In the early stages of urban and district development, where visions are formulated and consensus on plans is sought, we developed an LCA tool, "SCATUC (provisional name)", to estimate the whole life carbon of buildings, infrastructure, and transportation. This tool enables sustainable urban development guided by GHG emission data.
For buildings, whole life carbon is derived based on J-CAT's calculation logic. J-CAT is an official building LCA tool in Japan. By inputting building functions, scale, layout, and sustainability aspects (e.g., building use, main structure, building shape, energy-saving performance) considered in the initial stages, the tool roughly estimates material quantities for J-CAT input and executes J-CAT calculations. Therefore, the key point of this tool's development is the logic for estimating material quantities from the initial planning items of urban development.
For infrastructure, material manufacturing and construction phases are evaluated based on the "Guidelines for Calculating Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Port Construction Works" by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
For transportation, the operational phase is evaluated based on the four-step estimation method.
Considering the system boundary, the system boundary was defined to encompass the scope manageable by developers, local governments, and citizens in urban and district development. For example, transportation only covers the operational phase, and GHG emissions from the manufacturing and disposal phases of mobility are not considered.
For the output, GHG emissions are displayed as layered information on map data using ArcGIS, allowing for intuitive comparison of results.
This report introduces a case study of an actual project located in the Tokyo waterfront area, where this tool is being utilized to manage urban GHG emissions throughout its progression.