Research for MIT – evaluation and energy savings of natural materials in the construction industry

Since 2021, the Timber Research Institute has been conducting an assessment of energy saving opportunities in the construction industry using domestic renewable and secondary raw materials for the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The analysis included an assessment of the environmental impact of their use throughout the life cycle of the building.

The evaluation of the selected construction systems also took into account the energy and costs required not only for the operation and heating of the buildings, but also for the construction itself. A comparison was made of the CO2 emissions in the production of the assessed building materials against other conventional building materials. The results were prepared with the financial support of the State Programme for the Promotion of Energy Saving for the period 2017-2021, Programme EFEKT II. The project was closed at the end of 2022.

The whole research was divided into five stages:

• Stage 1: Search systemisation of available knowledge and data
• Stage 2: Analysis of potentially advantageous design systems and selection of representatives for case studies
• Stage 3: LCA and LCC analyses – determination of life cycle environmental impacts of selected structural systems
• Stage 4: Cataloguing and evaluation of achievable parameters
• Stage 5: Proposal of strategic, technical or legislative measures to reduce negative environmental impacts in the construction sector

Brief conclusions from the research can be found in the attached article.