule) of the
building integrated photovoltaic
panels were obtained from a local supplier.
Design manager of the
construction company provided
an estimate of the maintenance
costs. Additionally, maintenance
costs for the facilities were obtained
by performing a building maintenance
cost plan (including operational costs)
of the buildings [48].
Design manager of the construction
company provided an estimate
(year of replacement and costs) of
life cycle works for the energy systems.
Additionally a life cycle repair and
replacement schedule for the building
elements was established in accordance
with a reference guide (costs are indexed
to present value (2012)). [49]
In order to estimate net present costs
of the different design options, indexation
and discount rates were chosen to reect
a stable macro-economic situation. The
chosen values are justied in the process
description chapter.

Energy demand data

Local energy costs

Renewable energy

Maintenance costs

Other life cycle costs

Economic parameters

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M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

local energy supplier) combined with building-integrated

photovoltaic panels which will generate 10% of the overall energy demand allocated to electricity for appliances, airconditioning fans and lighting in the buildings.

3.4. Acquiring case data

The quantitative cost data for the LCC and LCA analysis was
acquired through co-operation with the construction company
(including suppliers) in charge for the residential development. In
the data table (Table 1) below, the origin of the data is presented.
The LCC analysis employed all the acquired cost data (Table 1)
during the life cycle. By applying the economic criteria, the current
net cost could be attained. The LCA analysis of the study utilizes
construction costs of buildings, infrastructure and energy systems
plus energy consumption amounts as initial data for the assessment of construction phase emissions. Costs of maintenance, repair
and replacement plus amounts of energy consumed in the operation phase of the building were used as initial data in the use-phase
assessment. In order to make a comprehensive assessment,
different time perspectives were used in the life cycle analysis. The
chosen time periods were 25, 50 and 100 years.
3.5. Process description
The LCC and LCA analyses of the study were rst carried out
separately, and the results of the analyses were then combined for
cross-examination. Accordingly, the conclusions of the study are primarily based on the cross-examination of the results. However, in
order to allow an in-depth view of the research design and results, both
LCC and LCA analyses are presented in detail in the following sections.
3.5.1. LCC
The life cycle costing is divided into a construction and a usephase assessment. In the construction part, the initial investment
costs are attained. In the use-phase assessment, energy consumption, operational costs, maintenance costs and building-related
replacement schedules are estimated. Additionally, relevant economic criteria for LCC are dened.
3.5.1.1. Construction phase assessment. The rst step is to acquire
relevant cost data for the evaluation of the different options [30,31].
The focus of the LCC analysis was to compare different heating energy solutions for the development (excluding residents energy
demand for household electricity). For all the dened investment
options (Section 3.3), cost data was attained from the cost estimators
of the construction company and a photovoltaic panel supplier.
3.5.1.2. Use phase assessment. The next step was to estimate the
energy demand of the development. The energy demand was
attained by performing an IDA ICE building simulation where the
energy demand (kWh/m2/a) for appliances, lighting, air delivery,
domestic hot water, cooling and heating were subcategorized. This
data was then transformed into MWh/a and further calculated into
energy cost per year. The energy costs were attained from the local
energy company, including the annual fee, connection fee
(excluding VAT) and the transfer fees. Different energy demand
categories were combined with the correct energy type, for
example, appliances with direct electricity and heating with district
heating (or heating with district electricity for the ground source
heat pump option). The energy produced by the photovoltaic
panels was deducted from the energy demand, thus creating a
lower energy demand for these alternatives. As a result, an annual
energy cost for each option was obtained.

