Climate implications of using bio-based materials in tropical buildings: a case study in Thai detached houses

AbstractThe buildings and construction sector significantly contributes to global emissions, necessitating reduction efforts to comply with the goal of containing global warming under 2°C. Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, with its high urbanization rate, faces substantial emission challenges in its construction practices. Thailand aims to become carbon neutral by 2065. The country predominantly uses concrete frame construction for small-scale residential buildings, with detached houses making up 49% of the total construction area in 2023. This study examines method of reducing emissions from detached houses in Thailand by replacing concrete and steel construction with bio-based construction. Two bio-based designs were created to explore this mitigation strategy. Since Thailand's regulatory energy standards do not cover small-scale residential buildings, three energy scenarios were created and used in the study to address future uncertainties. Among the findings, the extended bio-based design under the photovoltaic integration scenario achieved the highest reduction, compared to conventional designs, bringing emissions down to 64% and 56% for single-story and two-story houses respectively. Under the original insulation scenario, emissions from the extended bio-based design were reduced to 73% for single-story and 68% for two-story houses. By utilizing the extended bio-based design for future houses in Thailand until 2065, up to 473 MtCO2e emissions can be avoided.