Context
Machiels Building Solutions (MBS) develops and produces walls, floors and roofing components for constructions, made exclusively from timber frames or combined with other materials, such as concrete or steel. MBS wants to make sustainable building accessible for construction companies, project developers and clients.

Challenge
Machiels Building Solutions’ main objective of the LCA was to compare and evaluate the environmental impact of their lightweight modular timber construction versus a typical brick wall.

In 2010 MBS started their production in Beringen in an ecological production hall (use of wood, solar panels, renewable energy). What would be the result on the carbon footprint of the company?

What we did
In the LCA we were taking into account the life cycle of the two wall types, from the raw materials to the point of arrival at the constructors gate or the reseller nearby the construction site. Simapro software was used for this study.

Futureproofed also calculated the scope 1, 2 & 3 carbon footprint of the production of 150 houses at the MBS plant.

Result
MBS has already obtained a substantial reduction of their carbon footprint in 2010. Furthermore, the energy efficiency rating of a house remains the most important element in the impact on the environment. But beside that, also the type of construction has an important influence, and wood construction is a solution with a low environmental impact.