Reusing exterior wall framing systems: A cradle-to-cradle comparative life cycle assessment

Rios, Fernanda Cruz; Grau, David; Chong, Wai Kiong

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2019.05.040

Cited by 74 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Many authors favor the revised utilization of local resources in building projects, allowing the shortening of supply chains [31] and the possibility for closed loop (circular) supply relationships where materials are reused and remanufactured into new building components [32]. The term "cradle to cradle" has been used to describe the potential to reuse materials (extending their lifespan), and this concept has been explored by works such as that in [33], whose authors examine the recycling of steel wall framing components through disassembly. These authors, while acknowledging the potential of reuse, note that there is reluctance in the construction industry at large to adopt this philosophy [33].…”

Section: Relevant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The term "cradle to cradle" has been used to describe the potential to reuse materials (extending their lifespan), and this concept has been explored by works such as that in [33], whose authors examine the recycling of steel wall framing components through disassembly. These authors, while acknowledging the potential of reuse, note that there is reluctance in the construction industry at large to adopt this philosophy [33]. To this end, Tingley et al [34] advise that the creation of a database of suppliers and reused sections would be beneficial along with supporting technical guidance as to the correct reuse process for building materials.…”

Section: Relevant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distributed Manufacturing: A New Digital Framework for Sustainable Modular Construction

2021

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This paper explores the notion of the modular building construction site as an applied instance of redistributed manufacturing; in so doing, this research seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of building sites, treating them as small digitally connected subunits. In seeking to provide a whole lifecycle appreciation of a construction project, it is noted that the presence of a framework to provide guidance on the consideration of Internet of Things (IoT) data streams and connected construction objects is currently lacking. This paper proposes use of embedded IoT enabled sensing technology within all stages of a modular building lifecycle. An expanded four-phase model of intelligent assets use in construction is proposed along with an outline of the required data flows between the stages of a given building’s entire lifecycle that need to be facilitated for a BIM (Buildings Information Modelling) representation to begin to describe a building project as a sustainable asset within the circular economy. This paper also describes the use of concrete as a modular sensing structure; proposing that health monitoring of the material in situ along with the recoding of environmental factors over time could help to extend the longevity of such structures.

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Section: Relevant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Relevant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed Manufacturing: A New Digital Framework for Sustainable Modular Construction

2021

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“…The production, construction, use, and demolition of building materials significantly contributes to the worldwide usage of resources and waste [5][6][7][8]. Around 40% of all raw resources are used in construction and demolition worldwide [9][10][11]. Furthermore, construction operations require 32% of global energy use, and are responsible for one third of greenhouse gas emissions globally [5,10,[12][13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Environmental Sustainability and Energy Assessment of Timber Wall Construction: A Comprehensive Overview

et al. 2022

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This article presents a comprehensive overview of the life cycle environmental and energy assessment for all residential and commercial constructions made of timber walls, globally. The study was carried out based on a systematic literature analysis conducted on the Scopus database. A total of 66 research articles were relevant to timber wall design. Among these, the residential construction sector received more attention than the commercial sector, while the low-rise construction (1–2 stories) gained more attention than high-rise construction (>5 stories). Most of these studies were conducted in Canada, Europe, Malaysia, and the USA. In addition, the end-of-life phase received limited attention compared to upstream phases in most of the studies. We compared all environmental and energy-based life cycle impacts that used “m2” as the functional unit; this group represented 21 research articles. Global warming potential was understandably the most studied life cycle environmental impact category followed by acidification, eutrophication, embodied energy, photochemical oxidation, and abiotic depletion. In terms of global warming impact, the external walls of low-rise buildings emit 18 to 702 kg CO2 kg eq./m2, while the internal walls of the same emit 11 kg CO2 kg eq./m2. In turn, the walls of high-rise buildings carry 114.3 to 227.3 kg CO2 kg eq./m2 in terms of global warming impact. The review highlights variations in timber wall designs and the environmental impact of these variations, together with different system boundaries and varying building lifetimes, as covered in various articles. Finally, a few recommendations have been offered at the end of the article for future researchers of this domain.

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“…At the same time, regional characteristics should be considered in the selection of building materials to avoid transferring the environmental impact of the construction phase to the construction operation phase. Some scholars have compared building materials [26,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65], and some scholars have considered the influence of the external environment when evaluating building materials [13,20,21,66] These studies can provide a reference for building designers to choose building materials.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Impact Assessment of Campus Buildings Based on a Life Cycle Assessment–Life Cycle Cost Integrated Model

et al. 2019

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The development of higher education has led to an increasing demand for campus buildings. To promote the sustainable development of campus buildings, this paper combines social willingness-to-pay (WTP) with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on the characteristics of Chinese campus buildings to establish a life cycle assessment–life cycle cost (LCA–LCC) integrated model. Based on this model, this paper analyses the teaching building at a university in North China. The results show that the environmental impacts and economic costs are largest in the operation phase of the life cycle, mainly because of the use of electric energy. The environmental impacts and economic costs during the construction phase mainly come from the building material production process (BMPP); in this process, steel is the main source. Throughout the life cycle, abiotic depletion-fossil fuel potential (ADP fossil) and global warming potential (GWP) are the most prominent indexes. Further analysis shows that these two indexes should be the emphases of similar building assessments in the near future. Finally, this study offers suggestions for the proposed buildings and existing buildings based on the prominent problems found in the case study, with the aim to provide reference for the design, construction, and operation management of similar buildings.

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Reusing exterior wall framing systems: A cradle-to-cradle comparative life cycle assessment

Cited by 74 publications

References 36 publications

Distributed Manufacturing: A New Digital Framework for Sustainable Modular Construction

Distributed Manufacturing: A New Digital Framework for Sustainable Modular Construction

Life Cycle Environmental Sustainability and Energy Assessment of Timber Wall Construction: A Comprehensive Overview

The Impact Assessment of Campus Buildings Based on a Life Cycle Assessment–Life Cycle Cost Integrated Model

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