Environmental Impact Assessment of the Life Cycle of a Timber Building

Timber construction offers a number of advantages in terms of sustainability in comparison with other construction technologies. This can partly be attributed to the fact that structural timber products often require less processing for their manufacturing compared to other construction products and their sustainability is therefore relatively increased. As a result, structures such as timber buildings are associated with increased sustainability potential and are therefore selected as sustainable solutions for the construction of housing, commercial or other types of building projects. The current research, described in this paper, is aimed at the quantification of the environmental impact caused by the construction of timber buildings. A case study is used as the basis for the calculations which take into account the whole life cycle of the timber building examined. A life cycle assessment is conducted and the environmental impact assessment results are calculated according to the Eco-Indicator 99 methodology. The interpretation of the results leads to conclusions regarding the level and type of environmental impact caused by the life cycle of timber building projects

A newly developed life cycle inventory (LCI) database for commonly used structural steel components

The use of steel within the construction sector has enabled the delivery of larger-volume and more complex-shaped structures, while life cycle assessment (LCA) has been introduced as a pro-active design tool to ensure their sustainability. As LCA efficiency greatly depends on the life cycle inventory (LCI) data used, it is the purpose of the current research to present detailed structural steel LCI data and thus increase environmental benefits deriving from the effective use of LCA within construction. Hot-rolled structural steel members were chosen as the research starting point and the necessary information was provided by the leading structural steel manufacturer in Greece. Results include a list of environmental inputs and outputs, which can be used within relevant LCA studies and environmental impact assessment. Critical issues hindering the use of LCA were identified, along with the most environmentally damaging production stages and environmental categories mainly burdened. A new methodology for assessment results comparison was also applie

Alternative end scenarios for the LCA analysis of a steel-framed residential building

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is currently being widely used within the construction sector as the most accurate and effective methodology to quantify the environmental impact associated with construction projects. Taking into account project stages such as raw material acquisition, construction, operation and the handling of the materials at the demolition stage, it constitutes a valuable tool to optimize the sustainability of technical structures. The purpose of the current research is to investigate the last stage of a project considered in LCA analysis, namely the end scenario. A steel-framed residential building is used as the basis for the definition of a set of alternative end scenarios which cover the complete range of handling options for the construction materials retrieved after the service life of the building. These scenarios are used to complement a corresponding set of alternative life cycles, for which environmental impact assessment calculations are executed. The results are used to draw conclusions regarding the influence of end scenarios and material handling at the end of a construction project on the minimization of its environmental impact and the subsequent optimization of its sustainability