Carbon Footprint of Dwelling Construction in Romania and Spain. A Comparative Analysis with the OERCO2 Tool

Patricia González-Vallejo,Radu Muntean,Madelyn Marrero,Jaime Solís-Guzmán

doi:10.3390/su12176745

Patricia González-Vallejo, Radu Muntean + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176745

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Abstract

CO2 emissions due to the construction sector represent 40% of the total, either directly by the use of the building or indirectly by the emissions incorporated in construction materials and products. It is important to achieve a change in this sector to introduce these concepts in a simple way. There are various tools for evaluating emissions in construction projects. In the present work, the OERCO2 tool is used. This work studies housing projects in two European countries belonging to significantly different regions, Spain (Andalusia) and Romania (Bucharest and Transylvania). Although concrete or masonry structures are mainly used in Romania, due to an increased demand for residential buildings in recent years, a new niche has appeared in the construction sector: metallic and mixed (metal–concrete) structures for multi-storied buildings. For these reasons, a comparison between concrete and metallic buildings can be made in order to highlight their environmental impact. Twenty-four projects are selected from Romanian projects with metallic structures, and Spanish projects with concrete structures. They are also differentiated according to the type of foundation used. As expected, buildings with a metallic structure have more economic and environmental impact than reinforced concrete. The materials with greater impact are metal, concrete, cement, and ceramic products. The potential of the tool for the evaluation of various construction solutions, materials, and project phases is demonstrated.

Highlights

Various environmental reports carried out in recent years highlight the construction sector as one of the main consumers of energy and generators of CO2 emissions among the various industrial sectors, with estimates of 30–40% of the total environmental impact produced [1]
If we focus on the analysis of the life cycle of buildings, the manufacturing and construction phase of the building life cycle, concentrated in a short period of time (1–2 years), causes the most intense environmental impact, mainly due to the consumption of concrete and steel for the structure, which represents a high percentage of the emissions produced during this phase [13,14]
For the quantification of resources, the Andalusian construction cost database (ACCD) and its information classification system (ACICS) [57,58] are used, which estimate costs in the construction sector, and their use is mandatory in public works in Andalusia (Spain)

Summary

Introduction

Various environmental reports carried out in recent years highlight the construction sector as one of the main consumers of energy and generators of CO2 emissions among the various industrial sectors, with estimates of 30–40% of the total environmental impact produced [1]. If we focus on the analysis of the life cycle of buildings, the manufacturing and construction phase of the building life cycle, concentrated in a short period of time (1–2 years), causes the most intense environmental impact, mainly due to the consumption of concrete and steel for the structure, which represents a high percentage of the emissions produced during this phase [13,14]. This impact is diluted if the building’s useful life is lengthened. Once the energy consumption during the use phase is reduced, researchers’ attention should be focused on materials that require less energy for their production [18]

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