Maintenance costs for the different energy systems (options to

be evaluated) were obtained from the design manager (building
services) of the construction company. Furthermore, maintenance
and operational costs for the facility management were acquired by
performing a building maintenance cost plan for the buildings [48].
Together, these conclude the annual maintenance costs.
An estimated replacement schedule (including component
replacement years and costs) for the life cycle works was the last
piece of data needed for the assessment. This estimation was obtained by performing a life cycle works plan in accordance with a
reference guide [49]. The cost data attained was transposed to the
current monetary value (2012). A more accurate replacement
schedule for the energy systems was obtained by the design
managers (building services) from the construction company.
3.5.1.3. Relevant economic parameters. When all the relevant cost
data for the assessment was received, it had to be placed into the
life cycle framework (years). In order to make the different options
comparable with each other, the cost data had to be indexed and
discounted so that each option could be presented in a net present
value context and be comparable with each other from a life cycle
perspective. Choosing a high discount rate will emphasize the near
future; a low discount rate will emphasize the distant future. If the
discount rate is zero, timing has no importance whatsoever [24].
Indexation and discounting rates were chosen to reect a stable
macro-economic prospect. The indexation rate of 2.00% was tied to
the ECB (European Central Bank) ination target [50] and the discount rate of 2.60% was tied to Finlands 10-year government bond
[51]. These rates are applied to construction costs, energy costs,
maintenance costs and life cycle costs. In the sensitivity analysis,
the energy indexation will be in focus when analyzing the different
energy system options.
3.5.2. LCA
In the study, the GHG emissions of the residential area life cycle
are divided into construction phase and use-phase emissions. The
GHG emissions of the construction phase consist of construction
phase emissions of buildings and infrastructure, including the
emissions embodied in the utilized materials as well as those caused
by the different energy systems. The use-phase emissions consist of
GHGs caused by primary energy consumption of the buildings with
different energy systems as well as GHGs caused by the building
maintenance. The construction and use-phase activities are presented in more detail in the next subsections of the study.
3.5.2.1. Construction phase assessment. LCA of the construction
phase was carried out using the costs of the construction project as
primary data apart from electricity and heat, which were assessed
using the energy consumption amounts of the construction project.
The amounts of energy consumed in the construction process were
calculated using the costs of energy and prices of electricity and heat
for the construction company. All the primary data of the construction phase was received from the construction company. The buildings construction costs were divided into 37 cost categories, and the
costs of the infrastructure construction were divided into 7 categories.
The ENVIMAT IO model was used as secondary data for
modelling the GHG emissions of all construction activities and
materials except electricity and heat. The costs of the construction
phase were paired with the appropriate sectors from the ENVIMAT
IO model. The construction activities and GHG emissions of activities are presented in the supplementary information of the study
along with the ENVIMAT sector selection for categories.
For electricity and heat, the hybrid LCA model was used as a
modelling application. In the hybrid model, the GHG emissions of
the energy production process are based on the local energy

M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

providers carbon intensity. The carbon intensity of the combustion

process is 266 g CO2e/kWh for electricity and heat. The costs of
electricity and district heat (taken from statistics of the Finnish
Energy Market Authority) were 0.095 V/kWh for electricity and
0.048 V/kWh for district heat. The indirect emissions are then
modelled using the lower tiers of the ENVIMAT energy production
and supply sector. The costs of the electricity and heat received
from the construction company were used as primary data. The
carbon intensity of the lower tiers of ENVIMAT is 900 g CO2e/V for
the electricity production sector and 1170 g CO2e/V for the hot
steam production sector, which is used for district heating (Mattila
T. Email to Synjoki A. 17 January 2012) [52]. Accordingly, total life
cycle wide production intensities for energy used in the construction phase are 352 g/kWh for electricity and 323 g/kWh for heat.
The GHG emissions caused by construction of various energy
systems were assessed using the ENVIMAT IO model. The costs,
emissions and sector selection are provided as supplementary
information.
3.5.2.2. Use-phase assessment. The use-phase assessment of the
study consists of GHGs caused by energy consumption and maintenance activities of the buildings including the energy infrastructure. The primary data used in estimating the energy use
related GHG emissions are the estimated energy consumption
gures for each energy system, which were received from the
construction company. In the data, the estimated energy use of the
buildings was divided into six categories: appliances, lighting,
blowers, warm water, cooling and heating. The GHG emissions of
the electricity and heat consumption were then assessed using the
same hybrid LCA model as in the construction phase assessment.
The GHG intensity of electricity was used for appliances, lighting
and blowers. The GHG intensity of district heat was used in order to
assess the GHG emissions of warm water and heat production in
district heating scenarios. Warm water and heat are by-products of
the CHP (combined heat and power) joint production of electricity
and heat. GHG emissions caused by the heating of premises and
water in ground heat pump scenarios were assessed using the
electricitys GHG intensity and the ground heat pumps efciency
coefcient. Electricity demand for ground heat pump is assumed to
be one-third of nal energy consumption [46]. Costs, emissions and
sector selection are provided as supplementary information.
In order to model GHG emissions related to maintenance, repair
and replacement, the costs of these activities were resolved. The
building-related costs were retrieved from Kiiras et al. (1993) [53],
whereas the construction company provided the cost related to
energy systems. The maintenance costs of the buildings and energy
systems were converted into GHG emissions using the ENVIMAT
sector Other residential services. Kiiras et al. (1993) name 35
repair and replacement activities for a multi-story residential
building as well as their renovation periods, which differ between 5
and 25 years depending on the type of activity [53]. The costs of
renovations were reported in year 1990 Finnish marks and then
converted to euros using the mark-to-euro exchange rate and the
construction costs index 1990e2012. The costs of renovation activities were then converted into GHG emissions using the ENVIMAT sector Residential construction. The costs, sector allocation
and GHG emissions related to maintenance, repair and replacement
activities are provided as supplementary information.
4. Results
The results of this study are presented in three phases. The
primary results of the study (i.e., the cross-examinations of the LCC
and LCA analyses) are introduced rst. Secondly, the main results of
the LCC analysis are presented in more detail along with an

