Bio-based building material solutions for environmental benefits over conventional construction products – Life cycle assessment of regenerative design strategies (1/2)

Mouton, Lise; Allacker, Karen; Röck, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112767

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Similar differences are observed for the other timber cases and their neighbouring cases in the graph. Timber construction generally has a lower CC impact than solid construction, but a higher impact in the categories particulate matter and land use [66], which is also observed here. Note however that this not only caused by the construction type, but also the geometry and therefore the element quantities per building.…”

Section: Contribution Of Impact Indicators To the Aggregated Environm...supporting

confidence: 82%

“…bio-based) building materials. Innovative materials and construction practices could provide lower environmental impacts [66,[77][78][79][80] and would enable definition of more ambitious benchmarks. Secondly, the bottom-up benchmarks should be complemented by top-down benchmarks to reveal their level of ambition with respect to global or national goals.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life cycle environmental benchmarks for Flemish dwellings

Mouton,

Ramon,

Trigaux

et al. 2024

Environ. Res.: Infrastruct. Sustain.

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To reduce the environmental effects caused by buildings, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly applied. Recently, national building regulations have implemented LCA requirements to support building life cycle impact reduction. A key element in these regulations are environmental benchmarks which allow designers to compare their buildings with reference values. This study develops bottom-up life cycle environmental benchmarks that represent conventional construction in Flanders, Belgium. The study investigates the potential of using a database of building energy performance calculations. Specifically, this study considers 39 residential buildings identified as representative of the Flemish Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) database of 2015-2016, applying modifications to establish scenarios that are still relevant in 2025. The buildings are assessed with the Belgian LCA tool TOTEM to calculate an aggregated score based on the European Product Environmental footprint (PEF) weighting approach and including 12 main impact categories. In addition to the aggregated score, the Climate Change (CC) indicator is analysed individually.In view of the benchmarks, variations were applied to the 39 buildings in terms of heating system and materialisation. The variation in heating system included changing gas boilers to electric heat pumps to comply with upcoming (2025) Flemish building regulations. The variations in materials included three sets of conventional Flemish building element compositions that were applied to generate a wider spread of impact results as a basis for benchmarks. Benchmark values were derived through a statistical analysis of the 117 variants: a best-practice value (10th percentile), reference value (median) and limit value (90th percentile). For the environmental score, the benchmark values are 86, 107 and 141 millipoints per square meter of gross heated floor area (mPt/m²GHFA), respectively; for CC, the benchmark values are 844, 1015 and 1284 kg CO2-eq/m²GHFA. Finally, the study discusses the representativeness, implications and limitations of the final benchmarks and benchmark approach.

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Section: Contribution Of Impact Indicators To the Aggregated Environm...supporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle environmental benchmarks for Flemish dwellings

Mouton,

Ramon,

Trigaux

et al. 2024

Environ. Res.: Infrastruct. Sustain.

Self Cite

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“…Numerous studies have investigated the life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint of timber in contrast to conventional construction materials like concrete, such as [38][39][40][41][42]. Currently, there is a noticeable absence of studies in the existing literature that specifically examine the carbon footprint, handprint, and frame structure costs of timber and concrete apartment buildings within the context of Finland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Carbon Emissions and Cost of Frame Structures for Wooden and Concrete Apartment Buildings: Case Study from Finland

Laitinen,

Ilgın,

Karjalainen

et al. 2024

Buildings

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To date, the existing literature lacks any studies that compare timber and concrete apartment buildings in the Finnish context regarding their carbon footprint, handprint, and the cost of frame structures. This study rigorously analyzes and calculates the carbon footprint, carbon handprint, and costs associated with various structural solutions in a proposed multi-story building located in Laajasalo, Helsinki, Finland. While the primary focus is on wooden frame construction, exploring both its challenges and opportunities, this study also includes a comparative assessment with concrete frame construction. In Finland, regulations require a sprinkler fire extinguishing system to be installed inside. Also, weather protection is typically added to the top of building in connection with the construction of wooden apartment buildings. When the costs of a sprinkler system and weather protection are taken into account, the cost of achieving positive climate effects through a concrete frame is 290% higher than that of a solid wood frame. Our findings will provide a robust basis for assessing the sustainability and feasibility of construction methods, offering valuable insights into environmental and economic considerations for decision-makers in Finland and beyond as regulations evolve and awareness of climate impacts grows.

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“…Other promising bio-based material options regarding material replacements to reduce environmental emissions are straw and hemp-based building elements, where the strawbased materials show the most favorable outcome for reducing the emissions [30,31]. Concerning material durability and life span, the use of circular design options can be useful for getting a better result from the long-term environmental perspective [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík

et al. 2023

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The built environment sector causes significant climate change impacts, which indicates an opportunity for the sector to be of great importance in reducing its global impact. The main strategy has focused on urban density and transport as well as studying the emissions caused by buildings with life-cycle assessments (LCAs). However, a holistic approach is often missing, where life-cycle environmental impacts are assessed, and goals are considered at the planning stage. This study proposes LCA on a neighborhood scale for a holistic approach and to identify how LCA can be used to reduce impacts when designing and for decision-making at the planning stage. The focus is on the pre-use phase because that phase has been proven to cause a significant spike in carbon emissions when considering the near future and is crucial in reaching climate goals. The study case is a new neighborhood plan in Reykjavík, Iceland. The assessment focuses on the climate change impact of building a new neighborhood. The study identifies materials as a key factor. It demonstrates how the total emissions of the neighborhood are reduced when more environmentally friendly materials are replaced by traditional ones. It reduces GHG emissions by up to 40% in total.

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Bio-based building material solutions for environmental benefits over conventional construction products – Life cycle assessment of regenerative design strategies (1/2)

Cited by 24 publications

References 34 publications

Life cycle environmental benchmarks for Flemish dwellings

Life cycle environmental benchmarks for Flemish dwellings

Low-Carbon Emissions and Cost of Frame Structures for Wooden and Concrete Apartment Buildings: Case Study from Finland

Neighborhood-Level LCA and Hotspot Analysis of Embodied Emissions of a New Urban Area in Reykjavík

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