scholarly journals Sustainable Building Materials and Life Cycle Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2012
Author(s):  
Adriana Estokova ◽  
Dagmar Samesova
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Sustainable Building ◽  
Sustainability Principles ◽  
Sustainable Building Materials

Today, sustainability principles should be applied to all industries, including the building sector, which ranks among the sectors with the most negative environmental impacts [...]

The Application of the Life-Cycle Assessment in the Building Sector: An Italian Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108
Author(s):  
Maurizio Cellura ◽  
Francesco Guarino ◽  
Sonia Longo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment Methodology ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

The building sector is one of the most relevant in terms of generation of wealth and occupation, but it is also responsible for significant consumption of natural resources and the generation of environmental impacts, mainly greenhouse gas emissions. In order to improve the eco profile of buildings during their life-cycle, the reduction of the use of resources and the minimization of environmental impacts have become, in the last years, some of the main objectives to achieve in the design of sustainable buildings. The application of the life-cycle thinking approach, looking at the whole life cycle of buildings, is of paramount importance for a real decarbonization and reduction of the environmental impacts of the building sector. This paper presents an application of the life-cycle assessment methodology for assessing the energy and environmental life-cycle impacts of a single-family house located in the Mediterranean area in order to identify the building components and life-cycle steps that are responsible of the higher burdens. The assessment showed that the largest impacts are located in the use stage; energy for heating is significant but not dominant, while the contribution of electricity utilized for households and other equipment resulted very relevant. High environmental impacts are also due to manufacture and transport of building materials and components.

scholarly journals Comparative Study on Life-Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint of Hybrid, Concrete and Timber Apartment Buildings in Finland

2022 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 774
Author(s):  
Roni Rinne ◽  
Hüseyin Emre Ilgın ◽  
Markku Karjalainen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Building Life Cycle

To date, in the literature, there has been no study on the comparison of hybrid (timber and concrete) buildings with counterparts made of timber and concrete as the most common construction materials, in terms of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the carbon footprint. This paper examines the environmental impacts of a five-story hybrid apartment building compared to timber and reinforced concrete counterparts in whole-building life-cycle assessment using the software tool, One Click LCA, for the estimation of environmental impacts from building materials of assemblies, construction, and building end-of-life treatment of 50 years in Finland. Following EN 15978, stages of product and construction (A1–A5), use (B1–B6), end-of-life (C1–C4), and beyond the building life cycle (D) were assessed. The main findings highlighted are as following: (1) for A1–A3, the timber apartment had the smallest carbon footprint (28% less than the hybrid apartment); (2) in A4, the timber apartment had a much smaller carbon footprint (55% less than the hybrid apartment), and the hybrid apartment had a smaller carbon footprint (19%) than the concrete apartment; (3) for B1–B5, the carbon footprint of the timber apartment was larger (>20%); (4) in C1–C4, the carbon footprint of the concrete apartment had the lowest emissions (35,061 kg CO2-e), and the timber apartment had the highest (44,627 kg CO2-e), but in D, timber became the most advantageous material; (5) the share of life-cycle emissions from building services was very significant. Considering the environmental performance of hybrid construction as well as its other advantages over timber, wood-based hybrid solutions can lead to more rational use of wood, encouraging the development of more efficient buildings. In the long run, this will result in a higher proportion of wood in buildings, which will be beneficial for living conditions, the environment, and the society in general.

scholarly journals Mass Timber Building Life Cycle Assessment Methodology for the U.S. Regional Case Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 14034
Author(s):  
Hongmei Gu ◽  
Shaobo Liang ◽  
Francesca Pierobon ◽  
Maureen Puettmann ◽  
Indroneil Ganguly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Planning Stage ◽  
Building Life Cycle ◽  
Mass Timber

