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The technical and environmental performance of a ground source heat pump system (GSHP) is examined using the method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The present LCA study quantifies the environmental impacts of the installation of a ground heat exchanger based system of the Town Hall of Pylaia in Thessaloniki, Greece. The study examines the manufacturing, transportation as well as the operation stages of the GSHP system and records energy consumption as well as air emissions to the environment. The system boundary includes the production of raw materials such as copper, plastic, steel, aluminium, rubber, the transportation of heat pumps and pipes, drilling, as well as the operation of the GSHP system, and finally the assembly process. The functional unit chosen is 1 kW of installed power. The environmental impacts categories considered in the study are these of greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication, carcinogenesis, winter smog, heavy metals. Analysis of the system indicates that 73% and 14.54% of the assessment are attributed to the categories of acidification and greenhouse effect respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative strategies are needed to deal with the waste we produce today to prevent it from causing problems for future generations. As waste management issues gain public awareness, concern has risen about the appropriateness of various disposal methods. The objective of this work is the environmental assessment of different municipal solid waste treatment strategies for the city of Thessaloniki, within the methodological frameworks of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Integrated Solid Waste Management strategy, taking into account social, environmental and economic effects. The waste management methods in this study include: landfill of all waste fractions, recycling of paper, and anaerobic digestion of food waste in a biological treatment plant. The waste fractions considered are the total amount of food, paper and plastic waste produced in Thessaloniki during the period of one year. Environmental impacts are decreased when the solid waste management methods include some kind of recovery from waste. The results of this work indicate that paper recycling and anaerobic digestion of food waste is preferable compared to landfilling. It is also shown that landfilling of food waste utilizing the biocells method is more attractive than anaerobic digestion in a separate plant; nevertheless, energy recovery is about 45% lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]