173

appropriate sensitivity analysis. Finally, the more detailed results of

the LCA analysis are portrayed.
4.1. Cross-examinations of the LCC and LCA results
The LCC results on the 25 years life cycle were net present cost of
85.85 V/m2/a for the district heating option, 86.05 V/m2/a for the
district heating with photovoltaic panels option, 83.78 V/m2/a for
the ground source heat pump option, and 83.89 V/m2/a for the
ground source heat pump with photovoltaic panels option. The LCA
analysis with the 25-year life cycle resulted in GHG emissions of
45,832 tons for the district heat option, 44,425 tons for the district
heat with the photovoltaic panels option, 35,167 tons for the
ground source heat pump option and 33,738 tons for the ground
source heat pump with photovoltaic panels option. The LCC and
LCA analyses resulted in similar results. The ground source heat
pump was the better option on both perspectives on a 25-year time
horizon. When a longer life cycle of 50 or 100 years was concerned,
the mutual order of the ground source heat pump and the district
heating options remains the same. Photovoltaic panels along with
district heating or ground source heat pump systems only benet
from an economic point of view on a 100-year life cycle, whereas
photovoltaic panels result in fewer GHG emissions on all analyzed
life cycles compared to the systems with no photovoltaic panels.
The detailed results of all analyzed life cycles are presented in
separate LCC and LCA results sections.
When comparing the economical and ecological life cycle outcomes, we detect that they have the same trends (order of breakpoints and nal outcome), which are formed in different time
frames. The ecological breakpoints occur within the rst 10 years,
whereas the economical outcome takes up to 32 years to reach the
nal outcome, excluding the reinvestments at year 50 (high uncertainty due to long time span). Additionally, the carbon emissions
have a higher directional coefcient, which means that the operational carbon emissions per annum are relatively higher than the
annual costs, thus creating a greater difference between the comparable options in the end (100 years). All the breakpoints of cumulative GHG emissions take place in just a few years time from
the beginning of the use phase. The cumulative comparison between the LCC and LCA outcome is portrayed in Fig. 1.
4.2. LCC main results
The LCC calculation seems to produce surprisingly similar results with all the studied energy systems. The results are within a
2.6% range within a 25-year life span, 3.8% within 50 years and 4.7%
within 100 years. With almost all life spans, the ground source heat
pump is the most life cycle affordable option. Only with 100 years,
the ground source heat pump with building-integrated photovoltaic panels performs around 0.3% better. The most expensive option
seems to be the district heat option with (25 & 50 years) or without
the photovoltaic panels (100 years).
Starting from the shortest concerned time span of 25 years, the
ground source heat pump (3) has the lowest life cycle net present
cost with 83.78 V/m2/a, despite having the second highest initial
investment cost. The impact of renewable energy is rather low,
since costs generated from energy is relatively small compared to
maintenance and life cycle replacements costs. The most signicant
changes happen within the rst 10 years. It is to be noted that the
longest time-span (100 years) inherently includes the highest uncertainty, especially because with low depreciation values, the
differences are moderate.
When only the investment costs are examined, we can see that
the results are almost the opposite. The lowest investment cost
option is the district heat option, which appears to be relatively

