Life Cycle Assessment of material used in social housing in Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18537/mskn.16.01.19Keywords:
life cycle assessment, construction, concrete, steel, environmental impactAbstract
This article aims to evaluate the sustainability of construction materials in Ecuador, whose use accounts for 41.1% of the country’s environmental impact, focusing on social housing projects in the provinces of Azuay and Cañar. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to quantify the environmental impacts of concrete and steel from raw material extraction to end-of-life, using the OpenLCA software. Two scenarios were compared: one based on conventional practices and another incorporating sustainable strategies, such as the use of recycled materials and steel reuse. The results show that the extraction and production stages are the most impactful, with cement and steel being the main contributors due to their high energy consumption. It is concluded that the incorporation of recycled materials and the implementation of circular economy strategies can significantly reduce environmental impacts, especially in the categories of climate change and resource depletion, reinforcing the need for sustainable approaches in social housing construction.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Karla Alvarado-Palacios, Germán Vélez-Torres, Ana Gabriela Peñafiel
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