Carbon Footprints of a Conventional Norwegian Detached House Exposed to Flooding

Abstract

Rehabilitating water-damaged structures in buildings results in increased material extraction and energy use, and, consequently, a higher carbon footprint of the housing industry. Despite its prevalence, quantifying the carbon footprint caused by water damage or flooding has not gained much attention. Thus, this study investigated the quantitative carbon footprint associated with rehabilitating flooding in a detached house caused by torrential rain. Three different construction methods of the house were looked at; a timber frame construction, a masonry variant made by concrete blocks of Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA), and an alternative with exterior walls composed of concrete-moulded Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam boards. A life-cycle assessment according to NS 3720 was used to investigate the carbon footprint (CO2eq.) of typical flooding in a detached building. Rehabilitating the flooding in a house with concrete-moulded boards resulted in a lower carbon footprint (2.45 × 103 CO2eq.) than rehabilitating the same flooding in a house with LECA masonry (7.56 × 103 CO2eq.) and timber frames (2.49 × 103 CO2eq.). However, the timber-frame house had the lowest total carbon footprint (2.95 × 104 CO2eq.) owing to their original low footprint. This study found that flooding significantly contributed to the carbon footprint of buildings and, therefore, the topic should be given attention when choosing a construction method and moisture safety strategy.