Advancing Sustainable Building Envelope Systems through LCA: A Comparative Analysis of Natural Stone and Concrete Envelopes towards Circular Economy Principles

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Faced with the depletion of non-renewable resources in the construction, the latest strategy "Climateambition 2020" proposes to reduce the use of concrete by using natural and biomaterials.Stone offers advantages such as durability, low maintenance requirements and lower levels ofgreenhouse gas emissions during production. Nevertheless, concrete remains the first material used forconstruction, offering advantages such as low cost and high availability.To revalue the use of stone as a construction material for structural building envelopes, this paperproposes a comparative LCA analysis to evaluate the sustainability of France's two common structuralenvelopes: ashlar and concrete wall. The cases studies present the same geometric characteristics,considering the different production processes of these two technologies. This allows us to highlight theimpact of the choice of the material and different production procedures in the evaluation of the life cycleanalysis of a technological system. Through this comparison, this paper seeks to provide insights intotheir sustainability and opportunities for improving the potential for circular economy principles.The conclusions of this paper can contribute to a shift in perception towards natural stone as a viableand sustainable option for building envelopes. The reinterpretation of use of stone today can help reducethe reliance on energy-intensive materials such as concrete and promote more sustainable constructionpractices.