Environmental damage from wall technologies for residential buildings in Israel

Four wall technologies used for residential building in Israel (concrete, lightweight concrete block, autoclaved aerated block, and concrete block) were evaluated for their total environmental damage. The production and construction (P&C) and operational energy (OE) stages were considered. Influences of the climate (the four climate zones of Israel), building type (regular and low-energy), and primary fuel source [natural gas and photovoltaic (PV) for energy production] on the selection of the best wall technology were analyzed. EnergyPlus software was used to evaluate building heating and cooling needs for the OE stage. The ReCiPe method was used for both the P&C and OE stages to evaluate environmental damage via human health, ecosystem quality and resource depletion damage categories. It was determined that both concrete block walls and concrete walls were the best choices when natural gas was used, while the concrete block and autoclaved aerated block walls were the best choices when PV was used. The following two conclusions were reached: wall technologies with high thermal mass are environmentally preferred when natural gas is used, whereas wall technologies with reduced cement quantity are environmentally preferred when PV is used.