Potential Environmental Impacts of Nanoparticles Used in Construction Industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 159-183
Author(s):  
Annika Durve Gupta ◽  
Sonali Zankar Patil
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts

scholarly journals Case Study: LCA Methodology Applied to Materials Management in a Brazilian Residential Construction Site

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
João de Lassio ◽  
Josué França ◽  
Kárida Espirito Santo ◽  
Assed Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Ceramic Materials ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Lca Methodology

The construction industry is increasingly concerned with improving the social, economic, and environmental indicators of sustainability. More than ever, the growing demand for construction materials reflects increased consumption of raw materials and energy, particularly during the phases of extraction, processing, and transportation of materials. This work aims to help decision-makers and to promote life cycle thinking in the construction industry. For this purpose, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was chosen to analyze the environmental impacts of building materials used in the construction of a residence project in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The LCA methodology, based on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 guidelines, is applied with available databases and the SimaPro program. As a result, this work shows that there is a substantial waste of nonrenewable energy, increasing global warming and harm to human health in this type of construction. This study also points out that, for this type of Brazilian construction, ceramic materials account for a high percentage of the mass of a total building and are thus responsible for the majority of environmental impacts.

Assessment and management of air emissions and environmental impacts from the construction industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (14) ◽  
pp. 2421-2444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bao Zhen Wang ◽  
Zhen Hua Zhu ◽  
Ende Yang ◽  
Zhi Chen ◽  
Xiang Hong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Air Emissions

scholarly journals Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of Bridge Designs Involving UHPFRC

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12399
Author(s):  
Numa Bertola ◽  
Célia Küpfer ◽  
Edgar Kälin ◽  
Eugen Brühwiler
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Environmental Footprint ◽  
Cementitious Composite ◽  
Reinforced Concrete Structure ◽  
Lightweight Structures ◽  
High Performance Fibre

Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Cementitious Composite (UHPFRC) has been developed to design lightweight structures and enhance existing designs. As the environmental footprint of the construction industry must be significantly reduced, the potential to lower environmental impacts of structures using UHPFRC needs to be explored. While the greenhouse gas emissions of a volume of UHPFRC are higher than that of the same volume of concrete, UHPFRC enables the reduction in the amount of material required in structural designs and improves the durability of structures. The environmental impacts of structural designs must thus be compared on the cradle-to-grave use cycle of the design at a project scale. In this study, a methodology is proposed to evaluate the ecological burdens of several bridge designs involving various structural elements in UHPFRC. The method proposes an analysis over three time horizons: first, the construction phase, then including the scheduled maintenance, and finally, adding the elimination. A case study of a short-span bridge in Switzerland is used to assess three alternatives of bridge designs: a conventional reinforced-concrete structure, a composite timber–UHPFRC bridge, and a full-UHPFRC solution. The results show that timber–UHPFRC structures can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of bridge designs, showing promising results in terms of sustainable development. The use of the methodology supports bridge owners in assessing the environmental impacts of structural designs.

scholarly journals Dampak Penambangan Pasir di Kawasan Pegunungan Perspektif Tri Hita Karana

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
I Komang Suastika Arimbawa
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Sand Mining ◽  
Environmental Preservation ◽  
Unemployed People ◽  
Philosophy Of Life ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Industry Sector

<p>Sand is one of the supporting resources in the development sector, both physically, economically and socially. The need for sand in the construction industry sector has increased along with the development of infrastructure and facilities. In addition to bringing huge benefits, sand mining in mountainous regions can also cause environmental impacts such as landslides, erosion, pollution, and so on.The environmental impacts of sand mining activities in mountainous regions are divided into two, namely physical impacts and socio-economic impacts. Socio-economic impacts such as increasing community income, reducing the number of unemployed people, opening jobs, income for<br />landowners who are sold or leased to take sand at high prices, many migrants join in mining so that it can lead to conflict, there is fear in some communities because of sand mining landslide potential.<br />The view in the teachings of Hinduism about environmental damage that occurs is not only related to environmental problems but also concerns the problem of God values embodied in environmental preservation. Therefore, the existence of human resources becomes a determinant of environmental conditions, both individually and collectively. For this reason, it is necessary to have a balanced life patterned in the teachings of Tri Hita Karana. The philosophy of life in Tri Hita<br />Karana is to create a balanced and consistent attitude to believe and devotion to God, serve others and maintain the welfare of the natural environment. Understanding of Tri Hita Karana should not be fragmented because it should be understood as Tri Hita Karana as a whole, synergistic and consistent as a universal philosophy of life.</p>

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Solar Façade Concepts Based on Transparent Insulation Materials

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Struhala ◽  
Miroslav Čekon ◽  
Richard Slávik
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment Methodology ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Energy Gains ◽  
Solar Wall

