Abstract
Building materials present an incredible opportunity for reducing embodied impacts in buildings. Embodied effects of building materials occur at different life cycle stages, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, construction process, use, and end-of-life disposal. This paper evaluates the life cycle impact of building envelopes and material design decisions associated with high-performance container-based wall systems over 50 years of life expectancy. It presents an in-depth study of the different exterior and adjacent apartment wall designs by assessing the life cycle embodied energy and global warming potential (GWP) using Athena Impact Estimator (IE) for building modeling tool. Study results prove that most embodied impacts of building components and systems occur at the product, construction, and end-of-life stages. Upcycling steel products can be advantageous, resulting in about 65% avoided embodied energy/emissions. The cradle to cradle life cycle assessment shows that 49% avoided embodied carbon impact, and 10% less impact in embodied energy can be realized from upcycled and modified shipping container modules. Re-designing the adjacent apartment wall from double full envelope to insulation only accounts for significant avoided impact, about 34% reduction. Overall, careful iteration of wall envelope materials and balancing trade-offs can result in 21% reduction in the life cycle embodied impacts. This is without compromising the energy and environmental performance of the building.
Presenters
Chi DaraPhD Candidate, Environmental Design, School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Life Cycle Environmental Impact, Embodied Energy and Emissions, Building materials
