A comparative LCA study of passive cooling roof materials for a residential building: An Indian Case study

Abstract

Construction industry is a significant contributor to global environmental impact, with large amount of energy being utilized in the production and transportation processes of various building materials. Energy conservation in buildings becomes a critical factor in reducing the greenhouse emissions and at the same time focusing on reducing the cost of materials. By using digital tools of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) techniques, the ecological collisions can be measured and lowered through analysis of alternative eco-friendly materials. In this study, a BIM-based LCA was carried out for a case study residential building to be constructed with conventional materials, located in the warm-humid climate region of India. The findings revealed that roof slab constructed with reinforced concrete is contributing more carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) next to vertical facade in terms of environmental impacts, energy consumptions and global warming potential. An analytical study was performed on alternative building materials with walls being replaced with AAC blocks and roof slab with clay tiles, cool tiles, terrazzo tiles as insulation layers. The roofs and walls replaced with alternate materials showed 2–6% reduction in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, acidification, eutrophication, and ozone depletion potentials.