272
A. Zanelli et al.
(form-finding); (b) the material characterization through the mechanical testing and
continuous cross-validation of finite element modeling (FEM) tools; (c) physical
testing the new materials’ durability; (d) scaling up the investigation at the architectural concept, through FEM, life cycle assessment and thermal analysis; and (e)
finalize shop drawings and real-scale demonstrators.
5 Life Cycle Assessment for Textiles: Comparing
the Eco-Efficiency of Bio-based and Fossil-Based Fabrics
In the product and process development of more eco-friendly coated textiles, or a
woven or non-woven membrane for architectural application, a double verification of
their eco-efficiency (matter level) and environmental performances (building level)
is in parallel needed. The LC analysis phase, as appears in Table 2, can provide an
early stage evaluation of environmental impacts of a novel design concept and/or a
material choice assumption. At that stage, a comparative LCA allows, on one hand,
to check the environmental impacts generated during the production of alternative
materials, on the other hand, to deepen the eco-profile’s incidence of different technical solutions. A building level LCA investigation takes into account the efficiency of
the whole system, the efficacy of the foreseeing construction procedures, the structural and thermo-physic and acoustic performances, as well as the costs. In the road
map of the eco-efficiency of textiles for architecture, different stakeholders can be
associated to the life cycle steps, above all: the chemical industry and the producers of polymeric/bio-based/biodegradable yarns and fabrics, on one side, and the
supply companies of tailoring and assembly of the membrane components for the
architecture to the other.
The considered scientific sources on the environmental impact assessment of textile and finishing industries clearly show that the investigation of the environmental
impacts of the textile industry for clothing, furniture cladding and internal architecture has been started some decades ago, while the interest of the environmental
burden of coated membranes and films for architecture starts recently. In general,
literature surveys and other LCA studies on textiles show that most of the available
process data are still not fully readable and clearly outliers. At the material’s production level, TU Delft provided an up-to-date insight into the environmental burden
of cotton, polyester, nylon, acryl, and elastane-based textiles (Van der Velden et al.
2014). The Institute of Textiles at Hong Kong Polytechnic developed a way to quantify and rank the ecological sustainability of textile fibers, such as organic cotton,
flax, viscose, polyester, polypropylene, acrylic, and nylon (Smith and Barker 1995).
The eco-efficiency of textile wet processing in Finland was also studied, as a part of
drafting the Best Available Technique Reference documents for the European IPPC
Bureau (Bidoki and Wittlinger 2010). Since 2004, Swedish Chalmers University of
Technology has been focusing on LCA of textile products used for furniture wrapping
(Subramanian et al. 2012), contributing at the adaptation of the LCA methodology
A. Zanelli et al.
(form-finding); (b) the material characterization through the mechanical testing and
continuous cross-validation of finite element modeling (FEM) tools; (c) physical
testing the new materials’ durability; (d) scaling up the investigation at the architectural concept, through FEM, life cycle assessment and thermal analysis; and (e)
finalize shop drawings and real-scale demonstrators.
5 Life Cycle Assessment for Textiles: Comparing
the Eco-Efficiency of Bio-based and Fossil-Based Fabrics
In the product and process development of more eco-friendly coated textiles, or a
woven or non-woven membrane for architectural application, a double verification of
their eco-efficiency (matter level) and environmental performances (building level)
is in parallel needed. The LC analysis phase, as appears in Table 2, can provide an
early stage evaluation of environmental impacts of a novel design concept and/or a
material choice assumption. At that stage, a comparative LCA allows, on one hand,
to check the environmental impacts generated during the production of alternative
materials, on the other hand, to deepen the eco-profile’s incidence of different technical solutions. A building level LCA investigation takes into account the efficiency of
the whole system, the efficacy of the foreseeing construction procedures, the structural and thermo-physic and acoustic performances, as well as the costs. In the road
map of the eco-efficiency of textiles for architecture, different stakeholders can be
associated to the life cycle steps, above all: the chemical industry and the producers of polymeric/bio-based/biodegradable yarns and fabrics, on one side, and the
supply companies of tailoring and assembly of the membrane components for the
architecture to the other.
The considered scientific sources on the environmental impact assessment of textile and finishing industries clearly show that the investigation of the environmental
impacts of the textile industry for clothing, furniture cladding and internal architecture has been started some decades ago, while the interest of the environmental
burden of coated membranes and films for architecture starts recently. In general,
literature surveys and other LCA studies on textiles show that most of the available
process data are still not fully readable and clearly outliers. At the material’s production level, TU Delft provided an up-to-date insight into the environmental burden
of cotton, polyester, nylon, acryl, and elastane-based textiles (Van der Velden et al.
2014). The Institute of Textiles at Hong Kong Polytechnic developed a way to quantify and rank the ecological sustainability of textile fibers, such as organic cotton,
flax, viscose, polyester, polypropylene, acrylic, and nylon (Smith and Barker 1995).
The eco-efficiency of textile wet processing in Finland was also studied, as a part of
drafting the Best Available Technique Reference documents for the European IPPC
Bureau (Bidoki and Wittlinger 2010). Since 2004, Swedish Chalmers University of
Technology has been focusing on LCA of textile products used for furniture wrapping
(Subramanian et al. 2012), contributing at the adaptation of the LCA methodology