Abstract
The growing awareness of the need to minimise greenhouse gas (GHG) and mitigate climate change has resulted in a greater focus on the embodied carbon (EC) of construction material. One way to ensure the environmental impact of building activities is minimised to a reasonable level is the calculation of their EC. Whilst there are a few studies investigating the role of embodied carbon factor (ECF) databases on the accuracy of EC calculation from cradle to gate, very little is known about the impact of different databases on the end-of-life (EoL) EC calculation. Using ECFs derived from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) default values and the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) suggested percentages for different elements of a building’s lifecycle stages, this study presents the impact of different data sources on the calculation of EoL EC. The study revealed that a lack of EoL ECFs databases could result in a significant difference of about 61% and 141% in the calculation of EC.
Highlights
Background and ScenarioIn order to make the comparison objectively and intuitively along with ensuring reliability and accuracy in the results, embodied carbon factor (ECF) used in this study were sourced from the UK databases to ensure geographical and regional conditions of production procedures, construction practices, energy consumption, and building design characteristics were met.To reiterate, the sources of embodied carbon factors (ECFs) used in this study were as follow: (i) BEIS, (ii) Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and (iii) IStructE
The study examined the effect of databases on EoL management strategy in which all the generated demolished building materials were directed to recycling
Comparison between BEIS and RICS: the results from these two data sources showed that the share of BEIS’ total of the embodied carbon was less than half of RICS
Summary
In order to make the comparison objectively and intuitively along with ensuring reliability and accuracy in the results, ECFs used in this study were sourced from the UK databases to ensure geographical and regional conditions of production procedures, construction practices, energy consumption, and building design characteristics were met. The sources of ECFs used in this study were as follow: (i) BEIS, (ii) RICS and (iii) IStructE. Foundation including foundation wall and floor slab Superstructure. Structural frame: roof beams, columns and tie beams. Roof: steel profile system on tapered insulation.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
