Abstract
Comprehensive environmental impact assessments of buildings and construction as a whole consider the preparation of construction and finishing materials, their transportation, the process of erecting buildings, long-term operations—including the consumption of electricity, water, and fuels—and the management of the waste generated during the demolition of facilities. In terms of the above-mentioned elements, the most negative environmental impact on a building’s life cycle is in its exploitation stage. In order to reduce this impact, modern sustainable construction uses renewable energy sources. In the area of the Polish building market, analyses of CO2 emissions, the application of LCAs for building materials, and assessments of the social impacts of modern buildings are still very limited. The aim of this study is to evaluate the environmental life cycles and social costs of the CO2 emissions of single-family residential buildings, in which four different systems providing energy (heat and electricity) from renewable and nonrenewable sources are used. In this research, it was found that the annual CO2 emissions per square meter of building surface area in the analyzed objects were in the range of 30 to 176 kg CO2. The greatest contributor to the environmental effects was energy consumption (58% to 90%). The CO2 analysis conducted showed that facilities that use a heat pump are characterized by an environmental effect that is six times lower than that of facilities that are powered by coal combustion and electricity from the network. Similarly, the social costs associated with CO2 emissions were significantly lower in the case of the use of renewable energy sources.
Highlights
The construction sector is one of the fastest-growing industries
In the first and second phases of the construction process, the building materials with the most significant impacts on the environment are concrete blocks and their production. Their impacts are mainly visible in Stages A1–A3, as well as in the supply of raw materials and transportation to the construction site, as a result of which 25,000 kg CO2 is emitted into the environment from the concrete blocks, and 14,000 kg CO2 is emitted during concrete production
Apart from the firing process, CO2 emissions result from transportation and electricity consumption during the construction process of a facility [60]
Summary
The construction sector is one of the fastest-growing industries. The Central StatisticalOffice [1] reported that, in Poland, in 2019, 12% more flats (207,200) were completed than in 2018. Stated that, over the last few decades, together with newly commissioned buildings, the philosophy of construction has changed. Innovative building materials with low heattransfer coefficients have come to play an increasingly important role. These measures are important, as construction has a significant anthropogenic environmental impact. Comprehensive environmental impact assessments for buildings and construction consider the long-term use of a building, including its electricity, water, and fuel consumption [3], as well as the management of waste (end-of-life stage) that appears during construction and demolition [4]. The production of building materials and the management of waste from the renovation and demolition of buildings are significant
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