Environmental Impact Assessment of a Residential Unit: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The world is facing the worst environmental issues like never before. Environmental adversaries across the globe have compelled the world to pay attention to reduce the environmental impacts. Urbanization is happening at an unprecedented scale all over the world. This study is an endeavor for measuring the environmental effects of the residential sector which represents a major chunk of urbanization. Research results based on LCA technique measured environmental impacts of a single residential unit. Environmental impact assessment showed various factors which are contributing to environmental degradation. It made the identification of factors easy which has the highest contribution, particulate matter formation in this case. Further analysis at the process level helped in identifying the process which is the root cause for highest environmental impacts, use phase of the building in this study, and improving that process will lower the impacts on environment. EIA is an excellent decision support system to make environmentally sensitive decisions which are vital in achieving sustainable development in the construction industry.