Design of Wood Wool Cement Board by Life Cycle Assessment method

The energy efficiency for building heating has contributed to improve the use of insulating products. At the same time the demand for a reduction of the environmental burdens has led to a broad discussion about the sustainability of these building products. However, before these products can be called "sustainable", it is necessary to understand all the consequences involved and the real gains to the environment. For an overall view of the environmental impacts associated with these products, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method has been ever more applied in searching answers to these questions. The contribution of this study has been to quantify the environmental impacts produced by the manufacture of wood wool cement boards (WWCB). The environmental assessment has been combined with a technological analysis in order to verify the thermal performance of the insulation boards. The study has allowed to quantify the benefits of a short supply chain, recycled materials and different energy sources. Results have led to identify opportunities to improvement environmental performance of wood wool cement board manufacture through an ecodesign approach.