LCA of the NZEB El Salvador building, a model to estimate the carbon footprint in a tropical country

Rodríguez, Lizeth Rodríguez; Martinez, Luis A.; Panameño, Ronald; Paris, Oriol; Alcojor, Adrián Muros; Rodríguez, R. García; Javier, Ricardo; González, Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137137

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…(2) the assessment of the potential consequences of these impacts; and (3) the evaluation of the options available to reduce the impacts. The LCA method is widely used in the study of the carbon footprint of buildings due to its holistic approach and the consideration of many aspects of the building (Table 1) [31][32][33]. [34].…”

Section: Building Carbon Footprint Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Building Information Modeling Integrated Approach: Carbon Footprint of Masonry and Timber-Frame Constructions in Single-Family Houses

Mazur,

Olenchuk

2023

Sustainability

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The analysis of the carbon footprint of buildings is a key tool for assessing the impact of different buildings on climate change. Several frameworks and methodologies are available to calculate the footprint of buildings, including standards and norms, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and dedicated software tools. The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) programme for these calculations is both scientifically justified and very practical. This scientific publication focuses on the application of a BIM-based research methodology to analyse the carbon footprint of a single-family house. The research process included the following steps: (i) the design of a single-family house with masonry construction using Archicad 26, BIM programme, (ii) simulation of the building energy performance using the EcoDesigner Star plug-in, (iii) LCA using the plug-in for Archicad, (iv) preparation of a second model with timber-frame construction for comparison, and (v) comparative analysis of the single-family house models with masonry construction (building A) and timber-frame (building B). Analysis of the results highlights significant differences in CO2e emissions between buildings and the varying impact of individual elements on the total CO2e emissions of the buildings studied. Building A had significantly higher net emissions, amounting to 43,226.94 kg CO2e, in stark contrast to Building B’s significantly lower 13,522.13 kg CO2e. This discrepancy was also mirrored in the emission intensity, with Building A emitting at a rate of 281.06 kg CO2e/m2 compared to Building B’s 96.72 kg CO2e/m2. These findings are relevant for future work on sustainable building design and construction aiming to minimise negative environmental impacts. The goal of minimising the cumulative carbon footprint of buildings is critical to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and combating climate change.

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Section: Building Carbon Footprint Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Building Information Modeling Integrated Approach: Carbon Footprint of Masonry and Timber-Frame Constructions in Single-Family Houses

Mazur,

Olenchuk

2023

Sustainability

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“…The LCA analysis method is a comprehensive research method that considers all stages of a building's life cycle: from raw material acquisition, through production, construction, and use, to demolition and recycling [53,54]. The LCA method is widely used in studies of buildings' carbon footprint due to its holistic approach and consideration of many aspects [55][56][57].…”

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confidence: 99%

External Wall Systems in Passive House Standard: Material, Thermal and Environmental LCA Analysis

Mazur,

Szlachetka,

Jeleniewicz

et al. 2024

Buildings

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The construction sector, a significant consumer of energy, possesses the potential to realize substantial environmental and economic advantages through the adoption of innovative technologies and design approaches. Notably, the Passive House standard, exemplified by energy-efficient single-family homes, emerges as a prominent solution. This study analyzes five external wall systems across multiple stages: (i) a literature review and examination of external wall techniques within the passive standard, utilizing the Passive House Database; (ii) a material and technological assessment of three wood-based and two masonry constructions; (iii) an in-depth thermal performance analysis of selected external partitions; and (iv) a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the external wall systems. Our findings indicate that among the single-family homes built to the passive standard, 50.94% utilized timber constructions, while 34.21% employed masonry. Thermal analysis revealed that the masonry wall, EW-M-01, exhibited superior thermal efficiency with a heat transfer coefficient (U-value) of 0.0889 W/m2K. Meanwhile, the wooden wall, EW-T-01, led its category with a U-value of 0.1000 W/m2K. The LCA highlighted that the wooden wall EW-T-02 presented the lowest integrated non-renewable energy demand (PENTR) at 425.70 MJ/kg and the most favorable Global Warming Potential (GWP), with a reduction of 55.51 kg CO2e. Conversely, the masonry wall EW-M-01 recorded the highest energy demand and CO2e emissions, at 780.96 MJ/kg and 90.59 kg CO2e, respectively. Water consumption was lowest for the EW-T-02 wooden wall (0.08 m3) and highest for the EW-M-02 masonry wall (0.19 m3). Conclusively, our analysis of passive house external walls demonstrates that wood-based systems offer superior performance in terms of materials, thermal efficiency, and LCA indicators, positioning them as the preferred option for sustainable passive construction.

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Life cycle assessment in net zero energy building scenarios in a tropical country

Rodríguez,

Martínez,

Ramos

et al. 2024

Discov Civ Eng

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The recent IPCC 2023 report reiterates that humans are responsible for global warming over the past 200 years, causing a rise in temperature of 1.1 °C above pre-industrial levels, urging the implementation of mitigation options, especially in the building energy sector. One strong mitigation strategy is designing and building net zero energy buildings (NZEB), although their implementation faces challenges such as opposition to change, especially in tropical countries with traditional and conservative design and construction practices. This paper uses data from a pilot NZEB Laboratory building at UCA, El Salvador, and details its results by comparing different construction system scenarios. The present work presents the results of the Life-cycle assessment (LCA) in three popular construction systems in El Salvador, comparing them with the baseline of its current operation, through 3 iterative calculation tools: structural, thermal and carbon footprint estimation, managing to visualize important findings on how vernacular systems could meet the NZEB performance with added insulation in the structural walls. In addition, a triple-axis sustainability analysis (environmental, economic and social) is conducted using the weighted criteria matrix, which provides nuanced results, such as the proportional share of embodied carbon between the proposals, there is not much difference between the results of the proposed systems, but compared to the baseline, the proposals represent a significant increase of more than 50%. Our results show that in this context, the scalability of NZEB buildings is feasible for different construction systems, paving the way for a progressive and incremental.

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LCA of the NZEB El Salvador building, a model to estimate the carbon footprint in a tropical country

Cited by 9 publications

References 13 publications

Life Cycle Assessment and Building Information Modeling Integrated Approach: Carbon Footprint of Masonry and Timber-Frame Constructions in Single-Family Houses

Life Cycle Assessment and Building Information Modeling Integrated Approach: Carbon Footprint of Masonry and Timber-Frame Constructions in Single-Family Houses

External Wall Systems in Passive House Standard: Material, Thermal and Environmental LCA Analysis

Life cycle assessment in net zero energy building scenarios in a tropical country

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