Abstract

The building sector accounts for 10 GtCO2 or 28% of global energy-related carbon emissions. These emissions are in the embodied impacts and the operation of buildings. An experimental building in Bangalore, India was made with different construction assemblies and materials to document performance and cost parameters. For this building, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to assess the environmental impacts of experimental walls. The paper describes the method and identifies the challenges for conducting such analyses in India, especially when unconventional materials have been used. The baseline wall system is the typical uninsulated brick wall with plaster on both sides. The three innovative wall systems use a combination of stabilised soil construction, light-weight concrete blocks, insulation and cladding with lower U-values. The scope of the study is cradle to handover + operational stage (50 years). The lack of data sources for conducting LCA is the major barrier to assessing the embodied environmental performance of buildings. For the embodied or cradle to handover stage, the highest carbon emissions resulted from the standard brick wall. The experimental wall systems showed a 52% to 78% reduction in embodied carbon content. In the operational stage too, the carbon emissions resulting from the standard brick wall were the highest, while the experimental walls show a reduction of 9% to 11%. Other impacts analysed were, Ozone Depletion Potential Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential and Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential.