doi:10.3850/978-981-08-9247-0_rp051-icsas11

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a study on the environmental impacts of two design alternatives for a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) visitor centre at Sukau, Sabah, using life cycle analysis. The design alternatives include a land-based and floating design, for the same timber-based superstructure. In both scenarios, the life cycle covers the phases of raw materials acquisition, manufacturing, use and maintenance, recycle and disposal phases. To enumerate the environmental impacts, the potential environmental emissions created for each phase will be calculated by referring to a life cycle inventory (LCI). A life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is then performed to assess the potential human and ecological effects of energy, water, materials usage, and the environmental releases identified in the LCI. Results showed that the floating option potentially generates more severe environmental impacts than the land-based option. The differences in environmental impacts are mainly due to the selection of materials and maintenance frequency during the construction, and use and maintenance phases of both design alternatives. As for disposal methods during the end-of-life phase, timber disposal by landfill produces higher environmental impacts than disposal by incineration. Overall, the steel piles used in the design of the floating structure caused higher environmental impacts.

© Research Publishing Services. All rights reserved.