Fluorocarbons in Buildings: A Comparative LCA Study for Alternative Environmental Retrofit Solutions in Italy

Fluorocarbons are an important category of greenhouse gas, currently prohibited (chlorofluorocarbons, CFC) or phased out (hydrofluorocarbons, HFC) due to their significant contribution to global warming and ozone depletion potential (GWP and ODP). Despite the ban, these chemicals are still emitted into the environment through different release mechanisms since consistently present in thermal insulation foams, refrigeration, and air conditioning systems of existing buildings. However, although the proper disposal of these banks may limit their effects on the environment, a few studies quantified the achievable environmental savings. For this reason, in this study, a comparative, stochastic life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to evaluate the environmental savings achievable by removing and disposing of CFC/HFC banks from a typical multi-family Italian existing building. The results show that the removal of these chemicals from walls and roof components during energy retrofit intervention can lead to a significant reduction of GWP (up to 315 kgCO2eq/m2) and ODP (up to 6.40 10−2 kgCFC-11 eq/m2), i.e., comparable, or even higher to that achievable through the energy demand reduction (453 and 0 kgCO2eq/m2, respectively). Then, CFC/HFC banks should not be neglected in LCA studies of existing buildings due to their possible significant impact on buildings ecoprofile.