干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The environmental impact produced in the residential sector is among the biggest in modem society. The energy consumption in this sector accounts for about 40 % of the total energy consumed in a country. Windows are among the main responsible of the energy losses and gains in buildings, affecting both their summer and winter energy balances, and being responsible for up to 25-50 % of the energy consumption due to thermal conditioning purposes, depending on the climate conditions. Modern technology have produced a variety of models aimed at controlling these energy transfers, like double and triple glazed windows filled with heavy inert gases, low-emittance coatings, thermal breaks in frames, etc. However, the fabrication of these new windows requires new consumptions and releases new emissions, and their real environmental and economic benefits are not always guaranteed. For instance, the production of heavy inert gasses like Ar, Kr and Xe requires huge amounts of energy, and therefore is responsible for the associated emissions of pollutants. In this paper, the environmental and economic assessment of the application of double-glazed windows filled with air, Ar, Kr and Xe in typical houses of the Andean and region of western Argentina is performed. The methodology used for the evaluation of the environmental impact is Life Cycle Assessment, while the economic assessment is performed using the Life Cycle Costing method.