Statistical life cycle assessment of residential buildings in a temperate climate of northern part of Europe

Abstract

Nowadays, with the new technology, the explosion of new products and the implementation of the new construction rules, it is important to evaluate the effect of the strong human pressure on nature. Thus, the analysis of the life cycle of a product (i.e., building) makes it possible to evaluate its main environmental impacts (energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, product waste, water consumption, etc.) from raw materials manufacturing to its end of life (demolition). The purpose of this research is to carryout a meticulous statistical analysis aimed to better understand and to discern better the impact of sustainable buildings and old buildings on the environment. In addition, this research identifies the main elements that affect the environment during the construction, operation, renovation, and demolition of buildings.59 residences were analyzed (29 durable residences and 30 old residences), distributed in two districts of the Liege city. Several software tools were used (IBM SPSS statistical, ALCYONE, COMFIE-PLEIADES, and nova-EQUER) to statistically evaluate the 12 environmental impacts considered in this study. The results showed that the impacts of sustainable buildings and old buildings on the environment are very significant. Despite that, it is difficult to identify a clear difference between the environmentalimpact from old and sustainable buildings. The total lifecycle greenhouse gas (LCGHG) and energy of the whole the residential buildings represents 17.225 ktCO2-e and 362.8 TJ, respectively, over 100 years. The building operation phase (or use phase) consume significant amount of life cycle energy (from 81.0 to 94.3%), but also, the largest contribution to the life cycle greenhouse gas (between 75.6% and 91.3%).