100 000 000

200 000,00

90 000 000

180 000,00

80 000 000

160 000,00

70 000 000

140 000,00

60 000 000

120 000,00

50 000 000

100 000,00

40 000 000

80 000,00

30 000 000

60 000,00

20 000 000

40 000,00

10 000 000

20 000,00

GHG emissions (t)

M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

Net present Cost

174

0,00
1

9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101
Year

1. District heat ()

2. District heat incl. 10 % renewable energy ()

3. Ground source heat pump ()

4. Ground source heat pump incl. 10 % renewable energy ()

1. District heat (CO2(t))

2. District heat incl. 10 % renewable energy (CO2(t))

3. Ground source heat pump (CO2(t))

4. Ground source heat pump incl. 10 % renewable energy (CO2(t))

Fig. 1. Cumulative LCC and LCA outcome (100 years).

costly from a life-cycle perspective. Correspondingly, the ground

source heat pumps (with or without building-integrated panels)
have the highest initial investments and appear to be life-cycle
affordable.
There are also several temporal thresholds that affect the
outcome. Actually, the LCC results show that already within the rst
10 years, the life-cycle economic inclination trends are revealed for
each evaluated option. The rst breakpoint occurs in the sixth year
when the district heating option (1) is exceeded by the ground
source heat pump design (3) in terms of life cycle affordability.
Simultaneously, district heating with 10% renewable energy (option
2) is exceeded by the ground source heat pump option with 10%
renewable energy (4). The second breakpoint emerges in year 10
when the total costs for ground source heat pump with 10%
renewable energy (option 4) becomes more life-cycle affordable

than the district heating option (1). By year 29 and 32, both options,
including 10% renewable energy, become life cycle affordable:
ground source heat pump (4) at year 28 and district heating (2) at
year 32. These trends continue until year 100 except a few years
after year 50, when the renewable energy options fall below lifecycle affordability due to total system reinvestments at year 50.
The total life cycle costs (net present costs) are presented by
category in Table 2 and illustrated in Fig. 2. Note that the different
energy design options mostly affect the energy costs and thus
generate additional cost savings for the options including renewable energy.
When examining the rst 25 years, it is evident that the energy
systems that include building-integrated photovoltaic panels do
not attain life cycle affordability. The ground source heat pump
(option 3) is the most life cycle affordable within the rst 25 years.

Table 2
Life cycle costs categorized (25/50/100 years).

25 years

50 years

100 years

Net present cost

1. District heating

2. District heating incl. 10%

renewable energy

3. Ground source heat pump

4. Ground source heat pump

incl. 10% renewable energy

Investment cost
Energy cost
Maintenance cost
Life cycle replacement cost
Total
Tot. NPC/m2/a
Investment cost
Energy cost
Maintenance cost
Life cycle replacement cost
Total
Tot. NPC/m2/a
Investment cost
Energy cost
Maintenance cost
Life cycle replacement cost
Total
Tot. NPC/m2/a

27,046,313 V
3,015,481 V
9,288,493 V
6,893,942 V
46,244,228 V
85.85 V
27,046,313 V
5,619,695 V
17,310,176 V
14,651,533 V
64,627,718 V
59.99 V
27,046,313 V
9,811,040 V
30,220,646 V
26,517,893 V
93,595,891 V
43.44 V

27,558,156 V
2,564,239 V
9,288,493 V
6,939,029 V
46,349,917 V
86.05 V
27,558,156 V
4,778,754 V
17,310,176 V
15,086,004 V
64,733,091 V
60.09 V
27,558,156 V
8,342,899 V
30,220,646 V
27,276,406 V
93,398,107 V
43.35 V

27,433,237 V
1,309,653 V
9,288,493 V
7,094,186 V
45,125,568 V
83.78 V
27,433,237 V
2,440,690 V
17,310,176 V
15,061,110 V
62,245,212 V
57.78 V
27,433,237 V
4,261,032 V
30,220,646 V
27,235,443 V
89,150,358 V
41.38 V

27,945,080 V
858,411 V
9,288,493 V
7,094,186 V
45,186,170 V
83.89 V
27,945,080 V
1,599,749 V
17,310,176 V
15,450,493 V
62,305,499 V
57.83 V
27,945,080 V
2,792,891 V
30,220,646 V
27,948,868 V
88,907,486 V
41.26 V

M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

175

Fig. 2. Life cycle costs (NPC) for the evaluated options (25/50/100 years).

