Investigation of the impact of eco-friendly building materials on carbon footprints of an affordable housing in hilly region

Abstract

Increasing emission of carbon di-oxide in the atmosphere is becoming one of the greatest threats to the humans and the society. The combustion of fossil fuels and the manufacturing process of cement are responsible for around 75% increases in the CO2 emissions. It has become important to monitor and control the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The carbon footprint is one such concept which is becoming popular over past few years. It helps in evaluation of mitigation measures and emissions management by identifying the important sources of greenhouse gas emissions and reducing their efficiency. In spite of development of various types of eco-friendly materials, the construction industry uses traditional materials that contribute largely to carbon emissions. This case study based research focuses to identify and quantify the carbon emissions of the most commonly used materials for construction in India. A physical model of low energy affordable house for hilly region has been constructed at CBRI Roorkee by replacing the traditionally used building materials with the eco-friendly greener materials. The carbon footprints of these eco-friendly materials were calculated using Process Analysis-LCA technique and then compared with the traditionally used building materials. The initial carbon footprint was estimated to be 4.17 tonnes of CO2 that was reduced to 3.95 tonnes, resulting in reduction of carbon footprint by 5.3%. Therefore eco-friendly greener materials can effectively help in reducing the carbon footprint of the traditionally used building materials in construction.