Giving it Some Gas … Advanced Greenhouse Gas Measurement Tool for Municipal Infrastructure Asset Planning

Nick Larson P.Eng., GM Blue Plan Consulting

Tania Clerac, Centre for Sustainable Municipalities

Grant Murphy P.Eng., Centre for Sustainable Municipalities

Presentation Summary

This presentation details the results of an NSERC funded research project to assist municipalities in making environmentally conscious decisions and reduce carbon footprints for planned infrastructure construction projects.

The presentation highlights a tool which enables municipalities to accurately determine GHG emissions for the construction and rehabilitation of linear infrastructure assets (roads, watermains, sewers) and to incorporate GHG emissions into their infrastructure asset management plans.

At the time of preparing this presentation, research is still being done on the embodied carbon values for various construction projects and the final results are not available.

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Presentation Summary

Many municipalities have adopted corporate strategies to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints, however, it has been difficult for them to implement across all departments or asset groups.

Efforts have instead focused on initiatives such as LED light replacement programs that can demonstrate a relative GHG emission reduction.

Shifting GHG emissions reduction strategies in municipalities beyond operational level decision-making considerations, to a point where these strategies are used to drive infrastructure planning and asset management related decisions, is a complex process.

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Integrated Asset Management

Operations & Maintenance

DecisionSupport

Strategy &Frameworks

Integrated

AM

Applied Research for Technology Advancement

Demonstration

Innovative Technology and Practice Support

Education and Training

CSM at Fleming College

Sustainable Infrastructure Through Innovation

Training about “how to do” advanced asset management and technology applications (how vs. what)

Making a meaningful contribution to climate change mitigation and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies.

All communities, particularly smaller municipalities, can benefit from increased asset management capacity.

There are enormous opportunities for public works and financial departments to work together in creating a sustainable municipality.

CSM Values …

CSM Partners and Clients

Rationale for Research Project

Canada is already warmer, wetter and stormier

Rationale for Research Project

Rationale for Research Project

Ontario's CCAP

▪ 37% emission reduction in 2030

▪ 80% emission reduction in 2050

▪ Municipal level:

▪ Put climate change in official plans

▪ Make climate change planning a priority

▪ Set green development standards

▪ Support district-wide mapping that integrates gas, electricity, water,

transportation, building data […]

▪ Development of Community Climate Action Plans with greenhouse gas

pollution inventories for municipalities

▪ Lead by example and act on opportunities to make operations carbon

neutral - reduce GHG pollutions across facilities, operations, procurement.

▪ Integrate emission reduction in decision making

▪ Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are one of the sustainability performance indicators that are most requested by stakeholders.

▪ Tracking emissions is the basis to achieve provincial emission reduction targets

▪ Three categories of emissions (Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3) were established for the reporting of GHGs.

▪ The separation of GHG emissions into scopes is designed to avoid ‘double-counting’ of emissions, and is also intended to help organizations categorize GHG into those that they control (e.g. Scope 1) versus those that they can influence (e.g. Scope 3).

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Greenhouse gas accounting* describes the way to inventory and audit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

▪ A corporate or organisational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions assessment quantifies the total greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly from a business or organisation’s activities.

▪ Also known as a carbon footprint, it is a business tool that provides information with a basis for understanding and managing climate change impacts.

▪ Accounting for greenhouse gas emissions is increasingly seen as a standard requirement.

* Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) set by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Greenhouse Gas Accounting

Capital Asset Investment Planning typically uses whole life asset costing and as such GHG emissions should be estimated using a similar approach.

Focus on material extraction/manufacturing and installation phase.

GHG Accounting

(Prescott C (2009) Carbon Accounting in the United Kingdom Water Sector: a review. Journal of Water, Science & Technology 60: 2721-2727)

Embodied Emissions

▪ Embodied emissions are the result of capital investment – building, maintaining, replacing assets.

▪ Any large capital investment project should consider embodied emissions when determining overall GHG emissions.

▪ Particularly true for water and wastewater system construction projects.

