Carbon footprint evaluation of local dwellings in Bangladesh towards low carbon society
Built Environment Project and Asset Management
ISSN: 2044-124X
Article publication date: 4 October 2021
Issue publication date: 11 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Local dwellings of Bangladesh have specific environmental characteristics. These dwellings extensively use locally available materials and construction techniques. Therefore, carbon footprint (CF), as a prominent environmental parameter, is greatly affected by construction materials and techniques. Nonetheless, scientific justification is limited to evaluate CF of these dwellings in Bangladesh according to different local construction materials. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate different rural dwellings’ CF for both construction and operational phases toward the development of low carbon society in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
For evaluating CF, literature review and field studies were conducted to specify and categorize cases. An intensive field monitoring and occupant's survey were performed during summer. A widely recognized compliant database and assessment tool “Ecoinvent v3” was used based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040 and 14044. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to evaluate constructional and operational stages of carbon emission using hybrid methods formed by process-based and economic input–output life cycle analysis (EIO-LCA) approaches.
Findings
The study indicates that different building materials significantly impact on dwelling's amount of carbon emission according to construction techniques. Brick dwelling's construction stage carbon emission was nearly 3.86 times higher than timber, whereas, 6.75 times higher than mud dwelling. In terms of operational stage, local brick dwelling emits higher carbon compared to others relating to occupants’ lifestyle and activities.
Originality/value
This study will contribute to helping professionals and policy-makers to interpret and evaluate architectural design and construction processes for improving low-carbon dwellings in Bangladesh.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), Bangladesh, for financial support provided for Research Project CUET/DRE/2018-19/ARCH/002 and all the participants for providing data.
Citation
Islam, R., Chowdhury, S., Jannat, N. and Paul, P. (2022), "Carbon footprint evaluation of local dwellings in Bangladesh towards low carbon society", Built Environment Project and Asset Management, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 433-446. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-01-2021-0018
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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