Lca analysis of popular envelope assemblies for low-storey construction segment

Abstract

The life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis of the popular multilayered assemblies for the low-storey construction segment was performed. The main point of the analysis was to detect the optimal assembly type in terms of LCA parameters from those considered in the investigation. As key influence criteria were taken into consideration as follows: primary energy non-renewable - global warming potential (GWP) kg CO2 equ./m2 , acidification potential (AP), kg SO2 equ./m2 , the u-value of the envelope W/m2K, the mass of the wall kg/m2 . There were compared five types of multilayered wall assemblies, which are quite popular in the domestic building market of Ukraine nowadays: brickwall+ insulator, aerated concrete+insulator, cavity brickwall+insulator, SIP wall, and strawbale wall in the type of infill as a variant of natural building material. The comparison of the alternatives was proceeded by the Eco2soft tool. Conducted research revealed that wall from Straw bale could be approximately defined as “optimal” and “best” ones in proposed terms of LCA analysis and Wall from SIP could be the medium one.