Life Cycle Assessment of a new architectural solution that improves the thermal performance of the building envelope: Natural Green Tank Facade

The objective of this work, that improves the enclosure's thermal performance of the building, is to divulge the environmental impacts tied to a new solution of vegetated facade by means of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology with a cradle to grave system boundary. The analysis aims also at generating relevant information of the life cycle as base material for drafting a future Environmental Product Declaration. The facade's component manufacture stage is the one presenting the highest contribution for all the analysed impact categories, with the vegetated layer being the one with the greatest impact. Conversely, the transport stage is the one presenting the least contribution, and can be considered negligible for all the analysed impact categories. Following the analysis of the results, we have obtained useful information about the most problematic aspects and components in the assessed facade's performance, thus paving the way towards possible actions of impact reduction by the manufacturer.