Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Windows: Analyzing the Environmental Impact of Window Restoration versus Window Replacement
| dc.contributor.advisor | Udo-Inyang, Philip D. | |
| dc.creator | Switala-Elmhurst, Katherine | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-05T15:02:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-11-05T15:02:06Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
| dc.identifier.other | 890207780 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/3627 | |
| dc.description.abstract | New windows are rated based on their energy performance during the use phase. This rating neglects the overall environmental impact caused by raw material extraction, manufacturing, maintenance and disposal. Due to the number of residential window replacements occurring today in the United States, there is a growing need to quantify the sustainability of window preservation as an alternative to window replacement. This study assessed the environmental impact of historic wood window restoration versus window replacement for the entire "cradle to grave" life cycle of the window assembly. This study focused on a typical, mid-twentieth century housing development in the Northeast United States using four window configurations as follows: 1. Restored original wood window with a new exterior aluminum storm window; 2. PVC replacement window; 3. Aluminum-clad wood replacement window; 4. Wood replacement window. The dissertation assessed the life cycle of window configurations using GaBi Software. The life cycle inventories were analyzed using the TRACI 2.1 impact method which translated the environmental consequences of the life cycle assessment processes into quantifiable environmental impacts. The dissertation also considered window thermal performance and life cycle costs. When considering life cycle environmental impacts, thermal performance, energy savings and material costs, the results indicated that wood window restoration was the best option when compared to replacement windows considered in this study; however, the results indicated that building service life and window service life assumptions could impact results. Thermal performance testing of windows revealed that window restoration techniques undertaken in this study improved the window's overall thermal performance. The testing also indicated that the effects of air infiltration had minimal influence on the performance of the restored window assembly when compared to a high performance replacement window. The results of the energy model exhibited only a small annual energy savings between the restored window assembly and a high performance replacement window. The payback cost analysis revealed that, while there was an immediate financial benefit of window replacement with the PVC option, window replacement frequency and overall life cycle environmental impacts would favor the restored window option. | |
| dc.format.extent | 181 pages | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Temple University. Libraries | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Theses and Dissertations | |
| dc.rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available. | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Civil Engineering | |
| dc.subject | Energy Efficiency | |
| dc.subject | Life Cycle Assessment | |
| dc.subject | Residential Windows | |
| dc.subject | Sustainability | |
| dc.subject | Window Restoration | |
| dc.subject | Wood Windows | |
| dc.title | Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Windows: Analyzing the Environmental Impact of Window Restoration versus Window Replacement | |
| dc.type | Text | |
| dc.type.genre | Thesis/Dissertation | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Neretina, Svetlana | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Serrano, Sergio E. | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Henry, Michael C., 1949- | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Flamm, Bradley | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Van Aken, Benoit | |
| dc.description.department | Civil Engineering | |
| dc.relation.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/3609 | |
| dc.ada.note | For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu | |
| dc.description.degree | Ph.D. | |
| refterms.dateFOA | 2020-11-05T15:02:06Z |
Files in this item
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The Windows to Functional Decline: Exploration of Eye Movements in Relation to Everyday Task Performance in Younger and Older AdultsResearch has demonstrated that everyday functional abilities are compromised in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitional stage between normal cognitive aging and dementia, as well as in healthy aging. These functional changes have been shown to be strong predictors of future decline, highlighting their importance. However, early changes in everyday functioning remain poorly characterized, largely due to a scarcity of sensitive measures capable of detecting subtle disruption. Recent research suggests that eye-tracking methodology may be effective in addressing this gap. Fifty-two participants (27 younger adults and 25 non-demented older adults) completed a novel eye-tracking task involving passive viewing of a naturalistic scene and verbalization of a task goal (e.g., make coffee, pack a lunch). Participants also completed a performance-based measure of everyday action that required them to enact the same tasks (e.g., coffee, lunch) that were included in the eye-tracking paradigm, self-report measures of functional ability, and neuropsychological measures. Mixed ANOVAs were conducted to examine group (young, old) and condition (passive viewing, verbalization)/task (simple, complex) effects on eye-tracking and everyday action performance. Independent samples t-tests/Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to examine group differences in eye-tracking and everyday action performance. Correlation analyses across all measures were conducted to evaluate the potential mechanisms of eye-tracking and everyday action results. Results showed no significant group differences in the primary eye-tracking variables, but both groups made a lower proportion of fixations to distractor (i.e., non-target) objects during task verbalization compared to passive scene viewing. Older adults made more inefficient actions during performance-based everyday task completion, particularly when task demands were high. Eye tracking and everyday action variables were related to different measures of self-reported functional ability. Finally, eye-tracking variables were primarily related to neuropsychological measures of executive functions/working memory, whereas everyday action performance was most strongly related to measures of verbal learning and memory. These findings suggest that age-related functional changes at the level of eye movements may occur after changes in behavioral performance of everyday tasks. Importantly, performance-based assessment of everyday action appears sensitive to age-related decline. Additionally, naturalistic eye movements and everyday task performance may reflect distinct components of self-reported functioning and may be driven by distinct cognitive processes. Future research with refined naturalistic eye-tracking tasks and samples with a wider range of impairment is necessary to further explore these findings and improve characterization and detection of risk for dementia.
