Speaker
Description
The rapid population growth rate has increased the demand across various sectors. The high demand of fossil fuels can lead to an increasing of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere which is affected to the environmental issues such as global warming, air-pollution and climate change problems. This high demand, particularly in the building construction sector which relating to almost 40% of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. This study aims to determine the total carbon emissions of a detached house in Thailand by using the life cycle carbon emissions analysis (LCCEA) approach. This research employs a cradle-to-grave system boundary for LCCEA by determining the total carbon emissions from six stages throughout the building's life cycle: initial, transportation, construction, recurrent, operational, and demolition. Determination of the embodied carbon emissions of the 16 main building materials revealed that fibercement has the highest emissions, accounting for 31.92% followed by steel at 30.11% and concrete at 17.35%. The results show that operational emissions account for the largest proportion at 54%, followed by initial embodied emissions at 35%, recurrent embodied emissions at 9%, and the remaining stages (transportation, construction, and demolition) at 2%. The total life cycle carbon emissions of the case study house is 53.97 kgCO₂e/m²/year. These findings can be used to develop guidelines for reducing carbon emissions in building construction sector, ultimately contributing to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and fostering a sustainable future society.
