Comparison of building’s external wall components based on global warming potential

Abstract

Lowering environmental impacts in the operational phase of the building's life cycle has been achieved by introducing highly-insulated thermal envelopes in temperate and cold climates. However, the emissions and energy used in other life cycle phases should also be considered. The paper presents the comparison of the building's external wall components based on global warming potential in the production phase. Four types of construction (reinforced concrete, brick, cross-laminated timber and timber-frame) and three types of insulation materials (rock wool, expanded polystyrene and wood fibre) used within external wall components are analysed. Three heat transfer coefficients of the wall components were selected and compared. The results of the study demonstrate the potential of lowering environmental impacts of building external wall components by selecting suitable materials and present the solutions for the optimization of thermal envelopes in the design phase.