Abstract
Research Highlights: This is the first study that analyzes the environmental performance of wood-based phase change material (PCM) panels. Background and Objectives: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful environmental management tool. However, a full LCA, especially during the early design phase of a product, is far too time and data intensive for industrial companies to conduct during their production and consumption processes. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for simpler methods to demonstrate a company’s resource efficiency potential without being data or time intensive. The goal of this study is to investigate the suitability of streamlined LCA (SLCA) tools and methods used in the building material industry, and to assess their robustness in the case study of a wood-based PCM panel. Materials and Methods: The Bilan Produit tool was selected as the SLCA tool and a matrix LCA was selected as the most commonly used SLCA method. A specific case study of a wood-based PCM panel was selected with a focus on its application in building construction in the province of Québec. Results: As a semi-quantitative LCA method, the matrix LCA provided a quick screening of the product life cycle and its hotspot stages, i.e., life cycle stages with high impact. However, the results of the full LCA and SLCA tools were quantitative and based on scientific databases. The use of the PCM panel and heating energy had the highest environmental impacts as compared to other inputs. The results of the full LCA and SLCA also identified energy consumption as a hotspot. Insufficient material or processes in the SLCA databases was one of the reasons for the difference between the results of the SLCA and full LCA. Conclusions: The examined SLCA methods provided proper explanations for the bio-based material in construction, but several limitations still exist, and the methods should be improved to make them more robust when implemented in such a specific sector.
Highlights
Wood is one of the most important building construction materials [1]
Eco-design, which is the aggregation of environmental attention into the product and into its service design and development, is one the main applications of the streamlined LCA (SLCA) methods that aims to improve the environmental performance along the life cycle of a product or service
The environmental impact analysis presented in this paper is the result of a full Life cycle assessment (LCA), a semi-quantitative LCA method, and an SLCA tool for a phase change material (PCM) wood-based panel
Summary
Wood is one of the most important building construction materials [1]. Regarding its high strength and reasonable cost, wood is one of the most common sources of construction material with “low specific weight, ease of working, good insulation properties, attractive appearance, and adequate life if protected from moisture and insects” [1]. Owing to a wide range of potential applications, it often. Wood products usually have a low embodied energy with low water and air pollution. Compared to other building material, wood products have a smaller carbon footprint [4,5,6]. The lack of information on the environmental performance of wood products does not allow customers and decision makers to understand the environmental impacts of their choices [7]
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