Enhancement of sustainable road design towards compatibility between pavement materials

The need for correctly made comparisons of different pavement materials, regarding cost-efficiency to reduce the climate impact, is increasing, especially in connection with new types of climate-neutral materials, so that sub-optimizations and oblique competition do not arise. Both the Swedish and USA's authorities are beginning to demand the Environmental Product Declaration (EPDs) as a certificate of the pavements' environmental performances from the contractors. There are some methodological difficulties to use the EPDs for comparison of the environmental impacts between different asphalt mixes or between the asphalt- and concrete pavements. This paper has analyzed two new standards which propose to extend the declaration to several aspects of sustainability: technical, environmental and economic performance. In this article, we have investigated if these standards can be used to form a framework to create an extended sustainability declaration of road pavements allowed a multidisciplinary comparison of different materials based on technical performance, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA).

Life cycle assessment of the food waste management with a focus on the collection bag

The organic fraction (mainly food waste) is typically the most abundant of the separately collected waste streams. The research aims at investigating the influence of different types of collection bag on the environmental performances of the food waste management chain in Italy. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) between two alternative systems based on paper or bioplastic collection bags was carried out. It included the collection bags manufacturing and distribution, their use at the household, the transportation of collected food waste and its subsequent anaerobic digestion, including the valorisation of useful outputs and the management of residues. The two systems were modelled mainly with primary data related to the current management system and to tests performed on bags. The LCA was performed with two different modelling approaches applied in the environmental product declaration (EPD) system and in the product environmental footprint (PEF) studies, respectively. In the scenario representing the average conditions, higher environmental impacts are shown by the use of bioplastic bags compared to paper ones with the EPD approach (+257%/+576%). With the PEF approach, the differences between the two systems are lower (−55%/+133%). Moreover, paper bags could allow for further impact reductions assuming a decrease of the food waste collection frequency, allowed by higher weight losses and a lower generation of leachate and odour during the household storage.

Pencegahan Dampak Lingkungan Pada Industri Pewarnaan Melalui Pendekatan Penilaian Siklus Daur Produk

The home-scale coloring industry is currently starting to develop with various models and effects which result in the production of various phases of solid, liquid, and gas emissions. The purpose of this study is to measure the environmental impact and ensure that life management minimizes the impact of recycling industrialdye . This research was conducted by direct industry observation methods and a literature review on the management of industrial waste. Environmental impact calculations were completed carried out using the 2018 Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) method on SimaPro 9.1.1 with an ecoinvent 3 database. The results of the environmental impact assessment should be managed according to the effects of water scarcity, acidification, and eutrophication. Pollution prevention can occur by treating industrial wastewater dye . Wastewater treatment can be performed by biological processes based on the biodegradability index. The biodegradability index of 0.3 indicates that wastewater can be treated by the activated sludge process and by moving the bed biofilm reactor (MBBR).

Understanding of Construction Product Assessment Issues and Sustainability among Investors, Architects, Contractors, and Sellers of Construction Products in Poland

The building sector is one of the most critical branches of the economy influencing global warming today. Following the European Union’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR), the sustainable use of natural resources in construction is one of the seven basic buildings’ requirements. However, due to the lack of provisions in this regard, construction products are not yet subject to mandatory assessment and verification of the constancy of performance in this area. The paper presents the research results with the participation of 842 respondents who are investors, architects, contractors, and sellers of building materials. The analysis of their perceptions of issues related to the term sustainable development and knowledge of selected documents functioning in construction is presented. The share of people who correctly assigned the term sustainable development to equal treatment of environmental protection, economic development, and social development ranged between 52.5% and 65.7%. Knowledge of people associated with construction about the role of the declaration of performance (DoP) of construction products is high (from 73.9% to 99.4% correct answers). For Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), lower knowledge of this document’s role was noted, from 24.1% to 56.5% of correct answers. The obtained results indicate the need for further education.

Research in Sustainability of Chain Conveyor Systems

Climate Change is a crucial challenge of today. The main reason is increased man-made emissions of climate gases, like CO2, into the atmosphere. In every part of our life, these emissions have to be reduced. Transport of goods, called intra- or extralogistics, is necessary for economic welfare. Intralogistics means the transport of goods in distribution centres or manufacturing spaces, e. g. between machines. For continuous transport processes chain conveyor systems (CCS) are state of the art. The research group “Plastic Components and Tribology” at professorship of Conveying Engineering and Materials Handling focus on impacts of their whole life cycle, from design over use until end-of-life, on the environment. Another focus is the development of Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for chain conveyor systems. They are useful to promote environmentally-friendly products and to push eco-design activities. But also, activities of circular economy such as recycling of the plastic parts from conveyor chains are examined. The article gives an overview of the goals achieved and the challenges ahead. Some of the achieved results will be presented.

Eco-Efficient Analysis of a Refurbishment Proposal for a Social Housing

In recent years, the building sector has been turning towards intervening in the existing city building stock. In fact, it is generally accepted that the refurbishment of buildings based on sustainability must form the axis of reformulation of the building sector. Although energy refurbishment is commonly accepted and recommended towards decarbonization of the building stock, an integral assessment towards implementing the principles of the circular economy must incorporate the environmental impact of the materials in order to get an eco-efficient refurbishment. The article presents the environmental analysis of a social housing located in Cadiz (Spain) and the improvements achieved by its refurbishment. This intervention is improved by incorporating eco-efficient materials based on the environmental and life cycle analysis (LCA). Those analyses are performed using EnergyPlus, Radiance, LCA standards, and Environmental Product Declaration of the products. The results shown that although an energy rehabilitation intervention can fulfil other eco-efficient aspects, an integral assessment should always be carried out in order to ensure that indoor comfort is achieved, daylighting and solar heat gains are balanced, and the environmental impact at product, use, and end-of-life stages of a building is minimized. Considering the constrains and limitations of the tools and databases, higher efforts should be done to solve them and provide useful resources for a decarbonized and circular building stock.

CO₂ EMISSIONS IN OWN MATERIALS FROM VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

The development of materials in the construction industry has a direct impact on greenhouse gas emissions - GHG, throughout the entire construction process from production, use and reuse. Being able to evaluate the energy embedded in the entire process is essential to establish criteria that allow the corresponding emissions to be calculated. The environmental impact of the building can be reversed through the appropriate use of materials referenced in the vernacular architecture if aspects of the life cycle characterized by standardized and regulated data on CO2 (Carbon dioxide) emissions are considered. This research has analyzed existing information on CO2 emissions of natural or traditional materials based on standardized data contained in 266 EPD (Environmental Product Declaration). It is important to generate this type of information so that it can be implemented in official construction databases. Specifically, 815 materials have been analyzed, based on their environmental impact, and a comparison of data – emission values, according to vernacular and non-vernacular materials – has also been developed, identifying on the importance of the use of traditional materials in vernacular architecture.