Life cycle assessment of construction materials: the influence of assumptions in end-of-life modelling

To date, in the literature, there has been no study on the comparison of hybrid (timber and concrete) buildings with counterparts made of timber and concrete as the most common construction materials, in terms of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the carbon footprint. This paper examines the environmental impacts of a five-story hybrid apartment building compared to timber and reinforced concrete counterparts in whole-building life-cycle assessment using the software tool, One Click LCA, for the estimation of environmental impacts from building materials of assemblies, construction, and building end-of-life treatment of 50 years in Finland. Following EN 15978, stages of product and construction (A1–A5), use (B1–B6), end-of-life (C1–C4), and beyond the building life cycle (D) were assessed. The main findings highlighted are as following: (1) for A1–A3, the timber apartment had the smallest carbon footprint (28% less than the hybrid apartment); (2) in A4, the timber apartment had a much smaller carbon footprint (55% less than the hybrid apartment), and the hybrid apartment had a smaller carbon footprint (19%) than the concrete apartment; (3) for B1–B5, the carbon footprint of the timber apartment was larger (>20%); (4) in C1–C4, the carbon footprint of the concrete apartment had the lowest emissions (35,061 kg CO2-e), and the timber apartment had the highest (44,627 kg CO2-e), but in D, timber became the most advantageous material; (5) the share of life-cycle emissions from building services was very significant. Considering the environmental performance of hybrid construction as well as its other advantages over timber, wood-based hybrid solutions can lead to more rational use of wood, encouraging the development of more efficient buildings. In the long run, this will result in a higher proportion of wood in buildings, which will be beneficial for living conditions, the environment, and the society in general.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Two Alternative End-of-life Scenarios for Leather Safety Shoes

10.24264/icams-2018.xi.6 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Alexandra LUCA ◽

David SANCHEZ DOMENE ◽

Francisca ARAN AIS

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life

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Life cycle assessment of plastic waste end-of-life for India and Indonesia

Resources Conservation and Recycling ◽

10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105774 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 174 ◽

pp. 105774

Author(s):

Edward Ren Kai Neo ◽

Gibson Chin Yuan Soo ◽

Daren Zong Loong Tan ◽

Karina Cady ◽

Kai Ting Tong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Plastic Waste

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Application of Plastic Wastes in Construction Materials: A Review Using the Concept of Life-Cycle Assessment in the Context of Recent Research for Future Perspectives

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14133549 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (13) ◽

pp. 3549

Author(s):

Tulane Rodrigues da Silva ◽

Afonso Rangel Garcez de Azevedo ◽

Daiane Cecchin ◽

Markssuel Teixeira Marvila ◽

Mugahed Amran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Solid Waste ◽

Building Materials ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Plastic Wastes ◽

Solid Waste Generation ◽

Alternative Processes

The urbanization process contributes to the growth of solid waste generation and causes an increase in environmental impacts and failures in the management of solid waste. The number of dumps is a concern due to the limited implementation and safe disposal of this waste. The interest in sustainable techniques has been growing in relation to waste management, which is largely absorbed by the civil construction sector. This work aimed to review plastic waste, especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET), that can be incorporated with construction materials, such as concrete, mortars, asphalt mixtures, and paving. The use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) is related, as a tool that allows the sustainability of products and processes to be enhanced in the long term. After analyzing the recent literature, it was identified that studies related to plastic wastes in construction materials concentrate sustainability around the alternative destination of waste. Since the plastic waste from different production chains are obtained, it was possible to affirm the need for a broader assessment, such as the LCA, providing greater quantification of data making the alternative processes and products more sustainable. The study contributes to enhance sustainability in alternative building materials through LCA.

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The all-composite road bridge – a proposal for rapid urbanisation

IABSE Conference, Kuala Lumpur 2018: Engineering the Developing World ◽

10.2749/kualalumpur.2018.0095 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Tomasz Siwowski ◽

Aleksander Kozlowski ◽

Leonard Ziemiański ◽

Mateusz Rajchel ◽

Damian Kaleta

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Fast Growing ◽

Frp Composites ◽

Frp Composite ◽

Reinforced Polymer ◽

Composite Bridge ◽

Fibre Reinforced Polymer ◽

Traditional Construction

<p>Technology and materials can help cities get smarter and cope with rapid urbanisation. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the approaches applied in evaluation of material sustainability. Many significant LCA comparisons of innovative and traditional construction materials indicate that fibre- reinforced polymer (FRP) composites compare very favourably with other materials studied. As a proposal for rapid urbanisation, the FRP all-composite road bridge was developed and demonstrated in Poland. The paper describes the bridge system itself and presents the results of research on its development. The output of the R&D project gives a very promising future for the FRP composite bridge application in Poland, especially for cleaner, resilient and more environmentally efficient infrastructure of fast-growing cities.</p>

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Testing Whole Building LCA: Research and Practice

Intersections Between the Academy and Practice ◽

10.35483/acsa.aia.inter.15.6 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Kathrina Simonen ◽

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

End Of Life ◽

System Performance ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Operation And Maintenance ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Construction Operation ◽

System Selection

Research and Practice Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a building resulting from manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance and the end of life demolition and disposal/re-use. Tracking impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions and smog formation, LCA can enable comparison of building proposals testing options of material use, system selection and system performance.

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From Buildings’ End of Life to Aggregate Recycling under a Circular Economic Perspective: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Case Study

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13179625 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (17) ◽

pp. 9625

Author(s):

Ambroise Lachat ◽

Konstantinos Mantalovas ◽

Tiffany Desbois ◽

Oumaya Yazoghli-Marzouk ◽

Anne-Sophie Colas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Open Loop ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Construction And Demolition Waste ◽

Recycled Aggregates ◽

Demolition Waste

The demolition of buildings, apart from being energy intensive and disruptive, inevitably produces construction and demolition waste (C&Dw). Unfortunately, even today, the majority of this waste ends up underexploited and not considered as valuable resources to be re-circulated into a closed/open loop process under the umbrella of circular economy (CE). Considering the amount of virgin aggregates needed in civil engineering applications, C&Dw can act as sustainable catalyst towards the preservation of natural resources and the shift towards a CE. This study completes current research by presenting a life cycle inventory compilation and life cycle assessment case study of two buildings in France. The quantification of the end-of-life environmental impacts of the two buildings and subsequently the environmental impacts of recycled aggregates production from C&Dw was realized using the framework of life cycle assessment (LCA). The results indicate that the transport of waste, its treatment, and especially asbestos’ treatment are the most impactful phases. For example, in the case study of the first building, transport and treatment of waste reached 35% of the total impact for global warming. Careful, proactive, and strategic treatment, geolocation, and transport planning is recommended for the involved stakeholders and decision makers in order to ensure minimal sustainability implications during the implementation of CE approaches for C&Dw.

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