Sustainability in the construction industry: A review of recent developments based on LCA

doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2007.11.012

Construction and Building Materials

Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 28-39

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2007.11.012 Get rights and content

Abstract

This review brings together research on life cycle assessment (LCA) applied within the building sector. More than ever, the construction industry is concerned with improving the social, economic and environmental indicators of sustainability. By applying LCA it is possible to optimise these aspects, from the extraction of raw materials to the final disposal of waste building materials. Firstly, this review details LCA concepts and focuses on the LCA methodology and tools employed in the built environment. Secondly, this paper outlines and discusses the differences between the LCA of building materials and components combinations versus the LCA of the full building life cycle. Finally, this work can be used by stakeholders as an important reference on LCA including up to date literature on approaches and methodologies to preserve the environment and therefore achieve sustainable development in both developed and developing countries.

The present review has tried to compile and reflect the key milestones accomplished in LCA over the last 7 years, from 2000 to 2007 within the building sector. In summary, it can be stated that the application of LCA is fundamental to sustainability and improvement in building and construction. For industrial activities, SMEs must understand the application of LCA, not only to meet consumer demands for environmentally friendly products, but also to increase the productivity and competitiveness of the green construction markets. For this reason, this review looks at LCA because of its broad international acceptance as a means to improve environmental processes and services, and also for creating goals to prevent adverse environmental impacts, consequently enhancing quality of life and allowing people to live in a healthy environment.

Introduction

The term sustainable development can be described as enhancing quality of life and thus allowing people to live in a healthy environment and improve social, economic and environmental conditions for present and future generations. Since the world commission on environment and development (WCED), entitled Our Common Future (1987), sustainable development has gained much attention in all nations and a report was published which called for a strategy that united development and the environment and which also made a declaration describing sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [1]. Sachs [2] believed that the great challenge of the 21st century would be sustainable development. Vollenbroek [3] stated that sustainable development is a balance between the available technologies, strategies of innovation and the policies of governments.

The improving social, economic and environmental indicators of sustainable development are drawing attention to the construction industry, which is a globally emerging sector, and a highly active industry in both developed and developing countries [4], [5], [6]. Socially and economically, the European Commission (2006) stated that 11.8 million operatives are directly employed in the sector and it is Europe’s largest industrial employer, accounting for 7% of total employment and 28% of industrial employment in the EU-15. About 910 billion euros was invested in construction in 2003, representing 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 51.2% of the Gross Fixed Capital Formation of the EU-15 [7]. By contrast environmentally, this sector is responsible for high-energy consumption, solid waste generation, global greenhouse gas emissions, external and internal pollution, environmental damage and resource depletion [8], [9], [10].

In order to overcome the increasing concern of today’s resource depletion and to address environmental considerations in both developed and developing countries, life cycle assessment (LCA) can be applied to decision making in order to improve sustainability in the construction industry.

The aim of this review is to systematically examine previous LCA research on the building sector in order to analyse the current situation and to outline the key challenges concerning LCA and the construction industry. Firstly, this paper provides details of LCA and its methodology, which is based on International standard series ISO 14040. Secondly, the review systematically explores and evaluates the different ways of using LCA for building materials and component combinations (BMCC) and LCA of the whole process of the construction (WPC), for example, in urban constructions of dwellings, commercial buildings and other civil engineering projects over the last 7 years, from 2000 to 2007. Following this, we present the discussion of the perceived advantages and limitations of LCA, and finally, we look at the outlook and challenges for ongoing research in LCA and draw some conclusions.

Section snippets

Conceptual basis of life cycle assessment (LCA)

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for evaluating the environmental load of processes and products (goods and services) during their life cycle from cradle to grave [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16]. LCA has been used in the building sector since 1990 and is an important tool for assessing buildings [17], [18].

Klöpffer [19] stated that LCA has become a widely used methodology because of its integrated way of treating topics like framework, impact assessment and data quality. The

Method: state of the art of LCA of building materials and component combinations (BMCC) versus LCA of the whole process of the construction (WPC)

This review of the application of LCA to the construction industry focuses on the two different ways of using LCA for the building material and component combinations (BMCC) and the Whole Process of the construction (WPC). Therefore, this review has considered LCA methodology in the determination of the Functional Unit (FU). Twenty-five case studies have been analysed, 60% of those applying LCA to BMCC and 40% applying LCA to WPC. These case studies have been taken from the last 7 years from

Evaluation of the scenarios analysis

There are practical differences between both scenarios: LCA of building materials and components combinations (BMCC) and LCA of the full building life cycle (WPC).

