Special Issue "Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jacek Michalak
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research and Development Center, Atlas Sp. Z O. O., 91-421 Lodz, Poland
Interests: sustainable development in construction; construction products; sustainable development as a basic requirement in construction; assessing and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP) of construction products

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Construction products assessment and sustainability is a complex, challenging, and still not fully defined issue. Building materials consume vast amounts of natural resources and generate a significant amount of waste. Thus, it is crucial to have verified information about the environmental consequences of their production, use, and recycling. The complex and challenging environmental assessment of construction products is still relatively young and does not develop appropriately. In the European Economic Area (EEA), which associates 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) lays down harmonized rules for the marketing of construction products. In 2013, CPR introduced the seventh basic requirement - sustainable use of natural resources to assess building structures. Despite the great importance of sustainable development, this requirement is not yet a criterion for compulsory assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP) before placing a construction product on the market. The countries belonging to the EEA are only part of Europe, which is only one of the world's continents. The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), an independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of products, can be considered one of the essential tools for implementing sustainable development principles. Due to their voluntary nature, however, they are not common.

Although the scientific literature on the environmental assessment of various products is extensive, not much has been published on the AVCP for sustainability of construction products. 

It is clear that industry and academia, supported by smart political decisions, must work together to achieve the necessary carbon dioxide emission reductions and mitigate climate change and global warming. A Special Issue of Sustainability dedicated to evaluating construction products in terms of sustainability is an important initiative. I invite everyone interested in assessing construction products in the field of environmental impact to submit their work for publication in this Special Issue of Sustainability.

Dr. Jacek Michalak
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • construction products
  • sustainability
  • assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP)
  • environmental impact
  • life-cycle assessment (LCA)
  • assessment methods
  • environmental performance
  • environmental performance assessment
  • environmental product declaration (EPD)
  • global warning potential (GWP)
  • natural resources

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Development of a Pre-Verified EPD Tool with Process Simulation Capabilities for the Aggregates Industry
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9492; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179492 - 24 Aug 2021
Viewed by 216
Abstract
This paper has two aims: to describe the current status and challenges of aggregates producers regarding the analysis and communication of environmental information of their products and to present a layout of a pre-verified tool with simulation capabilities that could assist aggregates producers [...] Read more.
This paper has two aims: to describe the current status and challenges of aggregates producers regarding the analysis and communication of environmental information of their products and to present a layout of a pre-verified tool with simulation capabilities that could assist aggregates producers with their environmental goals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three Swedish aggregates producers, an aggregates customer, and an expert agency. Additionally, published Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for aggregates and the EN 15804:2012 + A2:2019 were studied to reveal current practices and upcoming changes due to the updated standard. The synergies with process simulations were explored as a step towards using the EPD framework for continuous improvement of aggregates production. The interviews indicated that the main challenge for aggregates producers is the lack of easily available plant data for environmental calculations and clearly defined environmental goals at each plant. The proposed tool uses a common process flowsheet for both EPDs and simulations and has a pre-defined LCA module. The use of such a tool is expected to raise the environmental interest at aggregates plants and improve collaboration with LCA experts. Since the analysis is based on the Swedish aggregates market, the interview results are not directly generalizable to the European context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability)
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Article
CE Marking of Construction Products—Evolution of the European Approach to Harmonisation of Construction Products in the Light of Environmental Sustainability Aspects
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6396; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116396 - 04 Jun 2021
Viewed by 582
Abstract
European harmonisation of construction products provides a uniform expression of performance aspects relevant for essential characteristics coming from notified technical building regulations of the EU Member States. Since the current regulation has been in force for over seven years, this study evaluates further [...] Read more.
European harmonisation of construction products provides a uniform expression of performance aspects relevant for essential characteristics coming from notified technical building regulations of the EU Member States. Since the current regulation has been in force for over seven years, this study evaluates further possibilities of its evolution, including a more efficient approach to implementing environmental sustainability aspects. The provided research is based on qualitative analysis of the past and current legislation, official documents, related guidance, judgements, scientific articles and the author’s practical experience coming from participation in the European committees, organisations and standardisation activities. Various legislative techniques and regulatory tools that could be potentially used to review the Construction Products Regulation are analysed and compared with regards to their impact on the inclusion of environmental sustainability principles. Therefore, the objective of this research is to provide substantive grounds that can be directly or indirectly used in the policymaking processes on the European and national level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability)
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Article
Quantifying Environmental Burdens of Plasters Based on Natural vs. Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Gypsum
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4298; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084298 - 13 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 514
Abstract
The ongoing global climate change and the associated environmental degradation pose a threat to Europe and the rest of the world. Raw materials and energy are required to produce building materials, which are used for construction purposes. Resulting buildings and structures generate waste [...] Read more.
The ongoing global climate change and the associated environmental degradation pose a threat to Europe and the rest of the world. Raw materials and energy are required to produce building materials, which are used for construction purposes. Resulting buildings and structures generate waste during construction, operation, and demolition, and they emit potentially harmful substances. Thus, the key to achieving climate goals is to support low-emission materials and technologies in the construction sector, significantly impacting the environment. In the European Union, building materials are not yet subject to mandatory sustainability assessment during the assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP). Objective evaluation of construction materials’ environmental impact requires it to be carried out based on production data on an industrial scale. This article presents the environmental impact of premixed gypsum-based plasters, commonly used in modern construction. Nine environmental indicators (global warming potential (GWP), depletion potential of the stratospheric ozone layer (ODP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), formation potential of tropospheric ozone (POCP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP)-elements, ADP-fossil fuels, renewable primary energy resources (PERT), and nonrenewable primary energy resources (PERNT)) of premixed gypsum plasters based on natural and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum were estimated and discussed. Knowledge of the construction products’ environmental impact is fundamental for creating reliable databases. AVCP of construction materials in the future will use the data collected during the voluntary environmental impact evaluation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability)
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