Life Cycle Assessment of Building Materials for a Single-family House in Sweden

Abstract

The Nordic countries have shown great interest in using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the building sector compared to the past years. Sweden has set up an objective to be carbon neutral (no greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere) by 2045. This paper presents a case study of a single-family house “Dalarnas Villa” in the region Dalarna, Sweden within a 100-year perspective. The assessment is implemented using a new software based on hard data agreed by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). It focuses on building materials, transport distances of the materials, and replacement of essential construction materials. The LCA in this study demonstrates the environmental impact related to building materials from production and construction phase including transport, replacement and deconstruction phase. The study does not cover energy use and water consumption. The results show that the building slab made by concrete is the part of the construction most contributing to CO2e, while the wood frame and cellulose insulation have low environmental impact. Replacement of materials takes nearly half of total environmental impact over 100 years. Having a large share of wood-based products, make greenhouse gas emissions remains low.