BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES BETWEEN A CONVENTIONAL AND A PREFABRICATED CONSTRUCTION USING LCA

Abstract

Aim: The article aims to identify and characterize comparative studies of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) between conventional and prefabricated building systems.

Methodology: A bibliometric analysis was performed with the steps of formulating the question, defining strategy, selecting studies, collecting and analyzing data, results and conclusions.

Relevance: The construction industry is responsible for considerable environmental impacts from the extraction of raw materials to demolition. With the use of LCA, it is possible to identify the main causers and mitigate their environmental consequences.

Results: The studies are concentrated in Europe and Asia, with pre-operational assessments of global warming (CO2 emissions) and pre-operational energy consumption of construction. The most significant uses in the development of LCA were: SimaPro software, Ecoinvent database and IPCC, IMPACT 2002+ and TRACI methods. The advantage of prefabrication has been verified, however, it is not possible to generalize due to the great variability between the values ​​found.

Contributions: This article allowed to identify the study gaps to be explored, the current research scenario in the area and the main definitions related to LCA studies for civil construction (e.g. software, database, method).

Conclusion: The term "conventional construction" has a different meaning for each country, so it is worth describing in detail the composition of the construction processes. Also, the importance of a structured scope for comparative studies of LCA, with the declaration of the adopted criteria, the description of the scenario in which it is inserted and the use of consistent parameters for reliable results is emphasized.