Sustainability Assessment of a Wooden Multi-Storey Building Compared with an Equivalent Reinforced Concrete Alternative Using ToSIA: Finnish Perspective

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dc.contributorAalto-yliopistofi
dc.contributorAalto Universityen
dc.contributor.authorAlam, Ashraful
dc.contributor.authorGoto, Yutaka
dc.contributor.authorHagy, Shea
dc.contributor.authorTuomasjukka, Diana
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Mark
dc.contributor.departmentWood Material Technology
dc.contributor.departmentChalmers University of Technology
dc.contributor.departmentEuropean Forest Institute
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Bioproducts and Biosystemsen
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-30T09:52:53Z
dc.date.available2023-06-30T09:52:53Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionThe authors acknowledge the financial support by EIT Climate-KIC. Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA) is greatly acknowledged for providing the drawings of the buildings.
dc.description.abstractThe aim of this study was to conduct a sustainability impact assessment (SIA) on a wooden multi-storey building and compare this to an equivalent reinforced concrete building using ToSIA (Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment). The SIA considered the material flows and processes along the respective supply chains in Finland and included environmental, economic, and social indicators. The greenhouse gas savings of various wood-based materials of the buildings were also compared with concrete elements. The boundary of the quantitative analysis was cradle-to-construction site and included the structural support system of the building. Primary data was collected from the material supply chain and manufacturing facilities and were used to develop the life cycle inventory database. Secondary data were also referenced for the selected indicators. The results indicated that the wood frame structure provided greater environmental benefits, being responsible for only one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions and two-thirds of the non-renewable energy consumption during building material sourcing to the construction site gate, compared to the reinforced concrete alternative. In terms of socio-economic sustainability, the reinforced concrete alternative had higher production costs, but a lower labour intensity than wood. It was also found that non-fatal accidents occurred more often in the concrete supply chain, especially at the manufacturing facility, indicating that work safety was higher in the wood-alternative. In addition, the avoided greenhouse gas emission calculation showed that 159 kgCO2 m–2 could be avoided and 101 kgCO2 m–2 could be stored by replacing concrete frame building with wood. Such information can be useful for constructors, designers, and public bodies in making informed choices during building design and future construction. Future studies may extend the system boundary and include end-of-life scenarios and the cascading use of wood to find further greenhouse gas emissions savings.en
dc.description.versionPeer revieweden
dc.format.extent24
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationAlam , A , Goto , Y , Hagy , S , Tuomasjukka , D & Hughes , M 2022 , ' Sustainability Assessment of a Wooden Multi-Storey Building Compared with an Equivalent Reinforced Concrete Alternative Using ToSIA: Finnish Perspective ' , Journal of Sustainability Research , vol. 4 , no. 4 , e220014 . https://doi.org/10.20900/jsr20220014en
dc.identifier.doi10.20900/jsr20220014
dc.identifier.issn2632-6582
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: b744bc89-84fb-49d3-8695-fe7c6f6a0c2a
dc.identifier.otherPURE ITEMURL: https://research.aalto.fi/en/publications/b744bc89-84fb-49d3-8695-fe7c6f6a0c2a
dc.identifier.otherPURE FILEURL: https://research.aalto.fi/files/114757640/CHEM_Alam_et_al_Sustainability_Assessment_2022_J_Sustain_Res.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/122006
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:fi:aalto-202306304374
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherHapres Limited
dc.relation.ispartofseriesJournal of Sustainability Researchen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVolume 4, issue 4en
dc.rightsopenAccessen
dc.titleSustainability Assessment of a Wooden Multi-Storey Building Compared with an Equivalent Reinforced Concrete Alternative Using ToSIA: Finnish Perspectiveen
dc.typeA1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessäfi
dc.type.versionpublishedVersion
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[article-cris] Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu / CHEM