Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Evaluation of Sustainable Production Technologies: A Parametric Approach for Complex Geometries in Architectural Design

Building design has to deal with complex geometries and surfaces arising from current trends and “New European Bauhaus” initiative that imagines a sustainable and inclusive future that is beautiful for eyes, minds, and souls. This also relates to the rise of new design paradigms, such as 'user-centred design', which includes customized optimization approaches. The increasing adoption of customized components and unique solutions raises valid concerns about the optimal use of energy and resources. The study carried out stems precisely from these needs and focuses on the life cycle assessment of the technologies currently available on the market to realize the mentioned architectures. In the first phase of the study, a comparative assessment of the carbon footprint of the production process of selected technologies for custom geometries production was carried out: CTC (cement-textile composite), CNC milling (computer numerical control), 3D printing and adaptable membrane casting. These technologies have different process principles and consequently, to make it possible their comparison, independently of specific configurations, a parametric methodology was implemented based on the use of a bounding box that encloses the target shape. This made possible the creation of nomograms to identify the different volume ranges in which it is more convenient, in terms of global warming potential (GWP), to use one technology over another. The investigation is in line with SDG 13 (climate action) which calls for reducing environmental impacts through sustainable alternatives. Radar charts were then created to complete the analysis to compare the different technologies with respect to the main aspects of both sustainability and production.