Investigating Carbon Emissions in the Healthcare Sector in Pakistan Based on Life Cycle Assessment
Keywords:
BIM, Building envelope, Carbon emissions, Healthcare buildings, Life cycle assessment, Pakistan, Peak heating load, Sustainable constructionAbstract
Healthcare buildings are energy-intensive facilities, yet their lifecycle carbon emissions remain insufficiently studied in Pakistan. This study applies a Building Information Modelling (BIM)-integrated, cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment to a single-storey healthcare facility in Murree, Pakistan, over a 50-year service life. Autodesk Revit 2024 was used to model the building and evaluate eight wall materials, five plaster materials, six insulation materials, and five roof systems. Thermal resistance, heat-transfer coefficients, peak heating load, and energy demand were calculated, while operational emissions were estimated using Pakistan’s grid emission factor of 0.52 kg CO₂/kWh. Embodied carbon was quantified from BIM-derived material quantities and published emission factors. Lightweight concrete blocks (W1) produced the largest reduction in peak heating load and associated CO₂ emissions (56.5%) relative to conventional clay brick walls. Lightweight plaster (P1), 2-inch polyurethane board insulation (INS1), and the high-performance roof system (R1) achieved reductions of 41.68%, 18.09%, and 19.51%, respectively. The optimized envelope reduced embodied carbon from 106.84 to 79.98 t CO₂ (25.1%) and lowered modelled total lifecycle CO₂ emissions by 41.92%. These findings demonstrate that practical envelope-material substitutions can substantially reduce carbon emissions from Pakistani healthcare buildings and provide quantitative guidance for hospital design, retrofit planning, and low-carbon building policy.
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