Contemporary architects and the construction industry are trying to cope with increasing requirements concerning energy efficiency and environmental impact. One of the available options is the active utilization of energy gains from the environment, specifically solar energy gains. These gains can be utilized by, for example, solar walls and facades. The solar fa&ccedil;ade concept has been under development for more than a century. However, it hasn&rsquo;t achieved widespread use for various reasons. Rather recently the concept was enhanced by the application of transparent insulation materials that have the potential to increase the efficiency of such fa&ccedil;ades. The presented study evaluates the environmental efficiency of 10 solar fa&ccedil;ade assemblies in the mild climate of the Czech Republic, Central Europe. The evaluated fa&ccedil;ade assemblies combine the principles of a solar wall with transparent insulation based on honeycomb and polycarbonate panels. The study applies Life-Cycle Assessment methodology to the calculation of environmental impacts related to the life cycle of the evaluated assemblies. The results indicate that even though there are several limiting factors, fa&ccedil;ade assemblies with transparent insulation have lower environmental impacts compared to a reference assembly with standard thermal insulation. The highest achieved difference is approx. 84% (in favour of the assembly with transparent insulation) during a modelled 50-year fa&ccedil;ade assembly service life.

scholarly journals EXPLORING GREEN FEATURES THAT MAKE BUILDING MATERIALS GREEN

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Rathnayake ◽  
◽  
D. Soorige ◽  
S.D.I.A. Amarasinghe ◽  
P. Dissanayake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Green Building Materials

The construction industry plays a significant role in the economic growth of a country. Nevertheless, the construction industry has created severe adverse environmental impacts. Therefore, green building technologies are implemented to alleviate the adverse effects of the construction industry. Using green materials instead of conventional building materials with high environmental impacts has been identified as one such implementation. However, there seems to be much confusion in defining green building materials. Hence, it is vital to explore the features of green building materials. Therefore, this article investigates green features that qualify the building materials as green building materials. A qualitative research approach was selected as the research methodology, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven green building experts. The data was analysed using content analysis. Findings revealed that recycled content, local availability of materials, embodied energy of materials, use of rapidly renewable material, usage of waste material for the production process, material wastage content in the production process and pollution prevention in the production process are the green features. The study results guide the identification of green building materials that can replace the materials with poor environmental sustainability.

scholarly journals USING LEAN PRACTICES TO IMPROVE CURRENT CARBON LABELLING SCHEMES FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS— A GENERAL FRAMEWORK

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wu ◽  
Yingbin Feng
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Precast Concrete ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Lean Practices ◽  
Absolute Measurements ◽  
Relative Measurements

The construction industry has considerable environmental impacts through the process of manufacturing building materials and building construction. Many environmental labelling programs have been introduced to the construction industry to measure the environmental impacts, including building up the environmental profiles for building materials. Although absolute measurements of the environmental impacts can be obtained by these labelling programs through detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, relative measurements should not be overlooked to indicate the gap between the current and the “leanest” performance. The term “lean” is often used to describe a process with less wastes, materials, human effort, time, etc. The lean concept originates from the Toyota Production System and has been applied in the automobile industry for decades. This paper therefore aims to investigate the applicability of a relative measurement of the environmental impacts for building materials by introducing the concept of “lean score”. The research aim is narrowed down by choosing the carbon labelling program and the precast concrete products as research objectives. The results indicate that a “lean” benchmark can be built to offer relative measurements of carbon emissions for precast concrete products. The lean score obtained from the benchmarking process provides the improving potential that can help the construction industry move towards sustainability. The results are also useful for regulatory bodies to establish national standards to measure the environmental impacts for building materials.

CONFIGURATION OF EARTHWORK EQUIPMENT CONSIDERING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, COST AND SCHEDULE

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byung-Soo KIM ◽  
Yong-Woo KIM
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Construction Sector ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Construction Firms ◽  
Decision Method ◽  
Equipment Configuration ◽  
Earthwork Construction

Along with promotion of public awareness about sustainability, the concept of sustainability has gained in- creasing attention across all industries. The construction industry is one of the largest industries, and at the same time, among the largest polluters. Thus, the concept of sustainability has become increasingly important to construction firms and many contractors have started to reduce the environmental impacts of their construction activities. As part of the effort to achieve sustainability in construction sector, the study develops a method to select earth-moving equipment, based on their environmental impacts as well as duration and cost considerations. To this end, the study initially devel- ops a model for determining construction costs and duration as well as a model for determining monetary environmental impacts on earthwork construction. The study then uses an Improved Weight Decision Method (IWDM) to determine the weight of variables in order to find the best performed equipment configuration. The authors expect that the findings of the study will contribute to the research and practice in configuring earthwork equipment, taking into account associated environmental impacts as well as time and costs.

scholarly journals Building Circularity Assessment in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industry: A New Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12466
Author(s):  
Nuo Zhang ◽  
Qi Han ◽  
Bauke de Vries
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Calculation Method ◽  
Material Flow ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
New Framework ◽  
Aec Industry

Circular Economy (CE) has proved its contribution to addressing environmental impacts in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries. Building Circularity (BC) assessment methods have been developed to measure the circularity of building projects. However, there still exists ambiguity and inconsistency in these methods. Based on the reviewed literature, this study proposes a new framework for BC assessment, including a material flow model, a Material Passport (MP), and a BC calculation method. The material flow model redefines the concept of BC assessment, containing three circularity cycles and five indicators. The BC MP defines the data needed for the assessment, and the BC calculation method provides the equations for building circularity scoring. The proposed framework offers a comprehensive basis to support a coherent and consistent implementation of CE in the AEC industry.

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