Life Cycle Assessment of a building using Open-LCA software

Pamu, Yashwanth; Kumar, Vinish; Shakir, Mohammad Abdul; Ubbana, Hemanjali

doi:10.1016/j.matpr.2021.11.621

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Inventory analysis lists the raw materials and products that are inputs at various phases of the system. Impact assessment identifies the major indicators that are responsible for environmental effects and the last stage interprets the results obtained and evaluated [40][41][42].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of a Sustainable Prefabricated Housing System: A Cradle-to-Site Approach Based on a Small-Scale Experimental Model

et al. 2023

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India is in need of rapid construction technology with sustainability and environmentally friendly aspects. Prefabrication is a well-known technique that lowers carbon emissions and reduces environmental impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates these impacts of developed product/process. A new-age construction product was designed from a locally available agro-industrial waste called co-fired ash (CFA). Expanded polystyrene beads, fly ash, and crushed sand were also used in designing lightweight (LW) sustainable prefabricated panels. The effect of incorporating sustainable alternates into the mix designs is to be studied. An experimental small-scale model house was erected and LCA for the same was carried out with cradle-to-site approach. Based on the inventory, the environmental impact was assessed for four different indicators: acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), global warming potential (GWP), and ozone depletion potential (ODP) were evaluated. Carbon emissions of the respective CFA-based concrete and LW prefabricated mix were found to be 0.162 kgCO2e/kg and 0.268 kgCO2e/kg, respectively. The impact of energy required during production, transport, and indirect emissions were found to contribute 3%, 3%, and 94%, respectively, to the proposed prefabricated system. Comprehensively, the phase involving mixing of LW mix contributed majorly towards all the impact indicators followed by mould preparation and material transport. The presented data helps the academia to quantify and recognise the possibilities to enhance their products’ performance.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of a Sustainable Prefabricated Housing System: A Cradle-to-Site Approach Based on a Small-Scale Experimental Model

et al. 2023

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“…Life cycle assessment is a mature technique used to investigate the environmental impacts of a product or service at various stages of the product's life cycle, including raw material extraction, material production, consumption, end-use, and end-of-life (cradle-to-grave) (Li et al 2018;Pamu et al 2022;Tseng et al 2018;Zhang et al 2019). As a prevalent environmental management tool, life cycle assessment is typically used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product or service and its associated activities by investigating and quantifying resource & energy consumption, waste disposal, and treatment.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessment and Green Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A typical life cycle assessment approach is carried out in four steps (ISO 14040, 14044), illustrated in Fig. 9 (Pamu et al 2022;Qiao et al 2022). • Step-1 Goal definition and scope.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessment and Green Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green construction for low-carbon cities: a review

et al. 2023

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The construction industry is a major user of non-renewable energy and contributor to emission of greenhouse gases, thus requiring to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Indeed, construction activities account for 36% of global energy consumption and 39% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing carbon emissions requires adapted government policies, carbon emission analysis and calculation models, and sustainable materials. Here, we review green construction with focus on history, carbon emissions, policies, models, life cycle assessment, and sustainable materials such as biochar, bioplastic, agricultural waste, animal wool, fly ash and self-healing concrete. Analysis of carbon emissions over the building life cycle shows that the construction phase accounts for 20–50% of total carbon emissions. The average ratio of construction phase annual emissions to operation phase emissions is 0.62. We present national policy frameworks and technology roadmaps from the United States of America, Japan, China, and the European Union, highlighting plans to achieve carbon neutrality in the building sector.

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“…Overall, two and a half houses built using GaK would have the same footprint as one CSB house. The high impact of the CSB house is largely due to energy consumption and the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) during the moulding and firing processes of the bricks [31,32].…”

Section: Process Impact Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Bamboo Construction Inspired by Vernacular Techniques for Reducing Carbon Footprint: A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Rincón,

Montoya,

Archila

2023

Sustainability

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Whilst upcoming innovations on digital technology and renewable energy can have a significant impact on the reduction of operational carbon emissions in the construction industry, readily available fast-growing building materials like bamboo are already proving reductions in the embodied carbon of dwellings above 60% when compared to traditional brickwork in Colombia. This paper presents a like-by-like comparison of the environmental impact of a conventional clay brick house (CBH) and a bamboo house for social housing in Colombia, which was built using adapted vernacular technologies. The bamboo house uses bamboo species Guadua angustifolia Kunth as the main structural support for the light cement bamboo frame (LCBF) system, a.k.a. ‘cemented bahareque’, whilst the CBH combines clay bricks and steel for the load-bearing walls. Traditionally built Guadua angustifolia Kunth bahareque (GaKB) houses are a key part of the vernacular architecture in the ‘coffee cultural landscape of Colombia’ (CCLC) recognised by UNESCO. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to calculate the carbon footprint of the houses following four phases: (1) definition of objective and scope; (2) inventory analysis; (3) impact assessment; and (4) interpretation of results. The results show that the carbon footprint of the GaKB house accounts for about 40% of the CBH, i.e., the GaKB generates a carbon footprint of 107.17 CO2-eq/m2 whilst the CBH results in a carbon footprint of 298.44 kg CO2-eq/m2. Furthermore, from a carbon balance calculation, the carbon footprint of the GaKB house is further reduced to about 36% of the CSB house. LCA results for the built GaKB house demonstrate that vernacular housing projects that preserve cultural heritage can also be resilient and climate-neutral. This paper sets a precedent for the establishment of targeted government policies and industry practices that preserve the cultural heritage and vernacular technologies in the CCLC region and in other emergent economies worldwide whilst promoting future-proof and net-zero carbon construction.

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Life Cycle Assessment of a building using Open-LCA software

Cited by 24 publications

References 7 publications

Life Cycle Assessment of a Sustainable Prefabricated Housing System: A Cradle-to-Site Approach Based on a Small-Scale Experimental Model

Life Cycle Assessment of a Sustainable Prefabricated Housing System: A Cradle-to-Site Approach Based on a Small-Scale Experimental Model

Green construction for low-carbon cities: a review

Bamboo Construction Inspired by Vernacular Techniques for Reducing Carbon Footprint: A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

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