Repercussion the use phase in the life cycle assessment of structures in residential buildings using one-way slabs

Abstract

This study incorporates the use phase in the life cycle assessment (LCA) of reinforced concrete structures that are composed of one-way slabs. Sustainable construction is one of the main future objectives of the European Union; therefore, useful and reliable tools will be necessary for its implementation. The usefulness of the LCA for the selection of structural alternatives depends on the data quality. The Environmental Product Declarations collect the production phase of building materials, but it is necessary to incorporate the particularities in the implementation and use phases. This work proposes a stage that considers the use phase in the structural part that does not belong to the building envelope and provides a methodology that reflects the characteristics of each climate zone where it is applied. All of the representative variables to define the structure of a building are combined: column grids, variations in the geometry of one-way slabs, and different materials. A discrete model that incorporates 360 cases is constructed to compare the reliability of the model with a study on real structure projects. The results show the importance of the use phase in residential buildings with respect to the effects generated during the other phases (production, execution and demolition), as well as its high variations, up to 140.4%. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd