Cradle-to-grave comparative life cycle assessment of wood and concrete-based residential buildings in Kuninkaantammi, Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

The construction sector is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with both operational energy use and material production being the main impact factors to the footprint. The importance of embodied carbon from building materials in conversations regarding environmental sustainability is growing as energy efficiency improves. This master’s thesis analysis the climate impact of wood-based residential building compared to the conventional concrete one through a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA). The study is based on an existing residential project in Kuninkaantammi, Helsinki, Finland, where buildings with identical designs but different main structural materials were built.

The One Click LCA tool is used for the cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions assessment of the buildings. The main findings show that wood has a strong potential to minimize embodied fossil carbon emissions but also highlight its limitations as a standalone solution for achieving net-zero emissions in residential construction. The work also identifies LCA challenges, such as data accuracy, and underlines the methodological limitations. The results of this work contribute to the decision-making of construction materials selection, provide new data for sustainability research of wood-based products, emphasize the importance of chosen LCA methods in construction, and propose identifying areas for further research in the area of this topic.