Hoxha, V (2020) Measuring embodied CO2 emission in construction materials in Kosovo apartments. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 38(3), pp. 405-421. ISSN 23984708
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to quantify the carbon emissions emitted by two different typical apartment units representative of two different construction periods in Kosovo due to main construction materials as a consequence of embodied energy. Design/methodology/approach: The present study uses a three-step (bottom-up) process-based life cycle analysis of the construction material set for two different apartment units. The current study uses material analysis. Embodied CO2 is estimated by multiplying material masses with the corresponding ECO2 coefficients (kg CO2/kg). Due to the lack of a comprehensive Kosovo database, data from an international database are utilized. The results provide practical baseline indicators for the contribution of each material in terms of mass and embodied CO2. Findings: Results of quantitative research find that apartment unit representative of the old communist-era construction produces 50 percent more embodied CO2 emissions than an apartment unit that is representative of modern construction in Kosovo. The study finds that this difference comes mainly because of the utilization of larger quantities of steel, concrete, and precast fabricated concrete in the apartment unit that is representative of the old communist era. Research limitations/implications: The calculation of embodied CO2 emissions for major construction materials in typical apartments in Kosovo can help in the development of national databases in the future. The availability of such databases could help the construction industry in Kosovo to open up to new sustainable design approaches since such databases and evaluations performed in the national context in Kosovo could help the builders in selecting, assessing and using environmentally friendly materials during the design or refurbishment stage of a building. Originality/value: This paper is the first investigation of the embodied carbon emission in two different typical apartment building structures in Kosovo.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | apartments; construction materials; embodied carbon emission; Kosovo |
| Index terms: | methodology, builder, apartment building, life cycle analysis, sustainable design, embodied carbon, embodied energy, construction industry, investigation, construction material, database, quantitative research, CO2 emissions, carbon emission, environmentally friendly material |
| Subjects: | building materials, data analysis and analytics, energy systems, air quality, data collection methods, construction type, climate science, practitioner, environmental impact, data management, industry analysis, research methods, design process |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Design Practice, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here