Shifting to Biobased Building Materials in Animal Housing
(2026) AEBM01 20251Division of Energy and Building Design
- Abstract
- The building sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, primarily due to two factors: the embodied energy of construction materials and the operational energy consumed over a building’s lifespan. Given this substantial environmental impact, sustainability and climate resilience have become critical priorities in global policy frameworks. Addressing this challenge requires urgent, strategic action, beginning with the informed selection of building materials during the design and construction stages. A key method for supporting such decisions is the use of life cycle assessment (LCA), a method which enables a comprehensive evaluation of a material’s environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle.
This thesis... (More) - The building sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, primarily due to two factors: the embodied energy of construction materials and the operational energy consumed over a building’s lifespan. Given this substantial environmental impact, sustainability and climate resilience have become critical priorities in global policy frameworks. Addressing this challenge requires urgent, strategic action, beginning with the informed selection of building materials during the design and construction stages. A key method for supporting such decisions is the use of life cycle assessment (LCA), a method which enables a comprehensive evaluation of a material’s environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle.
This thesis focuses on an agricultural building located in Borby, Sweden. The facility is designed as a poultry building to accommodate egg-laying hens. Construction of the building is currently ongoing, and the study is based on the construction drawings obtained from the project. A comparative analysis was performed between two cases: the first represents the ongoing construction, which uses conventional concrete and steel, whereas the second substitutes these materials with biobased alternatives. An LCA is carried out for both options to identify the stages with the highest carbon impact.
The LCA is conducted using Autodesk Revit to extract material quantities, which are then mapped to environmental product declarations (EPDs) in the One Click LCA database. To ensure adequate thermal performance when substituting conventional building materials with biobased building materials, the U-values were calculated based on current Swedish practice.
The comparative LCA between conventional and biobased construction shows that the Global Warming Potential (GWP-total) is reduced by 367 kg CO2-eq/m2 of gross internal floor area (GIFA), while the GWP-fossil was reduced by 191 kg CO2-eq/m2 in the biobased construction. This reduction indicates lower GHG emissions. In terms of GWP-biogenic, biobased construction exhibits a carbon sequestration potential of 176 kg CO2-eq/m2 compared to conventional construction, which offsets a portion of the embodied carbon. Notably, the use of wood purlins in conventional construction contributes to a lower GWP-total. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9222768
- author
- Gurmessa, Hundaol Dega LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- AEBM01 20251
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Operational energy, Embodied energy, Operational carbon, Embodied carbon, agriculture buildings, animal housing, poultry, Life Cycle Assessment
- language
- English
- id
- 9222768
- date added to LUP
- 2026-02-18 09:55:36
- date last changed
- 2026-03-16 09:20:29
@misc{9222768,
abstract = {{The building sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, primarily due to two factors: the embodied energy of construction materials and the operational energy consumed over a building’s lifespan. Given this substantial environmental impact, sustainability and climate resilience have become critical priorities in global policy frameworks. Addressing this challenge requires urgent, strategic action, beginning with the informed selection of building materials during the design and construction stages. A key method for supporting such decisions is the use of life cycle assessment (LCA), a method which enables a comprehensive evaluation of a material’s environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle.
This thesis focuses on an agricultural building located in Borby, Sweden. The facility is designed as a poultry building to accommodate egg-laying hens. Construction of the building is currently ongoing, and the study is based on the construction drawings obtained from the project. A comparative analysis was performed between two cases: the first represents the ongoing construction, which uses conventional concrete and steel, whereas the second substitutes these materials with biobased alternatives. An LCA is carried out for both options to identify the stages with the highest carbon impact.
The LCA is conducted using Autodesk Revit to extract material quantities, which are then mapped to environmental product declarations (EPDs) in the One Click LCA database. To ensure adequate thermal performance when substituting conventional building materials with biobased building materials, the U-values were calculated based on current Swedish practice.
The comparative LCA between conventional and biobased construction shows that the Global Warming Potential (GWP-total) is reduced by 367 kg CO2-eq/m2 of gross internal floor area (GIFA), while the GWP-fossil was reduced by 191 kg CO2-eq/m2 in the biobased construction. This reduction indicates lower GHG emissions. In terms of GWP-biogenic, biobased construction exhibits a carbon sequestration potential of 176 kg CO2-eq/m2 compared to conventional construction, which offsets a portion of the embodied carbon. Notably, the use of wood purlins in conventional construction contributes to a lower GWP-total.}},
author = {{Gurmessa, Hundaol Dega}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Shifting to Biobased Building Materials in Animal Housing}},
year = {{2026}},
}