Carbon footprint accounting of urban residential buildings in Chengdu based on the PB-LCA method

The carbon emission of China's construction industry is as high as 36% of the total carbon emission. A major part of this is residential building carbon emissions. Therefore, it is crucial for China to achieve the carbon peak through an in-depth analysis of residential building carbon emissions based on PB-LCA (Process Based-Life Cycle Assessment). Taking typical urban residences in Chengdu as the research object, the carbon footprint of the three phases of the residential building life cycle, namely material production and transportation, building construction and demolition, and building operation (calculated according to 50a), is calculated and analyzed. We have obtained the total carbon emissions of the three phases of a typical residence are 4090.06 t, 399.67 t, and 2552007.701 t respectively; the unit building area is 418.16 kg/m², 34.73 kg/m² and 5218.19 kg/m²·a respectively; the carbon emissions accounted for the ratios are 0.16%, 0.02%, and 99.82% respectively. According to the carbon emission accounting data, it can be concluded that the building operation phase has the most carbon emission, followed by the material production and transportation phase. The focus of carbon reduction in the whole life cycle of residential buildings is the building operation phase.