▪ Embodied emissions attributable to the water and wastewater sector are estimated to contribute to over 50% of the sector’s annual operational emissions.

▪ While embodied emissions are tracked in Europe (e.g. UK water companies are required to report their emissions under the Carbon Reduction Commitment), tracking is still sparse in North America

Embodied Emissions

▪ Calculated emissions are reported in t CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) - Mass of emitted carbon

▪ Carbon dioxide equivalent is a term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit

▪ The most important GHGs (besides CO2) are methane, nitrous oxide, CFCs, HFCs, HCFCs, PFCs and SF6

▪ For any quantity and type of greenhouse gas, CO2e signifies the amount of CO2 which would have the equivalent global warming impact when measured over a specific timescale

Estimating Embodied Emissions

LCA Phase Included in Analysis

Manufacturing / Construction Material

Material-specific and size-specific energy consumption during raw material acquisitionand production

Transportation Transport distance gate to site, fuel consumption, vehicle type –calculations for material and construction equipment

Construction Fuel consumption for pipe installation (trench excavation,pipe laying and backfilling)

Embodied Emissions – Manufacturing Construction Material:

▪ Material-dependant energy demands for raw material extraction and all processes necessary for material production, are calculated as embodied carbon.

GHG emissions from construction material are a function of material mass (area * material density * segment length) and material specific embodied carbon values.

▪ Material specific embodied carbon coefficients were obtained from published reports and material specifications

▪ Whenever possible, region specific embodied emission factors were given preference over general factors.

GHG Measurement Tool – Emission Calculations

Embodied Emissions – Transportation Phase:

▪ Transport between points of production/distributor and construction site is based on a 100 km round trip.

▪ Diesel-fueled truck-trailer units are the assumed transport vehicles for all pipe materials and rear-dump trucks with a 7.6 m3 capacity for transportation of aggregates.

▪ Emission factors were obtained from National Inventory Reports published by Natural Resources Canada.

▪ Emissions related to transportation of pipe material are based on the following pipe lengths:

6 m for PVC pipes, 2.44 m for concrete pipes

GHG Measurement Tool – Emission Calculations

Embodied Emissions – Installation Phase:

▪ Typically, pipe installation consists of trench excavation, pipe laying, compaction, trenching support, and backfilling.

▪ In this tool, only mayor construction activities are considered, such as excavation, pipe laying and backfilling.

▪ The construction phase primarily accounts for fuel consumed during construction.

▪ Contractor estimates will serve as a basis to determine equipment type and operating hours.

▪ Fuel consumption estimates will be based on equipment specifications, e.g. Caterpillar, Inc.

GHG Measurement Tool – Emission Calculations

GHG Measurement Tool based on rectangular trench set up:

GHG Measurement Tool – Simplified Trench Method

Trench width = pipe diameter plus 675 mm– Peel Region Standards (2017)

The following variables influence the calculation of carbon emissions of construction materials used in reconstruction projects:

• Water mains - pipe diameter, length, wall thickness, pipe material type, trench widths and depths, and bedding material.

• Sewer – pipe diameter, length, wall thickness, pipe material type, trench widths and depths, bedding material, and maintenance holes

• Road – pavement thickness, granular base thickness, trench width

GHG Measurement Tool – Variables/Assumptions

GHG Calculation Worksheets

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Navigating the Framework

Worksheet

AMPData

Water

Sewer

Construction

Concrete Pipes

Embodied

Carbon factor

Emissions Factor

CO2e

Assumptions

Suppliers

References

Details

Asset Management Plan data set

Emission calculations related to water main reconstruction

Emission calculations related to sewer reconstruction

Information about construction equipment and operating hours

Background information concrete pipes and manholes

Embodied carbon factor of construction material

Emission factors for gasoline, diesel and electricity

Assumptions and exclusions of this framework

List of suppliers/manufacturers of construction material

Reference list

The summary worksheet contains the total GHG emissions and GHG emissions of the three life-cycle phases for the

segments outlined in the Asset Management Plan. Details about calculations, data sources, assumptions, exclusions and

emission factors can be found in specific worksheets:

Connecting to the Asset Management Plan

• Climate Change related metrics are being integrated in AM processes like LOS Frameworks

• Current efforts in municipalities is largely focused on reducing GHGemissions from annual energy consumption

• But…how does the annual emissions from our construction activities compare against the annual emission from energy consumption?

