Analyzing the environmental impact of conventional wooden and modern reinforced concrete construction systems

Abstract

Anatolia is a homeland for many traditional construction techniques due to its rich historical background. One such technique is the hımış system, which involves filling a wooden frame with masonry material (brick, stone, and adobe). This construction method, commonly found in Anatolia, represents one of the most prevalent types of traditional houses. However, with the increasing adoption of reinforced concrete systems in modern construction, Anatolia's buildings are now being constructed with concrete systems. This paper aims at comparing the embody energy use and carbon emissions of the traditional hımış system, compared to modern reinforced concrete systems. The findings of the study suggest that the total embodied energy per m2 of wall space in modern structures spans from 3000 to 1700 MJ/m2, in contrast to traditional structures where it ranges between 1200 and 300 MJ/m2. Furthermore, the range of total embodied carbon emissions in modern buildings is observed to be between 320 and 120 CO2kg-eq/m2, while in modern structure systems, it varies from 150 to 20 CO2kg-eq/m2. This inconsistency underscores the environmental advantages of traditional building techniques over their modern counterparts in terms of both embodied energy and carbon emissions. The relative share of concrete significantly affected the results for modern systems, while the presence of lime plaster increased the environmental impacts of the hımış systems.