Embodied Environmental Burdens of Wood Structure in Taiwan Compared with Reinforced Concrete and Steel Structures with Various Recovery Rates

Abstract:

This paper investigates environmental impacts of wood structure, reinforced concrete (RC) structure and steel structure in Taiwan in terms of embodied energy consumption and embodied CO2 emissions. The methodology of life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied to the analysis in building materials both from ‘cradle to gate’ perspectives and from ‘cradle to cradle’ perspectives. The results first show that wood structure with the resource from the USA has the least environmental impacts. In addition, as far as material recovery phase is concerned, the substitution effect of wood structure instead of RC and steel structure has an obvious increase as the recovery rate reaches more than 60%. To summarise, wood structure is beneficial for our environment not only in the construction phase but also in the material recovery phase.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 174-177)
• Pages: 202-210
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.174-177.202
• Online since: May 2012
• Authors: Sheng Han Li
• Keywords: Displacement Factor, LCA, Recycle, Sustainability, Wood structure

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