Environmental Performance of Residential Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment Study in Saudi Arabia

Hatem Alhazmi, Abdulilah K. Alduwais, Thamer Tabbakh, Saad Aljamlani, Bandar Alkahlan and Abdulaziz Kurdi
Additional contact information
Hatem Alhazmi: National Center for Environmental Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Abdulilah K. Alduwais: National Center for Environmental Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Thamer Tabbakh: Material Science Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Saad Aljamlani: National Center for Building and Construction Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Bandar Alkahlan: National Center for Building and Construction Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz Kurdi: National Center for Building and Construction Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: The building and construction sector has a huge impact on the environment because of the enormous amounts of natural resources and energy consumed during the life cycle of construction projects. In this study, we evaluated the potential environmental impact of the construction of a villa, from cradle to grave, in the Saudi Arabian context. Centrum voor Milieukunde Leiden (CML) for Centre of Environmental Science of Leiden University-IA baseline v3.03 methods were used to obtain the environmental profile for the impact categories, and Cumulative Energy Demand v1.09 was used to measure the embodied energy of the villa life cycle. The analyzed midpoint impact categories include global warming (GWP100a), ozone layer depletion (ODP), acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), photochemical oxidation (POCP), and indicator cumulative energy demand (CED). The operation use phase of the villa was found to have the highest global warming potential and acidification with 2.61 × 10 6 kg CO 2 -eq and 1.75 × 10 4 kg SO 2 -eq, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was performed on the Saudi Arabian plans to increase the share of renewable sources and reduce the amount of electricity generated from hydrocarbons, which currently represents 46% of the total installed power, by 2032. The results showed that compared with the current electricity environmental impact, the CO 2 emission from electricity will decrease by 53%, which represents a significant reduction in environmental impact. The findings will help with the life cycle assessment of structures during future planning and for energy conservation.

Keywords: sustainability; buildings; life cycle assessment; materials; greenhouse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3542-:d:522257

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