{"title":"Application of \u201cStreamlined\u201d Material Accounting to Estimate Environmental Impact","authors":"Paul Osmond","volume":48,"journal":"International Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering","pagesStart":403,"pagesEnd":414,"ISSN":"1307-6892","URL":"https:\/\/publications.waset.org\/pdf\/12412","abstract":"
This paper reports a new application of material accounting techniques to characterise and quantify material stocks and flows at the “neighbourhood" scale. The study area is the main campus of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The system boundary is defined by the urban structural unit (USU), a typological construct devised to facilitate assessment of the metabolism of urban systems. A streamlined material flow analysis (MFA) was applied to quantify the stocks and flows of key construction materials within the campus USU over time, drawing on empirical data from a major campus development project. The results are reviewed to assess the efficacy of the method in supporting urban environmental evaluation and design practice, for example to facilitate estimation of significant impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions. It is concluded that linking a service (in this case, teaching students) enabled by a given product (university buildings) to the amount of materials used in creating that product offers a potential way to reduce the environmental impact of that service, through more efficient use of materials.<\/p>\r\n","references":"[1] Osmond, P. Evaluation of neighbourhood scale material flows to\r\ninform urban design. in Conf\u00e9rence Internationale Energie Solaire et\r\nB\u251c\u00f3timent (CISBAT). 2005. Lausanne, Switzerland.\r\n[2] Brunner, P.H. and H. Rechberger, Practical Handbook of Material\r\nFlow Analysis. Advanced Methods in Resource and Waste\r\nManagement. 2003, Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press\/Lewis Publishers.\r\n[3] Kleijn, R. and E. van der Voet. Material flow accounting. in Norwegian\r\nAcademy of Technological Sciences 4th Seminar on Industrial Ecology.\r\n2001. 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