Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Architects and building designers are pivotal in mitigating climate change by shaping the environmental footprint of buildings from their inception, with life cycle assessment (LCA) serving as a crucial tool for quantifying these impacts. Given that structural systems contribute significantly to embodied carbon, accounting for approximately 24% of a building’s life cycle emissions, this research investigates the relationship between structural span length—a key design factor influencing material choices and construction methods—and overall environmental performance. Through a scenario-based analysis employing building information modeling (BIM) and whole building life cycle assessment (WBLCA) tools, this study evaluates various building configurations to reveal that in long-span scenarios, steel demonstrates a lower environmental impact compared to timber. This finding offers a novel, quantifiable insight for architects and designers to assess and optimize building designs, particularly in the context of emerging architectural trends featuring longer spans, ultimately contributing to more sustainable building practices.
Source: Sustainability
DOI: 10.3390/su17094183
Authors: Giovanni Perrucci, Dario Trabucco
Institution: Università Iuav di Venezia
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W4410127840