Abstract
Social Housing (SH) in Mexico has a potentially important role in reducing both the emission of greenhouse gases and the use of non-renewable resources, two of the main challenges facing not only Mexico but the planet as a whole. This work assesses the environmental impact generated by the embodied stages of a typical SH throughout its life cycle (cradle to grave), by means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Two types of envelope and interior walls and three types of windows are compared. It was found that SH emits 309 kg CO2 eq/m2 and consumes 3911 MJ eq/m2 in the product stages (A1 to A3) and construction process (A4 to A5); the most important stages are those referring to the products, namely, A1 to A3, B4 (replacement) and B2 (maintenance). Additionally, benefits were found in the use of lightweight and thermal materials, such as concrete blocks lightened with pumice or windows made of PVC or wood. Although the use of LCA is incipient in the housing and construction sector in Mexico, this work shows how its application is not only feasible but recommended as it may become a basic tool in the search for sustainability.
Highlights
The population of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) represents 8.55% of the world population [1], of which 75% is concentrated in countries with emerging economies (32% Brazil, 20%Mexico, and 22% for Colombia, Argentina, Peru and, Chile together) [1,2]
The objectives of this research are (1) to identify the state of the most relevant environmental impacts occurring in Mexico, emphasizing the residential sector, and (2) to achieve an approximation of the environmental impacts generated by this sector
The results found for the CO2 eq emissions and the consumption of incorporated energy are figures that are found in the list of effects reported by other researchers (Table 12)
Summary
The population of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) represents 8.55% of the world population [1], of which 75% is concentrated in countries with emerging economies (32% Brazil, 20%Mexico, and 22% for Colombia, Argentina, Peru and, Chile together) [1,2]. The LAC countries have twice the population of the United States (U.S.), they produce a lower global warming effect This is similar to the case of the Asian giants, where India emits just. The USA, the European Union (EU), and China consume 4.15, 1.89, and 1.26 times more than the world per capita average respectively, while India and LAC consume 3.88 and 1.47 times less (Table 1). This indicates that the environmental impact indices generated by each country (and region) are discordant with the number of people living in them
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