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This article presents and describes a dataset for the bills of materials for the buildings constructed with mass timber (MT), structural steel (SS), and reinforced concrete (RC), which are generated using Athena's Impact Estimator for Buildings (IE4B) software to conduct a whole building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA). These data are associated with the research article Environmental Impact Assessment of Mass Timber, Structural Steel, and Reinforced Concrete Buildings Based on the 2021 International Building Code Provisions [1]. This dataset was utilized to estimate their environmental impacts but can be used to estimate the costs of buildings constructed with MT, SS, and RC building materials. These data could be replicated using the same layout, system boundaries, reference study period (RSP), and building assemblies’ information as used in the published work [1]. This dataset is related to conceptual design of a building with 11 apartment units per floor. However, a detailed design that includes the analysis of interior architectural finishes such as internal partitions within the units, kitchen and washroom fixtures, internal doors, flooring, and so on, could be developed and analyzed to obtain a more comprehensive estimates of life cycle assessment. This dataset was originally developed to compare the environmental impacts of structural materials selection for three common framing typologies.

This article presents and describes a dataset for the bills of materials for the buildings constructed with mass timber (MT), structural steel (SS), and reinforced concrete (RC), which are generated using Athena's Impact Estimator for Buildings (IE4B) software to conduct a whole building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA). These data are associated with the research article Environmental Impact Assessment of Mass Timber, Structural Steel, and Reinforced Concrete Buildings Based on the 2021 International Building Code Provisions [1]. This dataset was utilized to estimate their environmental impacts but can be used to estimate the costs of buildings constructed with MT, SS, and RC building materials. These data could be replicated using the same layout, system boundaries, reference study period (RSP), and building assemblies' information as used in the published work [1]. This dataset is related to conceptual design of a building with 11 apartment units per floor. However, a detailed design that includes the analysis of interior architectural finishes such as internal partitions within the units, kitchen and washroom fixtures, internal doors, flooring, and so on, could be developed and analyzed to obtain a more comprehensive estimates of life cycle assessment. This dataset was originally developed to compare the environmental impacts of structural materials selection for three common framing typologies.

Building construction and operation accounts for over a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption. To determine whether more prevalent use of mass timber (MT) construction could significantly reduce environmental impacts of construction, we performed whole building life cycle assessment (WBLCA), using Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings (IE4B) software, on a series of nine multi-story residential buildings of three varying materials and heights. Three MT buildings of 18-, 12-, and 8-story heights, respectively represent IV-A, -B, and –C occupancies of the 2021 and 2024 editions of the International Building Code (IBC), which facilitate regulatory approval of tall wood buildings. When benchmarked with six functionally equivalent structural steel (SS) and reinforced concrete (RC) buildings and accounting for cradle-to-grave (A-C) system boundaries pertinent to embodied energy, MT buildings lowered global warming potential (GWP) by an estimated range of 39–51% and 28–34% compared to functionally equivalent RC and SSbuildings, respectively. Extending system boundaries to consider module D to account for biogenic carbon of mass timber and recyclability of steel and concrete, the GWP reduction of MT buildings further reduced to ranges of 81–94% and 76–91%, respective to RC and SS buildings. Reducing the reference study period (RSP) to 60 years generally lessened GWP 11–21% relative to the standard RSP of 75 years. Finally, greater exposure of MT components permitted in the 2024 IBC further reduced GWP up to 1.05% by using less structural fire encapsulation material (e.g., gypsum wallboard) than previously prescribed. • Evaluated the environmental impacts of mass timber, steel, and concrete buildings. • Compared 8-, 12-, and 18-story mass timber, steel, and concrete buildings. • Mass timber buildings showed 81–94% lower GWP than concrete buildings. • Mass timber buildings showed 76–91% lower GWP than steel buildings. • Steel buildings showed 21–33% lower GWP than concrete buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]