A Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions Evaluation Model for Traditional Residential Houses: Applying to Traditional Dong Dwellings in Qandongnan, Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

In recent years, due to the low energy utilization of the whole life-cycle of buildings, the diminished indoor and outdoor comfort of buildings, and the impact on the surrounding environment caused by the carbon emissions of the building life-cycle, the establishment of a whole life- cycle carbon emission evaluation model for buildings to improve their energy utilization at all stages of their life-cycle has received unprecedented attention. In China, the construction industry has become a major carbon emitter, and traditional houses, as a green development building type, are an effective way to achieve carbon neutrality in buildings; however, the existing green building evaluation system lacks quantitative indicators of carbon emissions in the building life-cycle. The exclusive evaluation indexes for regional and characteristic buildings, such as traditional houses, are neglected. This study explored the formula for calculating the life-cycle carbon emissions model of traditional residential houses under a carbon emission intervention and used real measurements of the physical environment. Based on the results of indoor and outdoor heat and humidity environmental tests of residential houses due to locality, four important factors affecting local green buildings in terms of energy utilization, site ecology and landscape, land saving, and material saving were extracted; on this basis, the whole life-cycle carbon emission evaluation model of traditional residential houses was constructed by combining the existing green building evaluation standards with the carbon emission indexes of the life-cycle of traditional residential houses.