Characterization of Environmental Impact of Building Materials for the Purpose of Ecodesign

Abstract

-The building material manufacturing sector is one of the sectors with the highest consumption of fossil fuel resources. The "cradle-to-gate" study of the ceramic bricks made in the Āne plant of JSC Lode, Latvia, is performed according to ISO standards 14044:2006. Life cycle inventory data have been collected at the factory site. Three different perspectives of the "Eco-Indicator'99" method are used to conduct an environmental characterization of the building materials to obtain the total impact indicator.

Towards Sustainable Construction: A Systematic Review of Circular Economy Strategies and Ecodesign in the Built Environment

“…It is important to highlight that a majority of the articles did not conduct a complete LCA. Some studies consider only the cradle-to-gate system [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46], while others address the cradle-to-grave approach [28,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. In contrast, few studies have assessed more than one life cycle [56][57][58][59], existing urban stocks renewals [60], reuse scenarios [61][62][63], and credits for potential reuse, energy recovery, or recycling of materials in subsequent product systems [64].…”

“…The disseminated use of LCA is because it offers a systematic approach to quantifying environmental impacts. In addition, other studies used the LCA to help in the process of comparing environmental aspects and potential impact associated with materials options [41][42][43][45][46][47]51,54,56,61], building types [65], and modular building with strategies for the end-of-life (disassembly and reuse strategies) [66].…”

Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Alternatives for Replacement of Natural Gas in Building Material Industry

“…Bricks manufactured in Latvia are exported to many countries and therefore the results are relevant for a wider region. This study continues the previous research [18][19][20] where the environmental impact of building materials for the purpose of ecodesign were characterized, environmental aspects of substitution of the natural gas by bio-synthetic natural gas were analyzed, and life cycle assessment of biomethane supply system was carried out, by considering more fuel alternatives for brick firing and using LCA methodology with two impact assessment methods.…”

“…Studies based on life cycle inventory data [18,19] show that if bio-methane is substituted for natural gas, GHG emissions can be reduced by nearly 80 %. It can be claimed that substitution of fuels in this type of industry can give more substantial environmental benefits than gradual improvements of equipment efficiencies.…”