ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TIMBER HOUSES: "LA CASA URUGUAYA" CASE STUDY

Several actions have been taken in Uruguay to reduce CO2 atmospheric emissions, including modification of the energy matrix. In recent years more than 90% of electricity was produced by renewable sources, such as wind power, hydro (run-of-river) or biomass. Despite this fact, the building, construction, and transport sec-tors are still great responsible of the environmental impacts produced by human activities. Moreover, several studies show advances of methodologies that allow the environmental impact calculation and the definition strategies for reduction. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered one of the most transparent and recognized method by the international scientific community. This study aims to develop a methodology based on LCA, to calculate the environmental impacts produced by timber buildings during their life cycle. The case study verification focuses on "La Casa Uruguaya", a social single-family timber house. The proposed methodology allows obtaining the environmental impacts of the whole life cycle, from the detailed design stages of design. Results show the relevance of the use stage (energy consumption, maintenance, repair, refur-bishment and replacement) and product stage (raw material, manufacture and transport) compared to the rest of the life cycle stages included in the study.