@inproceedings{01KTT3TESD2BM0GFNREFANYZ8X,
  abstract     = {{Reducing the buildings’ carbon footprint is urgent, given the significant contribution of the building sector to rising CO2 emissions. Besides global warming, other environmental indicators (e.g., acidification, ozone depletion, land use) also degrade our planet’s ecosystem. Practitioners, such as contractors and architects, often lack practical knowledge on how to effectively minimise these impacts. Greater insight is needed into key contributors to the environmental impact and the role material choices can play in it. While much research has focused on residential buildings, comprehensive studies on non-residential buildings remain limited. In this study, seven recently built Belgian non-residential buildings and multi-family houses (MFHs) are selected to provide first insights into which building elements primarily contribute most to the environmental impact, what role material choices play, and how big the contribution of the operational impact is. The selection encompasses diverse typologies and construction methods, including solid, massive timber and timber frame construction. The sample includes an office building, a primary school, three childcare centres, an assisted living facility and an apartment complex. The buildings’ environmental impact is assessed through life cycle assessment (LCA) considering both embodied and operational impact. The results are analysed based on the Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the aggregated impact, expressed in CO2-eq and Points respectively. The results show that the environmental impact ranges from 66 to 235 mPt/m², or from 534 to 1,572 kg CO2-eq/m², with the large variation attributable to the share of the operational impact (up to 79%). The floors show the highest contribution (35-59%) to the embodied impact due to the structural elements and floor finishes. This is followed by walls (15-38%), windows (5-22%), roofs (7-20%), and beams and columns (1-15%). Furthermore, the whole structure accounts for more than 50% of the total embodied impact, although interior finishing materials also take up a notable share.}},
  articleno    = {{012009}},
  author       = {{Haverbeke, Maud and Decorte, Yanaika and Steeman, Marijke}},
  booktitle    = {{IOP CONFERENCE SERIES : EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE}},
  issn         = {{1755-1307}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Trondheim, Norway}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  title        = {{Environmental impact of non-residential and multi-family buildings in Belgium}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1615/1/012009}},
  volume       = {{1615}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}

Altmetric

View in Altmetric