Embodied Energy and Embodied GWP of Windows: A Critical Review

The construction sector is one of the most energy-intensive in the industrialized countries. In order to limit climate change emissions throughout the entire life cycle of a building, in addition to reducing energy consumption in the operational phase, attention should also be paid to the embodied e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2021-07, Vol.14 (13), p.3788
Main Authors: Asdrubali, Francesco, Roncone, Marta, Grazieschi, Gianluca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum
Architecture
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
Climate change
Construction
Construction industry
Design
Emissions
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Environmental impact
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
Global warming
Green buildings
Insulation
life cycle assessment (LCA)
Optical properties
Radiation
Solar energy
Standardization
Typology
windows
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Summary:The construction sector is one of the most energy-intensive in the industrialized countries. In order to limit climate change emissions throughout the entire life cycle of a building, in addition to reducing energy consumption in the operational phase, attention should also be paid to the embodied energy and CO2 emissions of the building itself. The purpose of this work is to review data on embodied energy and GWP derived from EPDs of different types of windows, to identify the LCA phases, the most impacting materials and processes from an environmental point of view and to perform a critical analysis of the outcomes. The results show a strong dependence on the typology of the frame, with wooden windows having competitive performances: lower average primary energy non-renewable (1123 MJ/FU), higher average primary energy renewable (respectively 817 MJ/FU) and lower global warming potential (54 kgCO2eq/FU). More transparency and standardization in the information conveyed by the program operators is, however, desirable for a better comparability of windows performances. In particular, the inclusion of the operational impact in the EPD is sporadic, but strongly important, since it can be the most impactful phase.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en14133788