Abstract
This paper focused on the environmental performance of a nearly zero-energy wood-based educational building (NZEB-W) via the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). It identifies the environmental impacts of construction materials and operational energy demands of the NZEB-W and compares them using the SimaPro 8 software with the IMPACT 2002+ method. The LCIA results from NZEB-W show that the overall environmental impact of construction materials (98.9 Pt) and 45 years operational energy demands (98.6 Pt) will be at the same level. Its overall environmental impact 197.75 Pt for 45 years is relatively small. NZEB-W has the greatest impact on the environment in the category of damage respiratory inorganics (34.5%), 419 kg PM2.5 eq from construction materials, and 271 kg PM2.5 eq from operational energy for 45 years; follows global warming (31.7%), 1.98 × 105 kg CO2 eq from construction materials, and 4.23 × 105 kg CO2 eq from operational energy for 45 years; and non-renewable energy (21.8%), 2.82 × 106 MJ primary from construction materials, and 3.73 × 106 MJ primary from operational energy for 45 years. As this environmental assessment shows, the material composition of construction materials compared to the energy consumption in the use phase is an essential element for understanding the life cycle impact of buildings.
Highlights
Buildings in the EU are responsible for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, which mainly stem from construction, usage, renovation, and demolition
The paper focused on and compared the environmental performance of an almost zero energy wood-based educational building (NZEB-W) through a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). It identifies the environmental impacts of building materials and the operational energy intensity of nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB)-W
Based on this analysis and the deeply studied research cited in this study, it was confirmed that each LCA study is unique in terms of functional unit, system boundaries, inventory analysis, and the content of the impact assessment method
Summary
Buildings in the EU are responsible for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, which mainly stem from construction, usage, renovation, and demolition. In Directive 2010/31/EU [2] are NZEBs, defined as buildings with a very high energy performance, where energy requirements should mostly be covered by renewable energy sources. One of the methods evaluating the environmental impacts of human activities and identifying potential areas for improvement is the life cycle assessment—LCA [3,4]. This methodology is broadly applied in practice and provides a sound assessment to the understanding of environmental issues and buildings [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. LCA provides a holistic approach that is based on studying the whole industrial system involved in the production, use, and waste management of a product or service [12]
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