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  • Whole-Building Life-Cycle Assessment in the Built Environment: A Ten- and Six-Story Shake-Table Test Building Case Study
Title: Whole-Building Life-Cycle Assessment in the Built Environment: A Ten- and Six-Story Shake-Table Test Building Case Study
Abstract The utilization of mass timber engineered wood products has increased for new buildings aiming to reduce environmental impacts. Whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) has been used to quantify the environmental impacts for a building’s lifespan. While mechanisms for calculating the cradle-to-grave impacts of a single building are well established, there are few examples of WBLCA applied for buildings in their first and second life that can be used to inform perspectives and pathways related to the circular economy and lead to informed decision making. This work presents a case study WBLCA to examine the effect of overlapping system boundaries and alternative end-of-life pathways for a building structure in its first and second life. This case study analyzed a ten-story mass timber shake-table specimen that was partially deconstructed and reused as a six-story shake-table building structure. Environmental impacts were analyzed in terms of global warming potential (GWP) calculated as the sum of fossil carbon, biogenic carbon, and avoided impacts. When examining reuse and landfill pathway alternatives using current standards and practices, results show that reusing material causes a positive GWP trend in the first system boundary and negative GWP trend in the second boundary. These results could indicate that it is not advantageous to reuse the ten-story building structure, running against principles of waste hierarchy, although the interpretation should be considered with caution. Future analyses could be improved by considering additional criteria such as demand on forest stocks, economic incentives, and even social impacts for a more complete representation of sustainability.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2120683
PAR ID:
10571019
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Forest Products Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Forest Products Journal
Volume:
75
Issue:
1
ISSN:
0015-7473
Page Range / eLocation ID:
52 to 61
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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