When examining the time periods of 50 and 100 years, the established trends continue until the end. Note that these results are
acquired with an indexation rate of 2% and a discount rate of 2.6%.
4.2.1. Sensitivity analysis for LCC results
Sensitivity analysis for the LCC results is to be made in order to
understand how indexation and discount rate affect the outcome,
especially when one of the chosen time periods is up to 100 years.
The key parameter to be examined is the energy indexation, since
the evaluation focuses on different energy systems and their life
cycle costs.
At rst, the effects of indexation and discount parameters were
analyzed by establishing a buffer zone. The buffer zone was drawn
to include indexation and discount changes between 0 and 8
percent, thus portraying nearly all possible future scenarios for
each option. Certain years may have a negative rate, but in the long
run, the average is assumed to be positive.
The energy indexation was tied to the general indexation of 2%
in the estimation, which means that the options that include
renewable energy (2 & 4) obtain a life cycle affordable status (100year period). The sensitivity analysis reveals that in order for the
options excluding 10% photovoltaic panels (options 1 & 3) to
become life cycle affordable, the annual energy indexation would
have to further changed from 2.00% by 0.32% (100 years), 0.45%
(50 years) and 1.44% (25 years) against the district heat option
and 0.40% (100 years), 0.27% (50 years) and 0.86% (25 years)
against the ground source heat pump option. Thus, if the realized
indexation falls below 1.68%, the options that include photovoltaic panels become economically disadvantageous from a life cycle
perspective (100-year period).
Additionally, the sensitivity analysis demonstrates that in order
for the district heating options (1 & 2) to surpass the ground source
heat pump options (3 & 4), the annual energy indexation would
have to decrease signicantly by 5e8% during the different time
periods 25, 50 and 100 years.
It is important to point out that the same sensitivity principles
effect the annual property maintenance cost index, which is this
study represents a relatively more signicant part of the life cycle
costs (Table 2 and Fig. 2), and thus have a greater impact on the nal
life cycle outcome.
4.3. LCA main results
According to the assessment, the lowest life cycle GHG emissions are reached with the ground source heat pump with

photovoltaic panels option during the time periods of 25, 50 and

100 years. The highest GHG emissions during the three time horizons are caused by the district heating option, with the district
heating option with photovoltaic panels causing the second most
emissions and the ground heat pump option causing the third most
emissions.
The amount of GHG emissions after 25 years ranges from
approximately 33,800 tons with the ground source heat pump with
photovoltaic panels option to 47,700 tons with the district heating
option. During the 50-year time horizon, the ground source heat
pump with photovoltaic panels option causes the lowest GHG
emissions (44,100 tons) and the district heating option causing the
most GHG emissions (70,500 tons). If the whole 100-year period is
taken into consideration, the ground source heat pump with
photovoltaic panels option causes the lowest GHG emissions
(62,300 tons). The district heating option causes the most GHG
emissions (115,900 tons) during the 100-year life cycle. The GHG
emissions of different energy systems on three different time horizons are presented in Table 3.
The construction phase emissions of the residential area differ
between different energy solutions. The district heating option
causes construction-phase emissions of approximately 24,500 tons.
The corresponding gures are approximately 24,700 tons for both
the ground source heat pump option and for the district heating
with photovoltaic panels options and 24,900 tons for the ground
heat pump with photovoltaic panels option. The share of the use
phase of the total life cycle emissions differs from approximately
20% for the district heating option to approximately 40% for the
ground source heat pump with photovoltaic panels option.
The carbon payback times of different systems are only a few
years. The cumulative GHG emissions of the district heating option
with photovoltaic panels fall below the emissions of the district
heating option in four years. The corresponding carbon payback
times compared to district heating option are one year for a ground
heat pump and two years for a ground heat pump with photovoltaic panels.
Table 3
GHG emissions of different energy systems on three main time horizons.
3. Ground source 4. Ground source
Year 1. District 2. District heating
heat pump
heat pump incl. 10%
heating
incl. 10%
photovoltaic panels
photovoltaic panels
25
50
100

45,832
68,857
112,599

44,425
65,946
106,483

35,167
46,916
68,087

33,738
43,983
61,949

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M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

