Sustainable construction: Comparison of environmental effects of two construction methods

Abstract

One of the ongoing challenges in the quest to make the built environment more sustainable is to identify and mitigate environmental impacts in all phases of buildings, from design to construction to use and maintenance and finally end of life phases. In this study we compare the life cycle environmental burdens of constructing Composite Metal Deck and Hollow Core floor systems for commercial buildings by using a Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The study covers material extraction (cradle-to-gate) and construction (gate-to-gate) phases and includes a detailed assessment of both direct and supply chain impacts. A comprehensive set of results is obtained from the study. These results are presented in several categories for comparative assessment - energy use, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), PM10 and VOC emissions. Other categories include solid waste and liquid emissions. © 2012 ASCE.