LCA Curtain Wall Module_Zublin Z-Zwo

The analysis compares a circular-bio-based CW module with its twin made of virgin materials throughout their entire life cycles, (A1-C4) (Figure 55). Consistently, the CW modules were compared first for the phases A1-A3 to quantify the amount of carbon savings resulting from the use of secondary streams of material compared to virgin materials. Moreover, for each solution the analysis considered three different EoL scenarios, namely: 1. Scenario A, the landfill scenario, where 100% of the used materials is landfilled; 2. Scenario B, the recycling scenario, where glass, aluminium and steel are separated and downcycled; 3. Scenario C, the reused scenario, where the aluminium and steel components adopted for the façade envelope are reused, while the glazing is either remanufactured to retain the same value as displayed by Isomax, - bio-circular strategy -, or recycled for cullet production. The Zublin Z-Zwo office building, in Stuttgart, is assumed as the case study of the analysis. Data on the CW façade module were collected from the Master Thesis of Godo Zabur Singh. The functional unit of the analysis consists of a renovated façade module measuring 1350mm * 500mm, glazed over 65% of its total area, with the spandrel area featuring a rear-ventilated cavity clad with three layers of aluminium sheeting (Zabur Singh, 2022), either made of virgin or reused/remanufactured and bio-based materials. The remanufactured module comprises a rice straw MBC insulation panel with a density of approximately 0.08 g/cm3 integrated into the spandrel component, and the glazed part made of remanufactured glass as described by Isomax.nl. The analysis was conducted by adhering to EN 15804:2012 + A2:2019.