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2026 Vol.68, Issue 5 Preview Page
LCA-Based Carbon Emissions Assessment and Structural-Environmental Efficiency Evaluation of Disaster-Resilient Plastic Greenhouse Construction

내재해형 비닐 온실 건설 단계의 LCA 기반 탄소 배출량 산정 및 구조-환경 효율성 평가

Jongmin Choia
,
Younghwan Sonb†
,
Sangbeom Joc
,
Wonyoung Leed
최 종민a
,
손 영환b†
,
조 상범c
,
이 원영d
aUndergraduate Student, Department of Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National University
bProfessor, Department of Rural Systems Engineering and Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University
cPh.D Student, Department of Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National University
dM.S. Student, Department of Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National University
† Corresponding author Tel.: +82-2-880-4585, Fax: +82-2-873-2087 E-mail: syh86@snu.ac.kr
30 September 2026. pp. 85-97
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Abstract

While life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings is well established, the construction phase of plastic greenhouses—which dominate protected horticulture yet rely on lightweight, labor-intensive assembly—has rarely been assessed. This study quantifies the construction stage carbon emissions of disaster-resilient plastic greenhouses and evaluates their structural-environmental efficiency. For 38 single-span and multi-span greenhouse types, the system boundary was set from material production to the completion of on-site construction (Cradle-to-End of construction), applying the National LCI DB and standard construction estimates. The material production stage accounted for over 97% of total emissions, with steel pipes and ready-mixed concrete (RMC) as the dominant contributors. To assess carbon efficiency against structural demand, a novel Structural-Environmental Index (SEI) was proposed, relating emissions per unit area to design snow and wind loads. Because the snow-based (SEI-S) and wind-based (SEI-W) indices differ in scale, they were normalized and combined into an integrated index (SEI-I), and a sensitivity analysis was conducted across the full range of snow-to-wind weightings. The superior specification was not fixed but shifted with the load weighting, and was therefore derived per group as a weighting-dependent interval. For multi-span greenhouses, the transition occurred at a wind weight of 0.65; for single-span greenhouses, it occurred at 0.34 and 0.22 for concrete- and pipe-continuous-foundation models, respectively. These results indicate that the most carbon-efficient specification depends on the dominant design load of a region rather than a single universal optimum, providing fundamental data for eco-friendly greenhouse design guidelines.

Keywords
Life cycle assessment
disaster-resilient greenhouse
carbon emissions
structural-environmental index
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Information
  • Publisher :The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국농공학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국농공학회논문집
  • Volume : 68
  • No :5
  • Pages :85-97
  • Received Date : 2026-05-30
  • Revised Date : 2026-06-14
  • Accepted Date : 2026-08-12
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.5389/KSAE.2026.68.5.085
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