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Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13591

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jacek Michalak

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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 Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 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 (6 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 313 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Life Cycle Assessment of Protection Products for External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems

by Pedro Frazão Pedroso, José Dinis Silvestre, Giovanni Borsoi and Inês Flores-Colen

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16969; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416969 - 18 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1846

Abstract

The energy performance and thermal comfort of buildings are decisive factors for users. Thus, solutions such as the external thermal insulation systems (ETICS) that can be installed in either new buildings or buildings under thermal retrofitting, reducing the energy consumption while improving thermal comfort, tend to become mainstream. This paper purposes to quantify the environmental and economic impacts of various ETICS protection solutions to assist in decision-making at the project phase. In this study, products available on the Portuguese market are considered. The protection products considered are hydrophobic agents, biocides, multifunctional, and self-cleaning. The products are compared by type of protection, presenting some of the most impactful components, following a multicriteria analysis of some of those products gathered into different solutions, with the objective of demonstrating the influence of the weights assigned to environmental and economic indicators. Several data-linked problems were identified, such as the quantity and quality of data available for analysis, crucial to their reliability; thus, an index for quality of information was developed in order to compare different products. In the multicriteria analysis, the weights of the sensitivity analysis between environmental and economic indicators highly influence the “best solution”; therefore, stakeholders need to clearly define their objectives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability)

18 pages, 1534 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Life-Cycle Assessment of Fibre-Reinforced Polymers Dwellings Compared to Traditional Structures

by Afsaneh Valizadeh and Farhad Aslani

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 11887; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911887 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1501

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) have been presented as materials that possess properties that are comparable to conventional building materials, while also being more sustainable. This study describes the material and its properties and compares the materials using a life-cycle assessment (LCA) modelling approach. The objective of this paper is to perform a cradle-to-grave (from resource extraction to the disposal stage) analysis of pultruded FRP material and compare it to conventional building materials used in a typical dwelling. This analysis was conducted in accordance with LCA standard EN15978. A streamlined LCA was conducted, whereby the major impacts observed included the global warming potential in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent and the embodied energy in megajoule net calorific value. The products compared with the FRP profiles were the most commonly used materials in a residential dwelling; bricks and timber. The results of the LCA modelling provided a comparative assertion of the FRPs to conventional materials by demonstrating that they perform better than double-brick dwellings and external timber framed walls in both environmental impact categories of global warming potential and embodied energy. The results shows that the FRP-walled house had the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent, which was around 17% lower than that of the double-brick wall and 1.46% less than that of the timber wall house. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability)

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19 pages, 1305 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Pre-Verified EPD Tool with Process Simulation Capabilities for the Aggregates Industry

by Panagiota Papadopoulou, Diego Peñaloza, Gauti Asbjörnsson, Erik Hulthén and Magnus Evertsson

Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9492; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179492 - 24 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2225

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 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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14 pages, 914 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CE Marking of Construction Products—Evolution of the European Approach to Harmonisation of Construction Products in the Light of Environmental Sustainability Aspects

by Sebastian Wall

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6396; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116396 - 04 Jun 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2707

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 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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14 pages, 987 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantifying Environmental Burdens of Plasters Based on Natural vs. Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Gypsum

by Edyta Baran, Sebastian Czernik, Mariusz Hynowski, Bartosz Michałowski, Michał Piasecki, Justyna Tomaszewska and Jacek Michalak

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4298; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084298 - 13 Apr 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2766

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 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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Other

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11 pages, 595 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

Understanding Current Challenges in Evaluating Environmental Impacts for Aggregate Producers through a Case Study in Western Sweden

by Christina Lee, Panagiota Papadopoulou, Gauti Asbjörnsson, Erik Hulthén and Magnus Evertsson

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1200; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031200 - 21 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1580

Abstract

To improve environmental performance of a product or activity, an understanding of the environmental impacts associated with it is needed. Quantification of environmental impacts can be achieved through the standardized measurement-based tool of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, challenges occur when trying to apply a standardized tool to a nonstandardized industry such as the aggregate industry. This study aims to provide greater understanding of the challenges facing the aggregate industry, particularly producers, in applying LCA. This was conducted through a literature review, to establish the current understanding of challenges, accompanied by a case study where a site-specific LCA was conducted with a large enterprise at a crushed-rock-production facility in western Sweden, to gain new industry-specific insight. A total of 13 challenges were identified: seven methodological and six systemic. Out of these 13 challenges, 3 were deemed a high risk to the implementation of LCA by aggregate producers, and 3 to the integrity of results. A best-practice framework is suggested to incorporate LCA into current environmental management techniques utilized at quarry sites in Sweden to overcome some challenges. However, LCA used for environmental management should not lead to double work if LCA is being utilized for Environmental Product Declarations, and further research is encouraged to find appropriate solutions with the most efficient allocation of the resources needed in conducting LCA studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Products Assessment and Sustainability)

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