Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of building materials for the evaluation of building sustainability: the case of thermal insulation materials

Although outer wall thermal insulation technology is an effective measure for building energy-saving, the production of thermal insulation materials causes serious impacts on environment. In the present investigation the resource, energy consumption and environmental emission of the two kinds of thermal insulation materials were analyzed, from the acquisition of raw materials to production process based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The result show that life cycle energy consumption of rock wool board is 415MJ per functional unit, proximately twice of EPS board’s (220MJ). Overall, environmental impact indicators caused by rock wool board is more serious than EPS.

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Environmental Impact and Life Cycle Assessment of Economically Optimized Thermal Insulation Materials for Different Climatic Region in Iraq

International Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.14419/ijet.v7i4.37.24094 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (4.37) ◽

pp. 163

Author(s):

Murad Saeed Sedeeq ◽

Shadan Kareem Ameen ◽

Ali Bolatturk

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Thermal Insulation ◽

Impact Analysis ◽

Expanded Polystyrene ◽

Insulation Material ◽

Insulation Materials ◽

Climatic Regions ◽

Damage Categories

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing the world, even it is the most dangerous. Therefore, it becomes necessary to combine all efforts to reduce or eliminate it. Iraq is at the forefront of countries that suffer from major environmental problems. The present study aims to perform a comparative environmental assessment for three commonly available thermal insulation materials in Iraq namely expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), and rock wool (RW) to select least environmental impact material. A cradle to gate life cycle assessment is performed to assess the environmental impact of each insulation material taking into account manufacturing, transportation, and installation and disposal stages. A life cycle assessment program SimaPro is used to model thermal insulation materials during its life cycle. A life cycle impact analysis method CML 2001 has been selected to assess the environmental aspects associated with two global damage categories as ozone layer depletion and global warming and two regional damage categories as acidification and eutrophication. Economically optimized amount of each insulation material is selected to represent the functional unit of life cycle assessment. The results illustrate that the EPS has the lower contribution in all environmental impact categories for all climatic regions. So, the EPS can be select as a proper thermal insulation material for the building sector from an economic and environmental perspective. The results of LCA are used to determine the amount of CO2 can be reduced per meter square of the exterior wall by using the economical amount of EPS during the lifetime of insulation material. The environmental impact results show that using EPS will contribute in CO2 emission reduction at about 81.5 % in all climatic regions in Iraq.

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Comparative Study on Life Cycle Assessment for Typical Building Thermal Insulation Materials in China

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.787.176 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 787 ◽

pp. 176-183 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Li Ping Ma ◽

Quan Jiang ◽

Ping Zhao ◽

Chun Zhi Zhao

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Energy Saving ◽

Thermal Insulation ◽

Heat Conductivity ◽

Insulation Material ◽

Insulation Materials ◽

Volume Weight ◽

Rock Wool

Studies on life cycle assessment of three typical building thermal insulation materials including polystyrene board, rock wool board, and rigid foam polyurethane board related to building energy-saving were carried out. Based on the method of life cycle assessment, "1 kg of thermal insulation material" is first selected as one of the functional units in this study based on the production field data statistics and general market transaction rules of the thermal insulation materials, and life cycle resource consumption, energy consumption and exhaust emission of the three products in China are deeply surveyed and analyzed. The abiotic depletion potential (ADP), primary energy demand (PED), and global warming potential (GWP) for production of 1 kg of the three thermal insulation materials are calculated and analyzed. Furthermore, the functional unit is extended to be "1 m2 of thermal insulation material meeting the same energy-saving requirements" so as to compare the difference of environmental friendliness among the three building thermal insulation materials, and the corresponding life cycle environmental impact is also calculated and analyzed. As shown by the results, where calculated in unit mass, the order of production life cycle environmental impact significances of the thermal insulation materials is as follows: rock wool board < polyurethane board < polystyrene board. However, where calculated in unit area (m2) meeting the 65% energy-saving requirements, the production life cycle environmental impact significances of the three kinds of insulation materials are sorted as polystyrene board < polyurethane board < rock wool board, whatever the region is, which is opposite with that of the results for the insulation materials in unit mass (kg). The reason for such difference is that they have different volume weights and heat conductivity coefficients. The polystyrene board has a smaller volume weight and the smallest heat conductivity coefficient, whereas the rock wool board has the highest volume weight and heat conductivity coefficient. Source of the project fund. Subject "the Research and Application of Life Cycle Assessment Technology to the Building Materials for Building Engineering in Typical Regions" of the National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (No.: 2011BAJ04B06)

