Life Cycle Assessment of Building Facade Material in Construction Industry: A Study on Residential Buildings in Pakistan

https://doi.org/10.46610/IJBIMAC.2026.v02i01.001

Abstract

The high rate of urbanization, high general expenditure on housing and cooling with shortages of water, power and a large population exceeding 240 million, make the residential sector of Pakistan a great challenge to the environment since most of the energy used is on construction and operation of houses. Through a cradle-to-grave evaluation that utilizes BIM for over 50 years, it compares traditional materials (common brick, cement plaster, single glazes) with the sustainable ones (lightweight concrete blocks, lightweight plaster, polyurethane insulation, triple-glazed windows). The present case will result in embodied CO₂ emissions reduction to 48.9% (56.44 tonnes to 28.83 tonnes) and maximum operational reduction to 17.5%. The switching towards lightweight concrete blocks (W1), lightweight plaster (P1), polyurethane insulation (WI1), and triple-glazed windows, in particular, cut the peak cooling total load (PCTL) and CO₂ by 15.8%, 7.86%, 9.5%, and 17.5%, respectively. These are the locally sourced, inexpensive materials that increase the energy efficiency of the hot and dry climate of Multan, where cooling takes up the majority of the energy demand. These results are scalable and cost-effective to the residential sector and directly contribute to the Nationally Determined Contributions of a 50% reduction in GHG by 2030 in Pakistan and Sustainable Development Goals 11 (Sustainable Cities) and 13 (Climate Action).