The options with ground source heat pumps have short carbon
payback times of only a year or two, but the result in signicantly
lower in GHG emissions during the 100-year time period compared
to the district heating options. The ground source heat pump option
results in 40% lower emissions during the 100-year period. The
option of ground heat pump with photovoltaic panels results in 42%
lower emissions than the option of district heating with photovoltaic panels. The comparison of district heating and ground
source heat pump with photovoltaic panels has the most contrast
and results in 45% lower emissions in favour of the ground heat
pump with photovoltaic panels option during the 100-year period.
5. Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine both the ecological
and economical life cycle outcome (cost and emissions) of a new
residential development in order to add valuable information for
decision makers and future residents. Li et al. (2013) recommend
that life cycle cost and environmental impact assessments should
be developed further in order to promote more energy-efcient
building types and renewable energy technologies [54]. The results show that economical and ecological aspects clearly support
each other from a life cycle perspective and at the same contradicts
the investment-cost approach. This study reveals that by selecting a
slightly higher investment, a signicant proportion of energy costs
and emissions can be cut (e.g., option 4). A ground source heat
pump with building-integrated photovoltaic panels is more life
cycle-affordable due to lower energy costs, thus generating lower
emissions. Similar results are attained from residential buildings in
Denmark where a combination of ground source heat pump and
photovoltaic technology results in the most cost-optimal solution
[55,56]. A summary of life cycle costs and emissions are portrayed
in Table 4.
The results show that by applying a life cycle management
approach through LCC and LCA analyses, cost and emission savings
can be achieved with existing technological systems. An additional
investment in the investment phase appears to add value during its
life cycle, both economically and ecologically. Life cycle management is to be further emphasized and employed in urban residential development if viable solutions are to be recognized and
implemented.
Research combining LCC and LCA analyses particularly for residential energy demand in Nordic conditions, has not been carried
out in this extent. However, there are comparable studies of LCC
and LCA combinations within the building and energy sector that
are in line with this study. Kosaero & Ries (2007) have assessed the
life cycle impact of green roofs and concluded that the environmental impact is signicant during the life cycle, even though energy reduction is relatively small compared to the overall building
demand [57]. An operational LCC and LCA regarding water use in
multi-occupant buildings is performed by Arpke & Hutzler (2005),
which suggests that high-efciency xtures are both economically
and environmentally justied and suitable for long-term owners
who can benet from operational cost savings [58]. Concerning the
life cycle impact of renewable energy options, Heetae & Tae Kyu
(2011) have assessed the correlation between LCC and LCA of
different energy generation systems, which revealed that energy
resources are mainly inversely proportional to GHG emissions and
the corresponding cost (except nuclear power). For example, solar
photovoltaic panels have a high cost with low emissions compared
to coal, which has low costs and high emission rates [59]. However,
Heetae & Tae Kyu (2011) did not consider the energy demand side
in their study; only electricity production was evaluated [59].
A critical matter concerning the results of the study is obtaining
reliable data since analyses require a signicant amount of data

whose outcome depends on the accessibility, quality and accuracy

of the input data. The data considered to have the highest uncertainty are future operational costs and life cycle performance information. In this study, a cross-check for operational and
maintenance costs between data acquired from the construction
company and the established maintenance plan was carried out in
order to reduce overall uncertainties in LCC and LCA modelling.
Energy indexation is another debatable factor in the LCC study.
The sensitivity analysis shows that if the annual energy indexation
falls below 1.68%, the renewable energy options would no longer be
life cycle affordable. An important question arises: What is the best
realistic estimation of the annual energy increase for the future? In
Finland, historical data from 1996 reveals that the annual energy
price indexation (in real terms) for electricity is about 2.49% per
year and 2.51% per year for district heating [60]. If these rates are
applied, they will further favour the renewable energy options and
have a positive affect on their payback time.
Estimated long-term price developments imply that the annual
price increase for oil will be around 2.80%, and for coal about 2.00%.
For household electricity, the annual escalation would be around
1.40%. Note that these future price estimates are in line with political guidelines and targets towards a more sustainable Europe
[61].
Furthermore, a questionable matter is the future replacement
costs for the building-integrated photovoltaic panels. The development of photovoltaic systems has been rapid in both cost and
efciency, which is predicted by the European Commission to
continue in the future [61]. Therefore, it is difcult to predict costs
and replacement measures for the photovoltaic panels, but
assuming the current cost level, the future cost impact should not
be underestimated. The future outlook for photovoltaic systems
indicates that if economic incentives are maintained during the
next decades, photovoltaic technologies will probably have a signicant role in the future energy mix while simultaneously
decreasing the environmental impact of energy generation [62].
The GHG modelling of the study is based on multiple assumptions that have a signicant effect on the results. Among the most
important are advances in the energy production technology, the
carbon intensity of the maintenance, future renovation actions, and
the operating life cycle of the buildings. In addition, the IO LCA
models are not suitable for modelling distinctive products because
Table 4
LCC and LCA results (25/50/100 years).
1. District
heating