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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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Investigation of Thermal Insulation Materials Based on Easy Renewable Row Materials from Agriculture

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.335-336.1412 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 335-336 ◽

pp. 1412-1417 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jiri Zach ◽

Jitka Peterková ◽

Vít Petranek ◽

Jana Kosíková ◽

Azra Korjenic

Keyword(s):

Thermal Insulation ◽

Building Materials ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Building Construction ◽

Materials Development ◽

Insulation Materials ◽

Thermal Insulating ◽

Plastic Materials ◽

Energy Consuming ◽

Rock Wool

Production of building materials is mostly energy consuming. In the sphere of insulation materials we mostly see rock wool based materials or foam-plastic materials whose production process is demanding from material aspect and raw materials aspect as well. At present the demand for thermal insulation materials has been growing globally. The thermal insulation materials form integral part of all constructions in civil engineering. The materials mainly fulfill the thermal insulating functions and also the sound-insulating one. The majority of thermal insulation materials are able to fulfill both of the functions simultaneously. The paper describes questions of thermal insulation materials development with good sound properties based on natural fibres that represent a quickly renewable source of raw materials coming from agriculture. The main advantage of the materials are mainly the local availability and simple renewability of the raw materials. In addition an easy recycling of the materials after their service life end in the building construction and last but not least also the connection of human friendly properties of organic materials with advanced product manufacture qualities of modern insulation materials.

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Economic Evaluation of Thermal Insulation Materials in the Whole Life Cycle of Enclosure Structure

IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering ◽

10.1088/1757-899x/612/3/032060 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 612 ◽

pp. 032060

Author(s):

Wencui Zhang ◽

Aimal khan kakar ◽

Jingru Yan ◽

Ali muhammad

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Economic Evaluation ◽

Thermal Insulation ◽

Insulation Materials ◽

Whole Life Cycle

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Gypsum, Geopolymers, and Starch—Alternative Binders for Bio-Based Building Materials: A Review and Life-Cycle Assessment

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12145666 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (14) ◽

pp. 5666 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Girts Bumanis ◽

Laura Vitola ◽

Ina Pundiene ◽

Maris Sinka ◽

Diana Bajare

Keyword(s):

Thermal Conductivity ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Building Materials ◽

Initial Moisture Content ◽

Limited Application ◽

Ecological Building ◽

Thermal Conductivity Λ

To decrease the environmental impact of the construction industry, energy-efficient insulation materials with low embodied production energy are needed. Lime-hemp concrete is traditionally recognized as such a material; however, the drawbacks of this type of material are associated with low strength gain, high initial moisture content, and limited application. Therefore, this review article discusses alternatives to lime-hemp concrete that would achieve similar thermal properties with an equivalent or lower environmental impact. Binders such as gypsum, geopolymers, and starch are proposed as alternatives, due to their performance and low environmental impact, and available research is summarized and discussed in this paper. The summarized results show that low-density thermal insulation bio-composites with a density of 200–400 kg/m3 and thermal conductivity (λ) of 0.06–0.09 W/(m × K) can be obtained with gypsum and geopolymer binders. However, by using a starch binder it is possible to produce ecological building materials with a density of approximately 100 kg/m3 and thermal conductivity (λ) as low as 0.04 W/(m × K). In addition, a preliminary life cycle assessment was carried out to evaluate the environmental impact of reviewed bio-composites. The results indicate that such bio-composites have a low environmental impact, similar to lime-hemp concrete.

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