Abstract
In Slovakia, 35% of buildings are older than 50 years but most newer buildings built before 1990 have greater energy consumption. Some other countries also have similar problems. The growing importance of energy saving in buildings can be, in the case of new and old residential buildings (RB), achieved by lowering thermal energy consumption most often by application of polystyrene insulation on the external walls and roof and the exchange of wood window frames for PVC (polyvinyl chloride) windows. The novelty of the article for Slovakia and some other central European countries consists in using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method for the objective assessment of the environmental benefits of the selected systems of wall insulation, as well as of energy savings in various time intervals of insulation functionality (up to 20 years). LCA software SimaPro (LE Amersfoort, The Netherlands) was used with ReCiPe and IMPACT 2002+ assessment methods to quantify the total environmental impact at selected endpoints and midpoints (IMPACT 2002+) of basic structural materials of an RB and its energy demand—heat consumption (hot water heating, central heating) before the application of insulation and thermal energy saving (TES) after application of insulation to its external walls, roof, and the exchange of windows. The data we obtained confirmed that the environmental impact of the polystyrene insulation of external walls, roof, and exchange of windows of one residential building (RB) in the first year after insulation is higher than the reduction caused by achieving a TES of 39%. When taking a lifespan of 20 years into consideration, the impact over the life cycle of the building materials is reduced by 25% (global warming: −4792 kg CO2 eq; production of carcinogens: −2479 kg C2H3Cl eq; acidification: −12,045 kg SO2 eq; and aquatic eutrophication: −257 kg PO4 P-lim). The verified LCA methodology will be used for comparative analysis of different variants of thermal insulation of buildings, and their functionality in the long term, while taking into account local specifics and the preparation of environmental product declarations.
Highlights
The social-economic and environmental indicators of sustainable development are focused on the building industry as a globally-expanding sector with a high level of activity in developed, as well as developing, countries [1]
In the current economic situation, the choice of thermal insulation of buildings is determined more by the momentary price of materials and labour costs than long-term environmental benefits
Simple polystyrene insulation is more often selected for the walls of buildings
Summary
The social-economic and environmental indicators of sustainable development are focused on the building industry as a globally-expanding sector with a high level of activity in developed, as well as developing, countries [1]. The studies of Pajchrowski et al [3] and Lewandowska et al [14], comparing houses made from bricks and wood, confirm that the main source of negative impact on the environment, in the long-term usage phase, is represented by the energy consumption in the residential building (RB) life cycle. Due to the number of residential buildings and long-term utilization during the year, residential buildings represent an important potential for lowering energy consumption and negative impacts on the environment [19,20]. Unsuitable materials were often used for construction, incorrect projects were used, or even construction technology was not properly used To eliminate such deficiencies, measures to improve the thermal protection and lower the thermal energy demand of such buildings are used. We have not recorded such detailed analyses of improving the thermal protection of the residential buildings in Slovakia and some other Central European countries
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