Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment
The Government of Korea uses green remodeling (GR) as a central policy for achieving carbon neutrality in the building sector. However, despite GR’s energy-saving benefits, it raises embodied carbon (EC) due to the incorporation of new materials, and there is a lack of impact analysis and assessment...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/5/783 |
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| author | Jaemoon Kim Wonkyeong Ko Jaehee Kim Jiyeon Byun Seonghoon Nam Subin Jeong |
| author_facet | Jaemoon Kim Wonkyeong Ko Jaehee Kim Jiyeon Byun Seonghoon Nam Subin Jeong |
| author_sort | Jaemoon Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Government of Korea uses green remodeling (GR) as a central policy for achieving carbon neutrality in the building sector. However, despite GR’s energy-saving benefits, it raises embodied carbon (EC) due to the incorporation of new materials, and there is a lack of impact analysis and assessment research. Thus, this study established the GR-LCA methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts (EIs) of GR, including EC. The methodology disaggregated and assessed the effects of EC and energy on GR in terms of GR’s proportion of EC, six EI categories, and the carbon reduction impacts. The analysis revealed that GR’s EC accounted for 10.6%, reducing to 9.89% when EPD materials were used. In terms of the reduction impact across six EIs, GWP was reduced to 0.84 and EP to 0.96. However, ODP, ADP, AP, and POCP, all elevated by high EIs from material inputs, increased to 626.7, 1.04, 1.16, and 250.09, respectively. Ultimately, the carbon reduction in GR was 24.9% when considering only energy usage, and 16.1% when including EC. When EPD materials were applied, the efficiency of reduction improved by an additional 0.6%, indicating a minimal application effect. Based on these findings, the differences in GR’s EC compared to new constructions, reduction limitations, and potential improvements were discussed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2aff5cc0f8d042978c0e47bc0fe15841 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj-art-2aff5cc0f8d042978c0e47bc0fe158412025-08-20T02:53:02ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-02-0115578310.3390/buildings15050783Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle AssessmentJaemoon Kim0Wonkyeong Ko1Jaehee Kim2Jiyeon Byun3Seonghoon Nam4Subin Jeong5Technology Research Institution, SAMOOCM Architect and Engineers, Seoul 05556, Republic of KoreaTechnology Research Institution, SAMOOCM Architect and Engineers, Seoul 05556, Republic of KoreaTechnology Research Institution, SAMOOCM Architect and Engineers, Seoul 05556, Republic of KoreaTechnology Research Institution, SAMOOCM Architect and Engineers, Seoul 05556, Republic of KoreaTechnology Research Institution, SAMOOCM Architect and Engineers, Seoul 05556, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Green Smart Architectural Engineering/Graduate School of Energy Systems Engineering, Kongju National University, Gongju-si 32588, Republic of KoreaThe Government of Korea uses green remodeling (GR) as a central policy for achieving carbon neutrality in the building sector. However, despite GR’s energy-saving benefits, it raises embodied carbon (EC) due to the incorporation of new materials, and there is a lack of impact analysis and assessment research. Thus, this study established the GR-LCA methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts (EIs) of GR, including EC. The methodology disaggregated and assessed the effects of EC and energy on GR in terms of GR’s proportion of EC, six EI categories, and the carbon reduction impacts. The analysis revealed that GR’s EC accounted for 10.6%, reducing to 9.89% when EPD materials were used. In terms of the reduction impact across six EIs, GWP was reduced to 0.84 and EP to 0.96. However, ODP, ADP, AP, and POCP, all elevated by high EIs from material inputs, increased to 626.7, 1.04, 1.16, and 250.09, respectively. Ultimately, the carbon reduction in GR was 24.9% when considering only energy usage, and 16.1% when including EC. When EPD materials were applied, the efficiency of reduction improved by an additional 0.6%, indicating a minimal application effect. Based on these findings, the differences in GR’s EC compared to new constructions, reduction limitations, and potential improvements were discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/5/783green remodeling (GR)embodied carbon (EC)environmental impacts (EIs)building-LCAGR-LCAEPD materials |
| spellingShingle | Jaemoon Kim Wonkyeong Ko Jaehee Kim Jiyeon Byun Seonghoon Nam Subin Jeong Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment Buildings green remodeling (GR) embodied carbon (EC) environmental impacts (EIs) building-LCA GR-LCA EPD materials |
| title | Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment |
| title_full | Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment |
| title_fullStr | Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment |
| title_short | Analyzing the Environmental Impacts and Empirical Limitations of Green Remodeling with Life Cycle Assessment |
| title_sort | analyzing the environmental impacts and empirical limitations of green remodeling with life cycle assessment |
| topic | green remodeling (GR) embodied carbon (EC) environmental impacts (EIs) building-LCA GR-LCA EPD materials |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/5/783 |
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