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Abstract A rapid development of building environmental research from the globe is witnessed in recent years to deal with the environmental issues, especially in terms of energy consumption and carbon emissions, due to the substantial environmental burdens associated with the building industry. Thus, numerous scientific efforts have been devoted to buildings through environmental assessment like a life cycle assessment (LCA) and a methodological framework development. Concerning the rapid growth of buildings, LCA is increasingly used for assessing and mitigating the associated environmental impacts from material selection to the whole building systems. This study aims to comprehensively review the LCA implication on buildings by discussing the contemporary issues related to the development of this research field. The study considers a wide range of literature including case studies, reviews and surveys, and these articles are critically examined according to the predefined criteria developed. An in-depth analysis is also conducted on selected studies to unveil the criticality of the assessments and results under different considerations. In addition to demonstrating the research gaps for comprehensive assessment of buildings, the adoption of a circular economy (CE) concept is highlighted by providing a comprehensive framework. The findings show that resource recovery and resource-efficient building construction are seldom considered in prevailing studies. As a result, the framework proposed in this paper should help support a paradigm shift towards a comprehensive research for increasing the accuracy and practicability by introducing the CE principle to the building industry for enhancing its sustainability performance. Highlights • Literature related to building-environmental research was critically analyzed. • LCA implication on buildings was comprehensively reviewed by discussing the contemporary issues. • Selected papers were critically analyzed to unveil the research trends and practices. • Knowledge gaps for comprehensive assessment of buildings under the CE principle are identified. • Comprehensive framework based on the CE principle was proposed for comprehensiveness building LCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scarceness of virgin resources and sustainable management of waste materials in high-density city arouse heightened focus on new technology development for waste recycling and local utilization. Wood waste recovery from construction activities and upcycling into secondary products allow the substitution of virgin resources and minimize the environmental burdens within the frontier of industrial ecology. This study assessed the technical viability and environmental sustainability of cement-bonded particleboards (CBPs) produced with recycled wood aggregates and alternative binder; and compared the performance of its counterpart produced with virgin wood and ordinary binder using experimental analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA). The experimental results showed acceptable mechanical performance of the developed CBPs in compliance with the required standards. Adoption of carbon dioxide curing technology further enhanced the durability of the developed CBPs. Although similar greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission was observed for imported conventional CBPs and locally produced CBPs with alternative materials, the considerations of direct carbon sequestration and landfill avoidance contributed to a 9% reduction of the total GHGs compared to conventional CBPs. The LCA results also demonstrated that substantial amount of GHGs can be potentially saved depending on the recycling rates of wood waste in Hong Kong. Hence, technological innovation can effectively address problem of wood waste disposal and enhance material utilization and sustainability of the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]