25 years

Net
present
cost (V)
GHG
emissions
(tons)
50 years Net
present
cost (V)
GHG
emissions
(tons)
100 years Net
present
cost (V)
GHG
emissions
(tons)

3. Ground
2. District
source heat
heating
pump
incl. 10%
photovoltaic
panels

4. Ground
source
heat pump
incl. 10%
photovoltaic
panels

46,244,228 V 46,349,917 V 45,125,568 V 45,186,170 V

45,832

44,425

35,167

33,738

64,627,718 V 64,733,091 V 62,245,212 V 62,305,499 V

68,857

65,946

46,916

43,983

93,595,891 V 93,398,107 V 89,150,358 V 88,907,486 V

112,599

106,483

68,087

61,949

M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

the method is based on national average data [35]. The IO LCA

covers a signicant share of the construction phase analysis.
However, the building type in the study represents current general
multi-story house construction technology in Finland, which reduces the uncertainties related to the assessment method from this
perspective.
Allocation of district heat GHG emissions between joint production electricity and heat causes additional uncertainties in the
study. Two commonly used allocation methods remain in Finland:
the energy method and the shared benets method. The allocation
method used in the study is the energy method, which allocates the
GHG emissions of the joint production process based on the shares
of generated electricity and heat [44]. The shared benets method
allocates GHG emissions for electricity and heat by dening the
alternative production methods for combined production based on
separate production and calculating the GHG emissions for electricity and heat accordingly [44]. In general, the energy method
results in approximately equal GHG emissions per kWh produced,
whereas the shared benets method considers district heat as a by
product of joint production electricity and thus results in higher
GHG emissions for electricity, and a smaller share of productionphase GHG emissions is allocated for heat [44]. Changing the
joint production GHG emissions allocation method to the shared
benets method has a signicant affect on the results of the study.
When the shared benets method is used, combustion-phase GHG
emissions for heat decrease by 35 percent and the corresponding
GHG emissions for electricity increase by 46 percent compared to
the energy method. However, the allocation method does not
change the mutual order of the GHG emission quantities of
different energy systems on any of the studys life cycle periods and
thus does not have an affect on the conclusions of the study.
The carbon intensity of the energy production is likely to
decrease in the future along with technical advancements in energy
production processes. According to a scenario made by Finnish
Energy Industries, the carbon intensities of the electricity and district heat production are going to decrease 85e90 percent from the
year 2010 level by the year 2050 [63]. This would signicantly
decrease the importance of GHG emissions occurring in the distant
future. However, the carbon payback times of the different energy
options of the study are only a few years, so future decreases in
energy production intensities will not change the mutual order of
the options, although the GHG emissions of the district heating
solutions decrease most radically in the future due to a combination of high energy consumption and lower energy generation intensity in the future.
The European Commission has established guidelines for a
comparative methodology framework for calculating cost-optimal
designs [64]. In this framework, there is a cost group labelled cost
of greenhouse gas emissions. This cost group implies that in the
future, there may be costs for generating greenhouse gases. In this
report the recommended minimum price is around 0.03e0.04 V/
CO2 (kg). If costs for producing greenhouse gas emissions would be
applied, this would further enhance the connection between LCC
and LCA. In order to execute an LCC model, an LCA would have to be
executed to obtain the data for the costs of greenhouse gas
emissions.
One general limitation of the study is that a streamlined LCA
[37] is employed where only the GHG emissions are accounted
from a wide scope of economic and environmental assessments.
While climate change is inevitably one of the most relevant environmental concerns at the moment, other impacts may become
equally important in the near future. For example, Rockstrm et al.
(2009) claim that humans would already have exceeded the planetary boundaries in three impact categories: climate change,
biodiversity loss, and the global nitrogen cycle [65]. Furthermore,

