Parametric modeling of Life Cycle Assessment for district heating infrastructure: a comparison of pipe typologies in France

This study aims to put into perspective the environmental profile of subsystems composing a district heating infrastructure and to compare tube typologies that can be used to guide decision-making in eco-design processing. A parametric life-cycle assessment was conducted to determine the environmental impacts of each subsystem (pipes, heat carrier fluid, trenches, heat exchangers, valves, and water pumps) and sized on a study case in Marseille, France. Rigid piping systems and flexible ones were compared separately. The results show that the main source of impact is the pipes subsystem and that the choice of tube typology can cut by up to 80% for rigid and 77% for flexible systems of the total impact.