A Cradle to Handover Life Cycle Assessment of External Walls: Choice of Materials and Prognosis of Elements

Diana Carolina Gámez-García, José Manuel Gómez-Soberón, Ramón Corral-Higuera, Héctor Saldaña-Márquez, María Consolación Gómez-Soberón and Susana Paola Arredondo-Rea
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Diana Carolina Gámez-García: Barcelona School of Architecture, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 649 Diagonal Avenue, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
José Manuel Gómez-Soberón: Barcelona School of Building Construction, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 44-50 Doctor Marañón Avenue, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Ramón Corral-Higuera: Mochis Faculty of Engineering, Autonomous University of Sinaloa, no number Fuente de Poseidón y Ángel Flores, 81210 Los Mochis, Mexico
Héctor Saldaña-Márquez: Barcelona School of Architecture, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 649 Diagonal Avenue, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
María Consolación Gómez-Soberón: Civil Engineering School, Metropolitan Autonomous University. Av. San Pablo 180, 02200 Mexico City, Mexico
Susana Paola Arredondo-Rea: Mochis Faculty of Engineering, Autonomous University of Sinaloa, no number Fuente de Poseidón y Ángel Flores, 81210 Los Mochis, Mexico

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-24

Abstract: This research focuses on a comparison of 20 external wall systems that are conventionally used in Spanish residential buildings, from a perspective based on the product and construction process stages of the life cycle assessment. The primary objective is to provide data that allow knowing the environmental behavior of walls built with materials and practices conventionally. This type of analysis will enable promoting the creation of regulations that encourage the use of combinations of materials that generate the most environmentally suitable result, and in turn, contribute to the strengthening of the embodied stages study of buildings and their elements. The results indicate that the greatest impact arises in the product stage (90.9%), followed by the transport stage (8.9%) and the construction process stage (<1%). Strategies (such as the use of large-format pieces and the controlled increase in thickness of the thermal insulation) can contribute to reducing the environmental impact; on the contrary, practices such as the use of small-format pieces and laminated plasterboard can increase the environmental burden. The prediction of the environmental behavior (simulation equation) allows these possible impacts to be studied in a fast and simplified way.

Keywords: LCA; cradle to handover; external wall; construction materials; building components; envelope (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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