Abstract :
This paper evaluates and compares the embodied energy and embodied carbon using a Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) approach for three different intermediate floor structures, all of which use prefabricated materials—cross-laminatedtimber (CLT), precast hollow-core concrete, and solid concrete—to decide which floor construction materialshave less environmental impact for use in the construction of a semi-detached house in the UK. The Inventory of Carbon& Energy (ICE) and the Carbon Calculator tool were used to calculate the carbon footprint from “cradle to grave”to determine whether the use of a CLT solution provides improved environmental performance over the traditionalconcrete solutions. The carbon footprint results indicate that the use of a hollow-core precast concrete floor systememits less carbon than the other two systems, although the concrete requires more fossil fuel input than the timberduring the manufacturing process, so based on this, the footprint from cradle to gate for the timber was expected tobe the less than that of the concrete. However, the results show the opposite; this is because of the differences in thematerial quantities needed in each system.
