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    Investigating the embodied energy and carbon of buildings: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of life cycle assessments

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Minunno, Roberto
    O'Grady, T.
    Morrison, Greg
    Gruner, R.L.
    Date
    2021
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Minunno, R. and O'Grady, T. and Morrison, G.M. and Gruner, R.L. 2021. Investigating the embodied energy and carbon of buildings: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of life cycle assessments. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 143: Article No. 110935.
    Source Title
    Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
    DOI
    10.1016/j.rser.2021.110935
    ISSN
    1364-0321
    Faculty
    Faculty of Science and Engineering
    School
    School of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)
    Faculty of Humanities
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88435
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Life cycle assessment is a tool to quantify the environmental impact of products and has been widely studied in the building context. This is an important context given the building sector's substantial embodied energy and carbon. Against this backdrop, this study has two main objectives. The first objective is to create a benchmark the environmental impact of buildings. The second objective is to develop a procedural guideline that assists practitioners in decreasing the environmental impact of buildings. To achieve these objectives, a systematic review of the relevant literature was conducted to categorize and summarize relevant studies. A meta-analysis followed to synthesize the life cycle assessment results that emerged from the collected articles. The articles were categorized into two main groups: articles on construction materials and articles on entire buildings. Eight construction materials (i.e., concrete, reinforcement bars, structural steel, timber, tiles, insulation, and plaster) and three building types (i.e., concrete, timber, and steel) were identified, and related embodied energy and carbon were extracted. Subsequently, the data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the meta-analysis informed a regression model, which in turn informed a procedural guideline for practitioners who seek to reduce buildings' environmental impact. Further, the findings of this paper shed light on previously equivocal results concerning the impact of construction materials and buildings, but also support previous findings for structural materials, showing, for example, that the use of timber structures results in substantial savings over concrete structures in terms of both embodied energy (43%) and carbon (68%).

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