Selecting sustainable construction materials can help reduce the environmental burden of the construction industry. This study aims to assess the comparative environmental and financial performance of strand-woven bamboo (SWB) flooring as an alternative to conventional construction flooring options primarily used in Indian households, namely ceramic, marble and Kota stone. The temporary carbon sequestration potential of bamboo flooring is also estimated.
This research uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify environmental burdens across nine midpoint and three endpoint impact categories for the flooring options. Primary data for bamboo floors on materials, costs and energy is collected from an industrial bamboo products manufacturer in India, while the secondary data is fetched from the literature and the Ecoinvent 3.9.1 database. Flooring installation financial data was collected from a building constructor in India for all compared variants.
The study found that bamboo flooring showed the least impact among other compared options in all midpoint and endpoint impact categories, except for surplus ore potential. The manufacturing phase of the bamboo floor contributes predominantly to the environmental impacts, while electricity consumption is the most significant resource influencing the overall results. The carbon sequestration of Indian bamboo products is lower with the current allocations in this method. However, the financial analysis indicates that bamboo flooring installation is more expensive than the other three options.
This study proposes a suitable alternative to conventional flooring materials commonly used in building construction in India. The study is unique in that it compares the environmental and financial performance of bamboo flooring with three prominent alternatives used in India and calculates the carbon sequestration of bamboo flooring products throughout their life cycle. This study can guide policy formation and sustainability planning for the decarbonization of the construction industry.
