Life cycle analysis of warehouse-type constructions

Abstract

This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the life cycle for industrial warehouse-type buildings, intending to compare the embodied emissions and the embodied energy for the assessed cases and at the same time draw practical conclusions for practitioners. The analysis aims to identify the optimal solutions for the conformation of industrial buildings as well as the sustainability, from components choice and structural solution approach.
Four industrial buildings with different structural solutions, building envelope components, and destination are assessed: 1st case: a steel structure with production and storage as the main activity, having the destination of warehouse construction and energy storage and distribution; 2nd case: a mixed structure made of steel and wood used as a production space, namely glued laminated timber production; 3rd case: a commercial warehouse made of prefabricated concrete elements, intended for storage and sale of construction materials; 4th case: a commercial warehouse made of prefabricated concrete elements with metal roofing, intended for storage and sale of household goods. The analysis was performed using the Athena Impact Estimator software by imputing the description for all the materials describing the components, the locations of the buildings, the destination of each building, and other relevant data. Based on the preliminary results it was concluded that the industrial building made of prefabricated concrete elements (i.e. 3rd case scenario) is the most balanced and sustainable in terms of carbon and embodied energy.