engleski

Using standardized environmental declarations of building products for a more sustainable construction and renovation of buildings

Circular economy is considered a prerequisite for achieving climate neutrality in European Union by 2050. The goal of focusing on circular economy is to reduce the consumption of natural resources, sustainable growth and create jobs. In 2020 the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), which forms the basis for sustainable growth agenda — the European Green Deal. The Action Plan envisages improving products throughout the life cycle, by developing circular economy products and processes, encouraging sustainable consumption, preventing waste generation, and retaining ingested resources within the EU economy for as long as possible. The strategy “Renovation Wave for Europe – Greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives” was published by the Commission in 2020 to boost renovation in the EU. The European target is to double the rate of renovation of buildings over the next decade. Amendments on Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2018/844/EU) of the European Parliament and Council were adopted in March 2023. The aim of the amendments to the Directive is to accelerate the efforts under the Renovation Wave. On average, construction and demolition waste (C&DW) accounts for more than 30% of waste at EU level. The so-called “Fit for 55” European legislative package refers to achieving a binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) are transparent and objective reports on the environmental impacts across the entire life cycle of products (LCA, Life Cycle Analysis). Architects and construction engineers need verified EPDs to assess the sustainability level of new or renovated buildings. The presented research shows the application of ISO 21930:2007 standard “Sustainability in building construction — Environmental declaration of building products” for the development of EPDs for concrete pavements by using LCA software. The impact of different environmental categories was assessed. It was found that the fossils resource use has the highest environmental impact. It was concluded as well that the construction sector is currently lacking familiarity with the LCA terms and concepts, which will certainly be required very soon to be standard practice.

life cycle analysis ; environmental product declaration ; construction ; building ; renovation

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