Life cycle assessment of the George F. Curtis Addition Building

The George F.Curtis Addition Building (Curtis Addition) was constructed in 1972 on the University of British Columbia and serves as an academic and office space for the UBC Faculty of Law and its students. A whole building life cycle assessment was conducted on the concrete 75,195 square foot building using structural and architectural drawings. A material quantity takeoff was performed using On Center's OnScreen Takeoff software, and the building was modeled in Athena's Impact Estimator (IE) to generate a bill of materials and summary measures. The materials contributing most significantly to the building make-up are ballast, roofing asphalt, Type III glass felt, 5/8" gypsum board and #15 organic felt; mostly components of the built-up roof. Concrete and rebar comprise the majority of the structure's volume, and have the largest impact on the building's impact assessment profile, as determined by a sensitivity analysis. The Curtis Addition,when compared to the average UBC academic building,was found to have larger impacts in all category measures except for ozone depletion potential. The less environmentally-friendly building profile is most likely a result of the vast use of concrete and a built-up roof. Energy models of the existing Curtis Addition building and an 'improved' version, based on REAP's minimum insulation standards, were created. Comparison of the models revealed an energy payback period of 1.5 years. This life cycle assessment of the manufacturing and construction phases of the Curtis Addition Building enables quantification of its environmental impacts and showcases the broad applications of building LCAs. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Applied Science, Faculty ofCivil Engineering, Department ofUnreviewedUndergraduat