The building industry currently consumes over a third of energy produced and emits 39% of greenhouse gases globally produced by human activities. The manufacturing of building materials and the construction of buildings make up 11% of those emissions within the sector. Whole-building life-cycle assessment is a holistic and scientific tool to assess multiple environmental impacts with internationally accepted inventory databases. A comparison of the building life-cycle assessment results would help to select materials and designs to reduce total environmental impacts at the early planning stage for architects and developers, and to revise the building code to improve environmental performance. The Nature Conservancy convened a group of researchers and policymakers from governments and non-profit organizations with expertise across wood product life-cycle assessment, forest carbon, and forest products market analysis to address emissions and energy consumption associated with mass timber building solutions. The study disclosed a series of detailed, comparative life-cycle assessments of pairs of buildings using both mass timber and conventional materials. The methodologies used in this study are clearly laid out in this paper for transparency and accountability. A plethora of data exists on the favorable environmental performance of wood as a building material and energy source, and many opportunities appear for research to improve on current practices.

Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida de materiais cimentícios utilizados no Brasil: estudo para o bloco de concreto e diferentes argamassas

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Rosse Caldas ◽  
Romildo Dias Toledo Filho
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Concrete Block ◽  
Cementitious Materials ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Summary Table ◽  
Iso 14040 ◽  
European Standards ◽  
Materials Used

É comum nos estudos de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) aplicados ao setor da construção civil a falta de dados condizentes com a realidade do Brasil. Sabendo que existem diferentes materiais cimentícios, entre eles argamassas, blocos de vedação e blocos estruturais, faz se necessário ter um banco de dados mais apropriado às misturas utilizadas no país, que facilite a quantificação de seus impactos ambientais. Neste contexto, esta pesquisa apresentou os impactos ambientais, segundo o método CML-IA baseline, dos principais materiais cimentícios utilizados no Brasil, entre eles: argamassas simples para chapisco, argamassas mistas para assentamento e revestimento, graute para alvenaria estrutural e blocos de concreto. Para isto, foram utilizadas as normas NBR ISO 14040:2009 e 14044:2009 em conjunto com as normas europeias EN 15978:2011 and EN 15804:2012. O inventário foi realizado a partir de dados coletados no SINAPI e estudos voltados para a realidade brasileira em conjunto com o banco de dados do Ecoinvent 3. Ao final é apresentado o perfil ambiental dos materiais cimentícios avaliados e uma tabela resumo que mostra os impactos ambientais desses materiais. As argamassas avaliadas foram comparadas com uma argamassa do banco de dados do Ecoinvent, resultando em valores discrepantes. O estudo traz uma importante contribuição para a difusão da ACV no setor da construção civil brasileira, especificamente para o setor de cimento e seus produtos. Os resultados de AICV apresentados aqui poderão ser utilizados em outros estudos de ACV, facilitando o processo e ao mesmo tempo estarem alinhados com a realidade internacional, que também faz uso da normativa europeia utilizada nesta pesquisa.  Palavras-chave: Avaliação do Ciclo de Vido (ACV). Materiais cimentícios. Argamassas. Graute. Bloco de concreto.ResumenEn los estudios de Análisis de Ciclo De Vida (ACV) aplicados al sector de la construcción civil, usualmente se percibe la falta de datos que se ajusten con la realidad de Brasil. Conociendo la existencia de varios materiales cementantes como son morteros, bloques de cierre, bloques estructurales, existe la necesidad de contar con un banco de datos más apropiado con los diseños de mezclas utilizados en el país, que facilite cuantificar sus impactos ambientales. En este contexto la presente investigación evalúa impactos ambientales según el método de CML-IA baseline, de los principales materiales cementantes utilizados en Brasil, entre ellos: morteros simples para resano, morteros mixtos de asentamiento y revestimiento, grout para albañilería estructural y bloques de hormigón. Para este fin fueron utilizadas las normas brasileiras NBR ISO 14040:2009 y 14044:2009 en conjunto con las normas europeas EN 15978:2011 y EN 15804:2012. El inventario fue realizado a partir de datos colectados por el SINAPI y estudios volcados para la realidad brasileira conjuntamente con el banco de datos Ecoinvent 3. Al final se presentan perfiles ambientales de los materiales cementantes evaluados y una tabla resumiendo los impactos ambientales de estos materiales. Fueron comparados los morteros evaluados con los morteros del banco de datos Ecoinvent, resultando en valores discrepantes. El presente estudio tuvo una importante contribución en la difusión de ACV en el sector de la construcción Civil Brasileira, especialmente para el sector de la industria del cemento y sus productos, los resultados de AICV presentado aquí podrán ser utilizados en otros estudios de ACV, facilitando el proceso y de igual forma alineados con el paradigma internacional, que igualmente utilizan las normas europeas, que fueron referencia para evaluar los materiales en este estudio.  Palabras clave: Analysis do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Materiales cementantes. Morteiros. Grout. Bloque de hormigón.AbstractIt is common in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies applied to the building sector the absence of reliable data for the Brazilian context. In Brazil, there are different cementitious materials, such as mortars, partition and structural blocks. Moreover, it is necessary to have a more appropriate database to the mixtures used in the country, which it will facilitates the quantification of its environmental impacts. In this context, this research presented the environmental impacts, according to the CML-IA baseline method, of the main cementitious materials used in Brazil, among them: simple mortars for roughcast, mixed mortars for laying and covering, grout and concrete blocks for structural masonry. The standards NBR ISO 14040: 2009 and 14044: 2009 were used together with the European standards EN 15978: 2011 and EN 15804: 2012. The inventory was carried out from data collected in SINAPI and studies developed for the Brazilian reality combining with the Ecoinvent 3 database. In the end, the environmental profile of the evaluated cementitious materials and a summary table were presented. The evaluated mortars were compared with a mortar from the Ecoinvent database, which resulted in discrepant values. This study makes an important contribution to the diffusion of LCA in the Brazilian building sector, specifically for the cement sector and its products. The LCIA results presented here may be used in other LCA studies. This approach will facilitate the process and at the same time is aligned with the international context, which also uses the European normative used in this research.  Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment. Cementitious materials. Mortars. Grout. Concrete block.

