Analysis of the environmental performance of life-cycle building waste management strategies in tertiary buildings

• An evaluation method based on Life Cycle Assessment is developed.
• Waste management strategies along the life-cycle of a tertiary building are studied.
• Energy recovery scenario has the greater benefits regarding Global Warming Potential.
• Net benefits regarding Global Warming Potential due the recovery of rubble and steel.

At urban level, the generation Municipal Solid Waste and Construction and Demolition Waste is mostly related to the life-cycle of buildings. An evaluation method based on Life Cycle Assessment methodology is presented in this paper to make an analysis of the environmental performance of different life-cycle building waste management strategies in tertiary buildings. As a case study, several waste management strategies considering a tertiary building located in the city of Zaragoza in Spain, are studied. The aim of the case study is to compare the environmental impacts, in terms of Global Warming Potential, of the scenarios proposed focussing on the waste minimisation and avoidance of landfilling of at least 10% for the Municipal Solid Waste generation during a building's use stage, and Construction and Demolition Waste generated during its construction and end-of-life. In case of Municipal Solid Waste, the results show that when a recovery scenario includes energy recovery from the residual fraction of the mechanical-biological treatment plant in the form of Refuse Derived Fuel, greater benefits in terms of the Global Warming Potential are obtained than with current scenarios of landfill deposition of the residual fraction. On the other hand, in case of Construction and Demolition Waste, a similar situation can be observed in case of an increase of the recovery rates of metals.