TY - JOUR
T1 - Environmental Challenges in the Residential Sector: Life Cycle Assessment of Mexican Social Housing
AU - Gámez García, Diana Carolina
AU - Saldaña Márquez, Héctor
AU - Gómez-Soberón, José M.
AU - Arredondo-Rea, Susana P.
AU - Gómez-Soberón, María C.
AU - Corral-Higuera, Ramón
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank CONACYT for its doctoral scholarship program, the Barcelona School of Building Construction-UPC, the Department of Architecture Technology-EPSEB-UPC and the School of Engineering Mochis-UAS. Acknowledgements also go to Grupo Mezta for providing information related to the case study.
Funding Information:
This research received no external funding. The authors would like to thank CONACYT for its doctoral scholarship program, the Barcelona School of Building Construction-UPC, the Department of Architecture Technology-EPSEB-UPC and the School of Engineering Mochis-UAS. Acknowledgements also go to Grupo Mezta for providing information related to the case study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors.
PY - 2019/7/23
Y1 - 2019/7/23
N2 - Social Housing (SH) in Mexico has a potentially important role in reducing both the emission of greenhouse gases and the use of non-renewable resources, two of the main challenges facing not only Mexico but the planet as a whole. This work assesses the environmental impact generated by the embodied stages of a typical SH throughout its life cycle (cradle to grave), by means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Two types of envelope and interior walls and three types of windows are compared. It was found that SH emits 309 kg CO2 eq/m2 and consumes 3911 MJ eq/m2 in the product stages (A1 to A3) and construction process (A4 to A5); the most important stages are those referring to the products, namely, A1 to A3, B4 (replacement) and B2 (maintenance). Additionally, benefits were found in the use of lightweight and thermal materials, such as concrete blocks lightened with pumice or windows made of PVC or wood. Although the use of LCA is incipient in the housing and construction sector in Mexico, this work shows how its application is not only feasible but recommended as it may become a basic tool in the search for sustainability.
AB - Social Housing (SH) in Mexico has a potentially important role in reducing both the emission of greenhouse gases and the use of non-renewable resources, two of the main challenges facing not only Mexico but the planet as a whole. This work assesses the environmental impact generated by the embodied stages of a typical SH throughout its life cycle (cradle to grave), by means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Two types of envelope and interior walls and three types of windows are compared. It was found that SH emits 309 kg CO2 eq/m2 and consumes 3911 MJ eq/m2 in the product stages (A1 to A3) and construction process (A4 to A5); the most important stages are those referring to the products, namely, A1 to A3, B4 (replacement) and B2 (maintenance). Additionally, benefits were found in the use of lightweight and thermal materials, such as concrete blocks lightened with pumice or windows made of PVC or wood. Although the use of LCA is incipient in the housing and construction sector in Mexico, this work shows how its application is not only feasible but recommended as it may become a basic tool in the search for sustainability.
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U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/en12142837
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/en12142837
M3 - Article
VL - 12
SP - 2837
JO - Energies
JF - Energies
SN - 1996-1073
IS - 14
M1 - 2837
ER -