Life cycle assessment of natural building materials: the role of carbonation, mixture components and transport in the environmental impacts of hempcrete blocks

2017 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 1051-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Arrigoni ◽  
Renato Pelosato ◽  
Paco Melià ◽  
Gianluca Ruggieri ◽  
Sergio Sabbadini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Natural Building

scholarly journals Application of Plastic Wastes in Construction Materials: A Review Using the Concept of Life-Cycle Assessment in the Context of Recent Research for Future Perspectives

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3549
Author(s):  
Tulane Rodrigues da Silva ◽  
Afonso Rangel Garcez de Azevedo ◽  
Daiane Cecchin ◽  
Markssuel Teixeira Marvila ◽  
Mugahed Amran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Plastic Wastes ◽  
Solid Waste Generation ◽  
Alternative Processes

The urbanization process contributes to the growth of solid waste generation and causes an increase in environmental impacts and failures in the management of solid waste. The number of dumps is a concern due to the limited implementation and safe disposal of this waste. The interest in sustainable techniques has been growing in relation to waste management, which is largely absorbed by the civil construction sector. This work aimed to review plastic waste, especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET), that can be incorporated with construction materials, such as concrete, mortars, asphalt mixtures, and paving. The use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) is related, as a tool that allows the sustainability of products and processes to be enhanced in the long term. After analyzing the recent literature, it was identified that studies related to plastic wastes in construction materials concentrate sustainability around the alternative destination of waste. Since the plastic waste from different production chains are obtained, it was possible to affirm the need for a broader assessment, such as the LCA, providing greater quantification of data making the alternative processes and products more sustainable. The study contributes to enhance sustainability in alternative building materials through LCA.

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