ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF VENTILATION DUCTS IN AN EDUCATIONAL BUILDING: A ROMANIAN CASE STUDY

Accounting for 40% of final energy consumption and 34% of emissions in the European Union, buildings have a significant role to play in achieving a carbon neutral Europe before 2050. But to make buildings more sustainable we need to assess and reduce carbon emissions at every stage of their life cycle, from construction materials to ongoing energy use. As heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are the primary energy consumers in buildings, they offer significant potential for energy saving and it is imperative to assess the environmental impact of the materials used in these systems. This study evaluates the environmental footprint of an HVAC system from an educational building in Romania, through the methodology of life cycle assessment using One Click LCA software, focusing on the impact of different types of ventilation ducts, namely rectangular and circular. Our initial analysis revealed that energy use and materials production were the primary contributors to global warming. Within the HVAC system, the air handling unit and the ventilation ducts had the most significant impacts, with emissions gradually decreasing as we transitioned from rectangular to circular ducts shapes. We also investigated how a country�s national energy mix and transportation distances affect the environmental impact of a circular ventilation duct. Due the lack of a comprehensive database of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) within the software, this analysis relied also on an EPD produced for Romania, which awaits verification. Our findings revealed that encouraging local sources materials and energy from renewable sources for ventilation ducts reduces the environmental impact of the whole HVAC system.