Construction materials for the urban environment: Environmental assessment of life cycle performance

Abstract

The considerable lifecycle consumption of energy and raw materials of construction projects is not just a challenge faced by the construction sector; it is also an economic, environmental, and social concern, which needs immediate action. In view of that, performing an objective evaluation of the novel "greener" and sustainable construction materials for the urban environment requires a set of well-established methodologies and tools invoking reliability and validity. This chapter introduces EcoHestia, a new comprehensive environmental building material assessment tool, which addresses the assessment of the environmental performance of construction materials for the urban environment, in terms of a whole life cycle approach. A detailed literature section presents the evolution and the development towards the existing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework, as well as the state-of-the-art and recent trends in the implementation of LCA of ecomaterials for the construction industry. The relevant European legislation and well-established existing LCA methodologies and tools are also presented. As regards to EcoHestia, this book chapter elaborates on the motivation of development of the specific tool, the definition of its scope, as well as the methodology behind the development of its Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and the calculation of its Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) results. Within the same context, limitations commonly linked to environmental assessment tools are extensively discussed. The findings of this chapter primarily establish the usefulness of employing LCA for supporting the definition of the most energy-, material-, and cost-efficient construction materials for the built environment.