Xiaojin Zhang successfully defended her PhD thesis!

The building and construction sector is responsible for 20–25% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, driven by emissions across the entire building lifecycle. Although life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate building emissions, significant research gaps remain at the building stock level. These include the lack of consideration for global advancements in material manufacturing, the integration of GIS-based high-resolution spatial data, and detailed bottom-up decarbonization analyses that focus on individual buildings rather than generalized building archetypes. This thesis addresses these gaps by developing methodological frameworks and data to evaluate decarbonization strategies from a life cycle perspective for the Swiss building stock. Below are the publications included in this cumulative thesis.

1.  Zhang, X., Heeren, N., Bauer, C., Burgherr, P., McKenna, R., Habert, G. (2024). The impacts of future sectoral change on the greenhouse gas emissions of construction materials for Swiss residential buildings. Energy and Buildings, 303, 113824, external page https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113824
2. Zhang, X., Walch, A., Rüdisueli, M., Bauer, C., Burgherr, P., McKenna, R., Habert, G. (2024). Evaluating the levelized costs and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of electricity generation from rooftop solar photovoltaics: a Swiss case study. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 4, 045002, external page https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/ad80c3
   
3. Zhang, X., McKenna, R., Burgherr, P., Bauer, C., Habert, G. (2025). Assessing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of renovations across a Swiss residential building stock using building-by-building approach (to be published)
4. Zhang, X. (2023). Basics and recommendations on influence of future electricity supplies on LCA-based building assessments. A Contribution to IEA EBC Annex 72. In Frischknecht, R., Lützkendorf, T., Passer, A., Birgisdottir, H., Chae, C., Palaniappan, S., Balouktsi, M., Rasmussen, F., Röck, M., Obrecht, T., Hoxha, E., Saade, M. (eds): IEA EBC ANNEX 72 Background information. Assessing life cycle related impacts caused by buildings. ISBN: 978-3-85125-953-7. external page https://doi.org/10.3217/978-3-85125-953-7-02