Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings
Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction industry continue to increase at an annual rate of 1.5%. It is particularly important to understand the characteristics of the building life cycle to reduce its environmental impact. This paper aims to assess the environmental impact of pre...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-03-01
|
Series: | Sustainability |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2609 |
id |
doaj-7dd67039234e47ca9cd194ab1499d2c0 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-7dd67039234e47ca9cd194ab1499d2c02020-11-25T01:44:36ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502020-03-01127260910.3390/su12072609su12072609Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated BuildingsHe Wang0Yinqi Zhang1Weijun Gao2Soichiro Kuroki3School of Environmental Engineering, the University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 8080135, JapanSchool of Environmental Engineering, the University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 8080135, JapanSchool of Environmental Engineering, the University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 8080135, JapanSchool of Environmental Engineering, the University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 8080135, JapanGlobal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction industry continue to increase at an annual rate of 1.5%. It is particularly important to understand the characteristics of the building life cycle to reduce its environmental impact. This paper aims to assess the environmental impact of prefabricated buildings and traditional cast-in-situ buildings over the building life cycle using a hybrid model. A case study of a building with a 40% assembly rate in Japan was employed for evaluation. It concluded that the total energy consumption, and carbon emissions of the prefabricated building was 7.54%, and 7.17%, respectively, less than that of the traditional cast-in-situ building throughout the whole life cycle. The carbon emissions reduction in the operation phase reached a peak of 4.05 kg CO2/year∙m<sup>2</sup>. The prefabricated building was found to cost less than the traditional cast-in-situ building, reducing the price per square meter by 10.62%. The prefabricated building has advantages in terms of reducing global warming, acid rain, and health damage by 15% reduction. With the addition of the assembly rate, the carbon emissions and cost dropped, bottoming out when the assembly rate was 60%. After that, an upward trend was shown with the assembly rate increasing. Additionally, this study outlined that the prefabricated pile foundations is not applicable due to its high construction cost and environmental impact.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2609prefabricated buildingtraditional buildinglife cycleenvironmental impact |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
He Wang Yinqi Zhang Weijun Gao Soichiro Kuroki |
spellingShingle |
He Wang Yinqi Zhang Weijun Gao Soichiro Kuroki Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings Sustainability prefabricated building traditional building life cycle environmental impact |
author_facet |
He Wang Yinqi Zhang Weijun Gao Soichiro Kuroki |
author_sort |
He Wang |
title |
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings |
title_short |
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings |
title_full |
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings |
title_fullStr |
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings |
title_full_unstemmed |
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings |
title_sort |
life cycle environmental and cost performance of prefabricated buildings |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2020-03-01 |
description |
Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction industry continue to increase at an annual rate of 1.5%. It is particularly important to understand the characteristics of the building life cycle to reduce its environmental impact. This paper aims to assess the environmental impact of prefabricated buildings and traditional cast-in-situ buildings over the building life cycle using a hybrid model. A case study of a building with a 40% assembly rate in Japan was employed for evaluation. It concluded that the total energy consumption, and carbon emissions of the prefabricated building was 7.54%, and 7.17%, respectively, less than that of the traditional cast-in-situ building throughout the whole life cycle. The carbon emissions reduction in the operation phase reached a peak of 4.05 kg CO2/year∙m<sup>2</sup>. The prefabricated building was found to cost less than the traditional cast-in-situ building, reducing the price per square meter by 10.62%. The prefabricated building has advantages in terms of reducing global warming, acid rain, and health damage by 15% reduction. With the addition of the assembly rate, the carbon emissions and cost dropped, bottoming out when the assembly rate was 60%. After that, an upward trend was shown with the assembly rate increasing. Additionally, this study outlined that the prefabricated pile foundations is not applicable due to its high construction cost and environmental impact. |
topic |
prefabricated building traditional building life cycle environmental impact |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2609 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT hewang lifecycleenvironmentalandcostperformanceofprefabricatedbuildings AT yinqizhang lifecycleenvironmentalandcostperformanceofprefabricatedbuildings AT weijungao lifecycleenvironmentalandcostperformanceofprefabricatedbuildings AT soichirokuroki lifecycleenvironmentalandcostperformanceofprefabricatedbuildings |
_version_ |
1725027618692005888 |