Inventario del ciclo de vida para la determinación de la energía incorporada y las emisiones de CO2 en el proceso de elaboración del bloque en una fábrica de Cuenca-Ecuador

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the main responsible for the impact generated to the environment, it has caused serious consequences in natural and human environments, so the need to mitigate the problems that have arisen along with the modern way of lifetime is urgent. The present investigation focuses on the development of the Block Life Cycle Inventory, manufactured in Cuenca - Ecuador, following the ISO 14040: 2006 standard in order to quantify the incorporated energy and CO2 emissions from the pumice, mixed, and concrete block manufacturing process, considering the boundaries of "gate to gate". For the calculations, literature data, references from the national context and the collection of data corresponding to the inputs and outputs during a production year are used. The case study showed that, considering the block types of 15 cm, the incorporated energy ranges between 12.33 MJ/block (concrete) and 26.33 MJ/block (pumice); while in CO2 emissions the variation is 1.20 kgCO2/block (concrete) to 2.09 KgCO2/block (pumice). Transportation has a significant impact on the results of diesel consumption.