Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Thermal Insulation Tiles for Flat Roofs

Abstract

Envelope insulation and protection is an important technical solution to reduce energy consumption, exterior damage, and environmental impacts in buildings. Thermal insulation tiles are used simultaneously as thermal insulation of the building envelope and protection material of under layers in flat roofs systems. The purpose of this research is to assess the environmental impacts of the life cycle of thermal insulation tiles for flat roofs. This research presents the up-to-date “cradle to gate” environmental performance of thermal insulation tiles for the environmental categories and life-cycle stages defined in European standards on environmental evaluation of building. The results presented in this research were based on site-specific data from a Portuguese factory and resulted from a consistent methodology that is here fully described, including the raw materials extraction and production, and the modelling of energy and transport processes at the production stage of thermal insulation tiles. These results reflect the weight of the raw-materials within the production process of thermal insulation tiles in all environmental categories and show that some life cycle stages, such as transportation of raw materials (A2) and packaging and packaging waste (A3.1 and A3.3, respectively), may not be discarded in a cradle to gate study of a construction material because they can make a significant contribution to some environmental categories. Moreover, complementary results regarding the economic, environmental, and energy performance Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of flat roofs solutions incorporating the thermal insulation tiles studied showed that the influence of the economic costs on the total aggregated costs of these solutions is much higher than that of the environmental costs due to the lower environmental costs of the thermal insulation tiles at the product stage (A1–A3). These costs influenced the corresponding percentage of the environmental costs (between 14% and 18%) and the percentage of the economic costs (between 70% and 75%) in the total aggregated (environmental, economic, and energy) net present value (NPV). Finally, a complementary “cradle to cradle” environmental LCA discussion is presented including the following additional life cycle stages: maintenance and replacement (B2–B4), operational energy use (B6), and end-of-life stage and benefits and loads beyond the system boundary (C1–C4 and D).

Applying the Life Cycle Assessment Approach to a Case Study with the Environmental Impacts Assessment of the Insulation Materials

“…The EPS came in the second rank by 1.24 mt, then the rock wool by 0.55 mt, and finally, the glass wool by 0.33 mt [8]. Although the insulation materials made of polystyrene foam have good thermal insulation qualities [45], [46], their manufacture necessitates considerable energy consumption and the use of petroleum-based raw materials, which has a more significant negative impact on the environment [1], [31]. The two polystyrene-based compounds have adverse effects because of this.…”

“…Using insulation materials in the construction industry is crucial to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving the thermal performance inside the buildings. However, the production and installation of insulation materials can also have a significant harmful emission [1]- [3]. Several factors contribute to the Revised:1 August, 2023, Accepted:19 September , 2023 environmental consequence of the insulation materials industry, including raw material extraction, production, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal.…”

Environmental Impact Assessment of Composition Wall Materials Alternatives Ibny Baitak as a Case Study

“…Gomes et al [20] have examined the environmental impact of the tiles' complete life cycle, including raw material extraction, production, use, and disposal, considering the LCA of insulation materials. They contrast two expanded polystyrene (EPS) varieties and XPS insulating tiles.…”

Building Life-Cycle Analysis with the GREET Building Module: Methodology, Data, and Case Studies

“…In addition to LCA of general EPS resin and insulation, researchers from Europe also conducted LCA for different specific EPS products and applications, such as EPS granulates, lightweight concrete with regranulated EPS and high-density EPS board (Gomes et al, 2019 and, EPS for flat roofs (Gomes et al, 2019 and, EPS as part of an external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) for retrofitting (Silvestre et al, 2019), EPS insulation with alternative exterior wall designs (Monteiro & Freire, 2012), and EPS-based ETICS with different rendering types (Michałowski et al, 2020).…”