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‘What gets measured gets managed’ – Lord Kelvin

Project by Project – Sewer Asset Portfolio

Summary GHG Emission Calculations Fleming College CSM

Data From Asset Management Plan

ID_Segment Asset Type Project Type Manufacturing GHG Transportation GHG Construction GHG TOTAL GHG Emissions

t CO2e t CO2e t CO2e t CO2e

840598 SWR recon 17.80 19.34 0.00 37.15

536340 SWR recon 15.17 18.47 0.00 33.64

231297 SWR recon 19.00 18.69 0.00 37.70

234438 SWR recon 10.36 12.45 0.00 22.81

216984 SWR recon 1.65 5.13 0.00 6.77

802515 SWR recon 17.21 19.23 0.00 36.45

782664 SWR recon 2.78 5.45 0.00 8.23

646913 SWR recon 7.13 11.37 0.00 18.50

649771 SWR recon 11.38 12.78 0.00 24.16

242070 SWR recon 16.92 19.13 0.00 36.05

484638 SWR recon 0.59 4.69 0.00 5.28

652511 SWR recon 14.26 18.15 0.00 32.41

241312 SWR recon 13.43 17.93 0.00 31.36

547458 SWR recon 129.67 20.14 0.00 149.81

239992 SWR recon 14.43 18.26 0.00 32.69

857972 SWR recon 6.03 6.54 0.00 12.57

687159 SWR recon 18.38 19.23 0.00 37.61

242987 SWR recon 13.92 18.04 0.00 31.96

230430 SWR recon 12.90 17.71 0.00 30.61

674513 SWR recon 9.33 11.69 0.00 21.02

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At the time of preparing this presentation, research is still being done on the embodied carbon values for various construction project types and the final results are not available. This table represents the general categories of embodied carbon and how they will be calculated on a project by project basis.

Connecting to the Asset Management Plan

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At the time of preparing this presentation, research is still being done on the embodied carbon values for various construction project types and the final results are not available. This table represents the general categories of embodied carbon and how they will be calculated on a project by project basis.

Asset PortfolioManufacturing

GHGTransportation

GHGConstruction

GHGTOTAL GHG Emissions

t CO2e t CO2e t CO2e t CO2e

Watermain 16805 5095 TBD 22901

Sewer 17682 15268 TBD 32950

Asset Sample Size – 113 km Watermain and 63 km Sewer Pipe Segments

Comparing to Annual Emissions

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▪ Determining scope of framework

▪ Obtaining region specific embodied emission factors for construction material

▪ Determining transportation-related and construction-related variables (e.g. distance gate to site, equipment operating hours)

Challenges

▪ Emissions related to construction material have highest level of confidence

▪ Limitations: availability of regional embodied emission factors for some construction materials

▪ Calculations based on certain assumptions and simplifications

• Emissions related to transportation and construction rely on some estimates

• Transportation distance, operating hours of construction equipment, vehicle type and fuel usage

• Using real-time data would improve accuracy

• Exclusion:• Water mains: fittings, hydrants, water services to households

• Sewer: fittings, manhole ladders and landing platforms

• Road furniture

Accuracy and Confidence

▪ More work to be done on construction installation GHG estimates

▪ Expanding the tool to account for rehabilitation projects trenchless versus open-cut scenario

▪ Evaluating between options – decision making tools

▪ Working with new and interested partners in this expanding field of applied research.

▪ Contact Tania Clerac or Grant Murphy to discuss your applied research needs.

▪ www.sustainablemunicipalities.ca

Looking Ahead

▪ Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for their generous sponsorship of this research project through the NSERC Engage Program.

▪ Our industry partner, GM Blue Plan Consulting for supply of infrastructure asset data and technical support

Acknowledgements

Questions

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