Product environmental footprint of a cross-laminated timber system: a case study in Italy

Corradini, Giulia; Pierobon, Francesca; Zanetti, Michela

doi:10.1007/s11367-018-1541-x

Cited by 28 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Likewise, Minunno et al (2018) argued the environmental advantages of material reuse should be explored in improving the CE of buildings. Arguably, having an adequate understanding and appropriate use of construction material resources can lead to improved performance as well as increasing the industry sustainability performance (Sierra-P erez et al, 2018;Mobili et al, 2018;Corradini et al, 2019).…”

Section: Study Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of circular economy research in the construction industry

Osobajo

Oke

Omotayo

et al. 2020

SASBE

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PurposeWhile circular economy (CE) is fast becoming a political and economic agenda for global urban development, there are still substantial knowledge gaps in possible strategies to speed up such transition, especially in the construction industry. This study analyses literature surrounding CE to unpack current trends possible future research directions to foster CE implementation in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThe study undertakes a systematic review of CE literature published between 1990 and 2019. It adopts a five-stage procedure as a methodological approach for the review: formulation of the research question(s), locating and identifying relevant studies, selection and evaluation of studies, analysis or synthesis and results reporting.FindingsThe findings on CE research in the construction industry show extensive focus on resource use and waste management. There are limited investigations in other areas of construction such as supply chain integration, building designs, policy, energy efficiency, land use, offsite manufacturing, whole life costing, and risk, cost reduction, cost management, health and safety management. The study findings provide evidence that current CE practice fails to incorporate other areas that would facilitate the network of true circular construction industry.Originality/valueThis research provides a comprehensive overview of research efforts on CE in the construction context, identifying areas of extensive and limited coverage over three decades. Besides, it identifies possible pathways for future research directions on CE implementation, towards the accelerated transition to a true circular construction industry for the benefit of funding bodies and researchers.

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Section: Study Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of circular economy research in the construction industry

Osobajo

Oke

Omotayo

et al. 2020

SASBE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Pyay et al [45] evaluated the PEF of the primary and intermediate outcomes from the rubber cultivation in Thailand. Corradini et al [46] applied the PEF methodology to a wooden wall element in an existing building in Italy. He et al [47] developed the PEF assessment process of an agricultural picking robot.…”

Section: Product Environmental Footprintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospective Environmental and Economic Assessment of a Sensor Network

et al. 2021

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Sustainability is becoming of vital importance in project management, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) can ensure a body of knowledge to bear in mind the environmental burdens the project involves. In this study, two different ways of supplying energy to a sensor network are analyzed. Firstly, we analyze the environmental impact of the devices connected to the public grid. Secondly, we analyze the completely full off-grid system, with the sensor connected to a photovoltaic (PV) panel. Our findings show that the off-grid option has a greater number of benefits than the grid-connected option in terms of environmental impacts, although it is less economically advantageous. In a detailed analysis of the off-grid scenario, it can be observed that the battery is the component with the highest impact, so actions to try to reduce consumption, and, therefore, the battery size and its negative impact are taken. After reducing the battery size, the break-even point was reached, providing a net economic benefit of EUR 0.23 sensor/year. However, this analysis refers to a single sensor, and although the environmental and economic benefits seem low, in an economy of scale, this could result in large savings if these types of sensors are massively installed.

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“…Just to name a few examples of such LCA studies for construction products: Mohammadi and South (2017) indicate that cement and aggregates are the main drivers of ozone depletion of concrete; Almeida et al (2016) identify packaging as the dominant process for eutrophication and human toxicity of ceramic tiles; Paleari et al (2016) indicate the use of copper as the cause for acidification and eutrophication of building finishes and systems; and Corradini et al (2019) present the production of the heating system of a wooden building as an important driver of freshwater ecotoxicity, human non-carcinogenic toxicity, and marine eutrophication. None of these studies explain how elementary or product flows relate to these impact categories.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary data priorities for the life cycle inventory of construction products: focus on foreground processes

Silva

Reis

Mack-Vergara

et al. 2020

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose Life cycle assessment can support decisions for improving the environmental performance of construction products. However, the amount of data required for developing life cycle inventories limits the adoption of LCA. This work associates the interpretation of the impact results of construction products at the unit process level with a quantitative definition for the foreground and background system, for guiding primary data collection towards foreground processes that can be affected by decision-makers in the construction sector.Methods A set of construction products commonly used in Brazil is selected and their cradle-to-gate life cycle inventories are modeled using the ecoinvent database (version 2). Life cycle impact assessment is performed using the ReCiPe Midpoint Hierarchist method. The contribution of each process during the life cycle of construction products for each impact category is quantified. These processes are associated with economic sectors, which are classified as belonging to the foreground or background system from the perspective of the construction industry. Foreground sectors are those controlled or influenced by the construction sector and are defined based on the production share consumed by the construction value chain. The elementary flows defining each impact category are also identified. Results and discussionForeground processes show significant contributions to most impact results of construction products. Global warming, fine particulate matter formation, ozone formation, acidification, human carcinogenic toxicity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity are mainly caused by direct emissions and fossil fuel combustion in manufacturing processes. Land occupation for production activities contributes to land 2 use change, while the consumption of fuels, raw materials and water causes fossil and mineral resource scarcity and water consumption respectively. Freshwater and marine ecotoxicities and human noncarcinogenic toxicity have foreground contributions only for steel and copper products due to emissions from the landfilling of mining tails. Ionizing radiation and stratospheric ozone depletion are mostly driven by background processes. A reduced group of elementary flows covers a big share of the environmental impacts of most construction products. ConclusionsThe results indicate priorities for life cycle inventory primary data collection of construction products, by focusing on foreground processes and the corresponding elementary flows that cause many of the potential embodied impacts of construction. Increasing the availability of primary data for these processes improves the reliability of LCA-based decisions in the construction sector, especially in countries which still lack local LCI databases.

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Product environmental footprint of a cross-laminated timber system: a case study in Italy

Cited by 28 publications

References 31 publications

A systematic review of circular economy research in the construction industry

A systematic review of circular economy research in the construction industry

Prospective Environmental and Economic Assessment of a Sensor Network

Primary data priorities for the life cycle inventory of construction products: focus on foreground processes

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