177

GHGs seem to indicate rather poorly at least some of the other

environmental impacts [66]. Actions for GHG mitigation may even
increase the severity of other impacts. For example, Greening et al.
(2012) studied the environmental affects of domestic heat pumps
and gas boilers in the UK. Their study indicated that even though
replacing gas boilers with heat pumps leads to lower GHG emissions, the use of heat pumps does not offer signicant environmental advantages since they qualify as worse for most
environmental impact categories [67].
It is also well-known that besides the GHG emissions, the construction and operation of buildings inict other environmental
effects. For example, Junnila et al. (2003) included four other
environmental aspects besides GHGs in their study, which focused
on the life cycle environmental impacts of ofce buildings. The
other aspects were acidication, summer smog, eutrophication and
heavy metals [68]. Blengini et al. (2010) studied cumulative energy
demand, non-renewable energy demand and potentials for global
warming, ozone depletion, acidication, eutrophication and
photochemical ozone creation in their LCA of an Italian low-energy
residential building [69]. Passer et al. (2012) studied the potential of
acidication of land and water, eutrophication, global warming,
depletion of the stratospheric and tropospheric ozone layers plus
uses of renewable and non-renewable energy resources in their
LCA of technical building equipment on residential buildings [70].
Thormark (2000) included global warming potential, acidication,
eutrophication and photochemical ozone formation in his comparison of two similar houses built with either new or recycled
building materials [71].
This said, concentrating on GHGs in the current study is still
relatively well-justied because climate change is currently one of
the hottest environmental issues globally and the greenhouse gas
mitigation targets set by the EU for the years 2020 and 2050 also set
signicant mitigation challenges for the European building stock.
Improving the building stock can have a signicant impact as well,
according to earlier research. For example, Broin et al. (2013)
studied the energy efciency improvements of buildings for the
EU-27 under three different scenarios. Their study indicates that
the requirements set for 2050 can be reached within the EU-27
building stock with strict energy efciency policies. However,
massive improvements have to be accomplished in many industries, for example replacing all fossil fuels with carbon-neutral
substitutes in electricity and district heat production [72].
6. Conclusions
The results of this study show that when aligning economical
and ecological interests, they support each other in a life cycle
framework. Consequently, why does economical and ecological life
cycle viability not appear interesting by professional real estate
investors and residents? Ltzkendorf & Lorenz (2005) state that the
perception of how properties are valued in decision-making processes is changing and that the life cycle of the building should be a
seen as a key performance index in the future [73]. As for residents,
the cost and emission savings (with current energy prices) generated during the life cycle does not weigh heavily enough in
decision-making next to conventional value parameters such as
accessibility, service infrastructure, social factors and the physical
environment [74].
The aim of this study is not to evaluate which technical energy
design solution is more sustainable in the long run, but to portray
that economic and environmental benets support each other in
urban residential development, and additionally that a methodological life cycle assessment framework should be used in decisionmaking processes. Kats et al. (2003) share the view that such
benets (energy savings) should be evaluated from a life cycle cost

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M. Ristimki et al. / Energy 63 (2013) 168e179

methodology and not just in upfront costs [75]. Additionally, Passer

et al. (2012) suggest that technical equipment should be analyzed
along with the conventional construction products in order to
enhance the conventional LCA [70].
Our modern society is dependent on oil as its primary source of
energy. It has been estimated that within the next 20e40 years, the
amount of oil will not be able to provide our society with the demand for sufcient energy. The World Energy Outlook report estimates that our oil peak was reached in 2006 [76]. Therefore, it is
imperative that increasingly more renewable energy production is
added to the energy supply side in order to decrease (and hopefully
eliminate) our future dependency on oil. There is a signicant demand for eco-efcient concepts in urban development [77]. In the
end, self-sufcient urban areas are the ultimate solution.
Suggested further research should focus on possibilities to
optimize facility management by taking a life cycle perspective
from both the economic and ecological aspects. Facility management services have a signicant impact on environmental indicators [78]. If an economic incentive to save money would be
exposed, the importance of life cycle management in real estate
development would further improve.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to The Innovative City Partnership Programme in Finland for nancial support. Innovative City is a partnership programme between Aalto
University and the City of Helsinki, aimed at generating innovations
that support sustainable urban development through multi-disciplinary collaboration in research, art and development.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.10.030.
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