Life cycle assessment of structural ceramic masonry and precast concrete panels houses considering different bioclimatic zones

Abstract

The construction industry is a large consumer of natural resources and is responsible for several environmental impacts. In this sense, it is verified, in recent years, initiatives of the sector to improve the quality and increase the efficiency of its processes, among them the development of more rationalized and industrialized construction systems, such as structural masonry and precast reinforced concrete panels. However, the sector still lacks ways to assess the real environmental impacts of these different systems, throughout their life cycles. Thus, the present study aimed to apply the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for the comparison of environmental impacts of two social housing projects (HIS), one of ceramic brick structural masonry and another one of precast reinforced concrete panels, considering the impact of the different thermal performances of these systems in six Brazilian bioclimatic zones. The study presented is “cradle-to-gate with options” type, including the stages of production and replacement of materials and energy use of the house were considered. Secondary data were used, environmental modeling in SimaPro software and thermal-energetic simulation in DesignBuilder software were done. The precast concrete panel’s house presented larger environmental impacts in the six bioclimatic zones, since the city of Teresina was the largest and Curitiba the smallest. The use stage was the most significant for all environmental impact categories assessed. We conclude the importance of evaluating the thermal performance in different bioclimatic zones for LCA studies applied to Brazilian buildings.