Measuring embodied CO₂ emission in construction materials in Kosovo apartments

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the carbon emissions emitted by two different typical apartment units representative of two different construction periods in Kosovo due to main construction materials as a consequence of embodied energy.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study uses a three-step (bottom-up) process-based life cycle analysis of the construction material set for two different apartment units. The current study uses material analysis. Embodied CO₂ is estimated by multiplying material masses with the corresponding ECO₂ coefficients (kg CO₂/kg). Due to the lack of a comprehensive Kosovo database, data from an international database are utilized. The results provide practical baseline indicators for the contribution of each material in terms of mass and embodied CO₂.

Findings

Results of quantitative research find that apartment unit representative of the old communist-era construction produces 50 percent more embodied CO₂ emissions than an apartment unit that is representative of modern construction in Kosovo. The study finds that this difference comes mainly because of the utilization of larger quantities of steel, concrete, and precast fabricated concrete in the apartment unit that is representative of the old communist era.

Research limitations/implications

The calculation of embodied CO₂ emissions for major construction materials in typical apartments in Kosovo can help in the development of national databases in the future. The availability of such databases could help the construction industry in Kosovo to open up to new sustainable design approaches since such databases and evaluations performed in the national context in Kosovo could help the builders in selecting, assessing and using environmentally friendly materials during the design or refurbishment stage of a building.

Originality/value

This paper is the first investigation of the embodied carbon emission in two different typical apartment building structures in Kosovo.

Citation

Hoxha, V. (2020), "Measuring embodied CO₂ emission in construction materials in Kosovo apartments", International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 405-421. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-02-2019-0013