Carbon Footprint Assessment of the Pre-panelized Construction Process

• Author / Creator

  Naseri Esfahani, Mehrdad

• Higher demand for residential construction in Canada in recent years has led some companies to move from conventional site-built construction to pre-fabrication methods. Although pre-fabrication can improve quality and construction speed, its sustainability in terms of CO2 emissions compared to site-built construction also needs to be assessed. This research thus focuses on CO2 assessment of the pre-panelized construction process in order to reduce the environmental impact of construction and provide a benchmark for the pre-panelized process. Results from the CO2 assessment of a pre-panelized company process show that almost 40% of total CO2 emissions are related to utility usage in the factory. Furthermore, a comparison of the carbon footprint of the company’s current process to that of its past process (site-built framing) shows that pre-panelized wood framing leads to less CO2 emissions per floor area if the company’s production level exceeds a certain level.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Life-cycle assessment
  • CO2 emission
  • Carbon footprint assessment

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R36D7H

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.