New exergy criterion in the multi-criteria context: A life cycle assessment of two plaster products

This paper deals with the exergy analysis (EXA) of plaster materials and ranks the environmental
burdens due to the production of such materials. The calculation of the exergy loss during the whole examined
process represents a relevant index, looking at the technology improvement of a process, as a
suitable tool in aid of the trade-off of alternative materials in the decision making. A life cycle inventory is
performed for building plaster products and the matrix method is used. The authors extend the application
of EXA to life cycle assessment, conducting an exergetic life cycle assessment, and propose an exergetic
index in the framework of multi-criteria decision making. An exergy balance, accounting for energy and
material flows, is applied to calculate the exergy losses and efficiencies for each stage of the examined
processes: resources extraction, materials processing, transport and product manufacturing. Furthermore,
exergy values are calculated for the pollutants and wastes.