Life Cycle Carbon Dioxide Emission Assessment of Housing in Taiwan

In the building industry, decreasing the CO2 emission not only is an important environmental issue but also an international responsibility in the future. This research analyzed building life cycle CO2 emission and used a building life cycle CO2 emission index (LCCO2). LCCO2 allows us to compare the impacts of different building designs to the environment and finds out the most efficient CO2 reduction strategy. A low floor house life cycle simulation showed that most CO2 emission in the life cycle comes from the daily use stage. Therefore, energy preservation in the daily life is the most important strategy to reduce CO2 emission in a building. Compared with the RC house, the light weight steel house uses more eco-friendly building materials and heat preservation materials. Therefore, the LCCO2 of the light weight steel house is reduced 31.34%. The research also showed that proper increase in the life span of the building also decreases CO2 emission. The light weight steel house is more eco-friendly than the RC house in the buildings life cycle.