Environmental assessment of popular single-family house construction alternatives in Jordan

The building and construction sector is vital in Jordan. Over the past decade it witnessed rapid growth. Single-family housing is a popular option in Jordan. The construction sector consumes large amounts of energy and resources. Green and energy efficient buildings are growing in popularity and there are policies adopted to encourage energy efficient buildings. These buildings are often justified based on energy saving during the operation phase. Nevertheless, up to date, there is no study that analyses the efficiency of these buildings in Jordan from a life cycle perspective. In this study, the six most popular construction configurations for a single family house in Jordan are assessed using “cradle to grave” life cycle methodology. The alternatives included: single hollow concrete block (Economic), double layer hollow concrete blocks (improved economic), double layer hollow concrete blocks with insulation layer (insulated economic), typical limestone cladding, insulated limestone wall and multi-layer with limestone cladding and insulation (luxury). The results show that using the typical Jordanian family thermal comfort level and heating and cooling patterns, the economic house is the option that performs best in terms of energy resources (5050 UBP), climate change (727.85 Mg CO2 eq), acidification (2.91 Mg SO2 eq) and particulate matter formation (1.14 Mg PM10 eq). Limestone cladded houses show better results in terms of human toxicity and water depletion impact. The results further suggest that energy resource and water depletion impacts may be used as proxy indicators for the overall performance of the building.