First, from the reviewed scientific literature it was found that LCA of the full building life cycle as a process is not static; it varies from building to building since each has its own function and different characteristics of engineering [67], [70]. For example, construction techniques, architectural style and different conditions

Discussion of perceived advantages and limitations of LCA

The present review, though not claiming to be exhaustive, demonstrates the progressive evolution of LCA in the building sector during the last seven years. It illustrated how approaches for both BMCC and WPC have been evaluated on scientific evidence. It has been shown that the use of LCA for evaluating building material and LCA for the whole process of the construction and edification is not novel, nor is the use of cost and data sensitivity analysis. However, most analyses of LCA focused on

SMEs: methodologies applied within the construction industry and perspectives in developing countries

Over the years, it has been observed that there are various methodologies applied within the construction industry in pursuit of continuous improvement for sustainability indicators [89], [90], [91]. Despite the application of methodologies as eco-efficiency, cleaner production, extended polluter responsibility, industrial ecology, Eco-label and Environmental Management Systems, there are still a lot of adverse environmental loads emitted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and research is

Outlook and challenges for ongoing research in LCA

From the reviewed literature it was proofed that there have been some LCA studies published thus far on complete LCA of the full building life cycle. For example, LCA was applied to evaluate environmental impacts and energy use of a residential home in Michigan [107]. Asif et al. [30] performed a LCA for a dwelling home in Scotland for eight construction materials. Another study by Adalberth et al. [53] has used LCA to evaluate the life cycle of four dwellings located in Sweden. Peuportier [47]

Conclusions

The present review compiles and reflects the key milestones accomplished in Life Cycle Assessment over the last 7 years, from 2000 to 2007. It deals with topics such as the differences between LCAs of building materials and components (BMCC) versus LCAs of the whole process of constructions (WPC). LCA is recognized as an innovative methodology which improves sustainability in the construction industry throughout all stages of the building life cycle.

More attention has to be paid to SME’s

Acknowledgements

This work is part of the collective arrangement financed between the University of Rovira i Virgili, Spain and the University of Pamplona, Colombia. For their valuable assistance authors acknowledge Aaron Webber and Raquel Villamizar. Some ideas described here were presented at the SETAC Europe 17th annual meeting, Porto, May 23, 2007 and in the 3rd Life cycle management conference – LCM 2007. Zurich, August 29, 2007.

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ReviewSustainability in the construction industry: A review of recent developments based on LCA

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Conceptual basis of life cycle assessment (LCA)

Method: state of the art of LCA of building materials and component combinations (BMCC) versus LCA of the whole process of the construction (WPC)

Evaluation of the scenarios analysis

Discussion of perceived advantages and limitations of LCA

SMEs: methodologies applied within the construction industry and perspectives in developing countries

Outlook and challenges for ongoing research in LCA

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

J Cleaner Production

Energy Build

Build Environ

Build Environ

Build Environ

Build Environ

J Cleaner Production

Forest Policy Econom

Resour Conserv Recycl

Construct Build Mater

Build Environ

Technovation

Energy Build

Build Environ

J Cleaner Production

Curr Opinion Solid State Mater Sci

Build Environ

Energy Build

Transport Res Part D – Transport Environ

Renew Energy

Build Environ

Energy Build

Build Environ

Waste Manage

Energy Build

Renew Energy

Build Environ

Build Environ

Habitat Int

Appl Energy

Build Environ

Build Environ

J Cleaner Production

J Cleaner Production

J Cleaner Production

Natural resource abundance and economic growth

The Dutch sustainable building policy: a model for developing countries?

Build Environ

Integrated life – cycle and risk assessment for industrial processes

Assessing environmental impacts in a life-cycle perspective

Environ Sci Technol

Will the next 10 years be as productive in advancing life cycle approaches as the last 15 years?

Int J Life Cycle Assess

Review
Sustainability in the construction industry: A review of recent developments based on LCA