Environmental Impact of Buildings—What Matters?

What is it about?

In this article we investigate the most relevant factors that will determine the environmental impacts of buildings. We show that wooden buildings will consume more energy for heating, however, the environmental benefit of wooden construction outweighs that disadvantage. Further important factors for the environmental performance of a building are the ventilation and the energy source for electricity and space heat.

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Why is it important?

This article is the first systematic analysis of building life cycle impact that accounts for the effect of thermal mass. We show that space heat demand is increased by ca. 2-5% for wooden buildings. It gives policy makers and building planers important insights in the environmental benefits of building design and material choice.