A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia
The construction industry has the potential to address negative impact on the environment by considered use of scarce natural resources, through a more informed choice of fit-for-purpose building materials. This paper presents a holistic life-cycle assessment (LCA) to facilitate the selection of env...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87487 |
| _version_ | 1848764922161266688 |
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| author | Hahnel, Grace Whyte, Andrew Biswas, Wahidul |
| author_facet | Hahnel, Grace Whyte, Andrew Biswas, Wahidul |
| author_sort | Hahnel, Grace |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The construction industry has the potential to address negative impact on the environment by considered use of scarce natural resources, through a more informed choice of fit-for-purpose building materials. This paper presents a holistic life-cycle assessment (LCA) to facilitate the selection of environmentally friendly designs. Building on previous studies suggesting that engineers can reduce their environmental impact through conscious material selections and a substitution of traditional specifications, this work presents a case-study related to structural flooring systems in which a LCA approach for selecting the environmentally benign option, complements structural integrity design decisions. This study examined the life cycle environmental impacts associated with timber, steel and concrete structural flooring systems' options, for WA. ISO14040-44 guidelines were followed to carry out this ‘cradle to cradle’ LCA approach for calculating respective impacts. The comparisons of options using local benchmarks concluded that timber has the lowest environmental impacts followed by steel, and then ‘GreenStar’ concrete, with eco-classifications assessing the environmental impact of each flooring system for Perth WA across key environmental impacts categories and individual life cycle stages. This showed local hotspots in environmental categories of fossil fuel depletion and climate change and life cycle stages of mining to manufacture, construction and building operation. This research provides the reflection on what makes a sustainable design and, by targeting feasible solutions for WA, and by presenting the findings of a somewhat complex LCA analyses as a singular easy-to-use value, which addresses the need for enhanced materials awareness. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:27:03Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-87487 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:27:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-874872022-02-09T02:49:52Z A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia Hahnel, Grace Whyte, Andrew Biswas, Wahidul 0907 - Environmental Engineering 0905 - Civil Engineering 0502 - Environmental Science and Management The construction industry has the potential to address negative impact on the environment by considered use of scarce natural resources, through a more informed choice of fit-for-purpose building materials. This paper presents a holistic life-cycle assessment (LCA) to facilitate the selection of environmentally friendly designs. Building on previous studies suggesting that engineers can reduce their environmental impact through conscious material selections and a substitution of traditional specifications, this work presents a case-study related to structural flooring systems in which a LCA approach for selecting the environmentally benign option, complements structural integrity design decisions. This study examined the life cycle environmental impacts associated with timber, steel and concrete structural flooring systems' options, for WA. ISO14040-44 guidelines were followed to carry out this ‘cradle to cradle’ LCA approach for calculating respective impacts. The comparisons of options using local benchmarks concluded that timber has the lowest environmental impacts followed by steel, and then ‘GreenStar’ concrete, with eco-classifications assessing the environmental impact of each flooring system for Perth WA across key environmental impacts categories and individual life cycle stages. This showed local hotspots in environmental categories of fossil fuel depletion and climate change and life cycle stages of mining to manufacture, construction and building operation. This research provides the reflection on what makes a sustainable design and, by targeting feasible solutions for WA, and by presenting the findings of a somewhat complex LCA analyses as a singular easy-to-use value, which addresses the need for enhanced materials awareness. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87487 10.1016/j.jobe.2020.102109 English Elsevier restricted |
| spellingShingle | 0907 - Environmental Engineering 0905 - Civil Engineering 0502 - Environmental Science and Management Hahnel, Grace Whyte, Andrew Biswas, Wahidul A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia |
| title | A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia |
| title_full | A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia |
| title_fullStr | A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia |
| title_short | A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Structural Flooring Systems in Western Australia |
| title_sort | comparative life cycle assessment of structural flooring systems in western australia |
| topic | 0907 - Environmental Engineering 0905 - Civil Engineering 0502 - Environmental Science and Management |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87487 |