Research on carbon-neutral calculation model of urban parks based on life-cycle assessment: a case study from Beijing, China

Abstract Urban parks are an essential component of the urban carbon sink system. Calculating a city’s overall carbon balance is significant by predicting when urban parks will achieve carbon-neutral. This research is based on the theory of life-cycle assessment and uses carbon emission factors to calculate the project’s carbon emissions. Using the established model, we calculated the urban park with a total area of 6.5 hectares in a certain city in Fangshan District, Beijing, China. The results indicate that the carbon emission intensity of the city park during the construction materials production phase is $5.97$${\mathrm{tCO}}_2\mathrm{e}/\mathrm{ha}$; during the construction phase, it is 18.947${\mathrm{tCO}}_2\mathrm{e}/\mathrm{ha}$; and during the operation phase, it is $5.97{\mathrm{tCO}}_2\mathrm{e}/\mathrm{ha}/\mathrm{Year}$. The total carbon reduction of the photovoltaic system in the first 25 years is $260.007{\mathrm{tCO}}_2/\mathrm{ha}$. Carbon sinks have a relatively minor impact on achieving carbon neutrality goals for urban parks. The case urban park will take 20–21 years to achieve the carbon-neutral target. We propose a future low-carbon strategy for urban parks through the study results. This will also contribute to developing uniform evaluation standards for carbon neutrality in urban parks.