Sustainability of Building Materials: Embodied Energy and Embodied Carbon of Masonry

Abstract

The growing attention to sustainability and life cycle issues by European and international policies has recently encouraged the adoption, in the construction sector, of environmental labels able to quantify the impacts on environment associated with the fabrication of several building materials, e.g., their embodied energy and carbon. Within this framework, since walls represent a large percentage of building mass and therefore of embodied impacts, this article collects and analyzes nearly 180 Environmental Products Declarations (EPDs) of wall construction products such as masonry blocks and concrete panels. The data related to the primary energy (renewable and non-renewable) and the global warming potential extracted from the EPDs were compared firstly at the block level (choosing 1 kg as functional unit), enabling designers and manufacturers to understand and reduce the impacts from wall products at the early design stage. As the design progresses, it is therefore necessary to evaluate the environmental impacts related to the entire wall system. For this purpose, this paper proposes a further investigation on some simple wall options having similar thermal performance and superficial mass (the functional unit chosen in this case was equal to 1 m2 with R ≈ 5 m2K/W, Ms ≈ 260 kg/m2). The outcomes showed how the durability of the materials and the potential of disassembly of the wall stratigraphies can play a crucial role in reducing the environmental impact. This paper provides a methodological reference both for manufacturers to reduce impacts and for designers committed to the application of environmental labeling in the design process since they will now be able to compare their products with others.

Evaluating the impact of material service life on embodied energy of residential villas in the United Arab Emirates

“…Therefore, the selection process could be objective, subjective, or both. Nevertheless, the environmental impact of this choice can be significant from an LCA viewpoint (Tokede et al, 2023) and should be driven by sustainability (Asdrubali et al, 2023). Janjua (2021) recently reported that a complex relationship exists between the service life of materials and buildings, which has another relationship with the environmental performance of a building.…”

“…Nevertheless, the environmental impact of this choice can be significant from an LCA viewpoint (Tokede et al. , 2023) and should be driven by sustainability (Asdrubali et al. , 2023).…”

Optimizing Concrete Grade for a Sustainable Structural Design in Saudi Arabia

“…Understanding this inverse tendency is critical for weighing the benefits and drawbacks of increasing compressive strength vs. increasing embedded carbon content. The increased cement consumption necessary for greater strength combinations adds to the environmental effect, emphasizing the importance of a balanced strategy that takes into account both strength needs and sustainability goals [68].…”

Thermal Properties of Eco-Friendly Earthen Materials Stabilized with Bio-Based Polymers: Experimental Data and Modeling Procedure for Improving Mix-Design

“…This material, used since ancient times, represents an energy-efficient resource with almost zero embodied energy—less than 0.5 MJ/kg (7.8 MJ/kg for Portland cement) [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. This significant disparity underscores the potential of earthen construction to mitigate the overall environmental footprint of buildings.…”