-
Novel window on early human neurodevelopment via fetal exosomes in maternal bloodAdverse in utero exposures can disrupt fetal brain development, deplete subpopulations of neurons and inhibit formation of normal synaptic connections. A major roadblock to unraveling the precise mechanisms and timing of human neurodevelopmental derangement is the almost complete absence of sensitive noninvasive assessments. We present novel methods for isolating fetal neuronal exosomes from maternal plasma as a noninvasive platform for testing aspects of fetal neurodevelopment as early as the 1st trimester. Our methodology represents an important breakthrough both in understanding mechanisms of injury in vivo in a human system and potentially for monitoring clinical interventions seeking to promote fetal brain health.
-
The Achievement and Non-Achievement Effects of Repeating Another Year with a Teacher and Reversing Broken Windows TheoryThis research gives a multidimensional investigation into community policies that are becoming more prevalent in American society. In Chapter 1, I apply multiple Value-Added Models (VAM) of achievement to data from the North Carolina Education Research Data Center (NCERDC) to determine the academic impacts of repeating a year (or more) with the same teacher on student achievement in math and reading. Given the growing trend in schools and teaching practices, like looping, that pair teachers and students for multiple years, this research finds contrasting results about the gains in academic achievement associated with repeating with a teacher. Specifically, while there is evidence that students on average have higher scores when repeating with a teacher, this effect is mitigated when one controls for teacher quality. Using limited probability models, I find students are 29\%-34\% and 42\%-46\% more likely to repeat with a teacher whose Value-Added estimate is in the top 20\% of teacher-quality compared to a teacher in the bottom 20\% in math and reading, respectively. This nonrandom assignment of students to teachers, creates upward bias in the estimated achievement effects of repeating with a teacher that have previously been unaccounted for. In chapters 1 and 2, I account for nonrandom assignment finding non-significant gains in achievement associated with repeating with a teacher. While Chapter 1 finds non-significant gains to student achievement, Chapter 2 investigates if there are any non-cognitive gains students experience when they repeat with a teacher for another year. Using the same longitudinal data from the NCERDC, Chapter 2’s results indicate increases in character-trait measures associated with teacher and student perceptions of academic success and effort. Using multiple partial persistence VAMs that include controls for student heterogeneity and for teacher quality, the estimated effects on a teacher's subjective scoring of a student's academic success, student's anticipated grade for the year, and student attendance are all significantly greater than zero. Taken together, the positive effects from students repeating with the same teacher reveal themselves prevalently on character-trait improvements rather than on contemporaneous achievement scores. In Chapter 3, I investigate the causal direction of a popular policing policy. Although there are a large number of studies testing Broken Windows Theory (BWT) (Wilson & Kelling, 1982), the reverse theoretical pathway has never been assessed (risk perceptions predicting incivilities perceptions). It is estimated in Chapter 3 using panel data from Baltimore. Results show lagged, multilevel impacts of risk perceptions on changes in incivilities perceptions. Further, results show the impact of risk perceptions on seeing later changes in neighborhood problems varies significantly across street blocks. Findings support Harcourt’s (2001) assertion that “disorder” is not a fixed and unambiguous label; rather, it is dependent upon a person defining his or her surroundings. People who feel a high degree of crime risk are “biased” (Hipp, 2010; Wallace, 2011) toward defining neighborhood features as more problematic than those who do not.
