Abstract
The establishment of sustainability credentials of emergent construction materials is very subjective, and most available tools such as BREEAM, CEQUAL, ARUP SpeAR among others are not fully quipped or equipped at all to deal with individual material systems. The main problem emanates from the challenges of the audit of each aspect of the material processing, and especially the quantification of the relevant transport, energy, environmental and other inputs into the composite product. Incorporation of materials with long and complex recycling processes further exacerbate the challenge. This paper reports on a simplified approach towards full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of seven clay-based brick products developed in UK and in Spain, based on known material data and estimated energy inputs in the manufacturing processes. In order to test the robustness of the proposed approach, results on UK-based bricks are compared with a parallel LCA on clay-based product developed in Spain. Finally, the clay-based products are compared with a typical Portland cement-based concrete block and fired clay brick. In the LCA, boundary conditions include fixed transport, thus attempting to factor only the (i) material ingredients, (ii) their known atmospheric emissions, and (iii) estimated energy inputs during processing. Results suggest that the most challenging aspect in the undertaking of LCA is the availability of reliable input data. Results also show that there are numerous parameters that can reliably and corroboratively facilitate the comparison of performance, besides carbon dioxide emissions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Marcelino-Sádaba S, González-Jaen LF, Pérez-Ezcurdia A (2015) Using project management as a way to sustainability from a comprehensive review to a framework definition. J Clean Prod
Pope J (2006) What’s so special about sustainability assessment? J Environ Assess Policy Manag
JRC European commission (2011) ILCD handbook: recommendations for life cycle impact assessment in the European context. Vasa. 10.278/33030
Hossain MU, Poon CS, Lo IMC, Cheng JCP (2016) Evaluation of environmental friendliness of concrete paving eco-blocks using LCA approach. Int J Life Cycle Assess 21:70–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-0988-2
Chen C, Habert G, Bouzidi Y, Jullien A, Ventura A (2010) LCA allocation procedure used as an incitative method for waste recycling: An application to mineral additions in concrete. Resour Conserv Recycl 54:1231–1240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.04.001
ISO 14040 (2006) Gestión ambiental Análisis del ciclo de vida Principios y marco de referencia
EU (2008) Directive 2008/98/EC of the European parliament and of the council on waste and repealing certain directives
Gala AB, Raugei M, Fullana-i-Palmer P (2015) Introducing a new method for calculating the environmental credits of end-of-life material recovery in attributional LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 20:645–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-0861-3
Schrijvers DL, Loubet P, Sonnemann G (2016) Developing a systematic framework for consistent allocation in LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1063-3
Schrijvers DL, Loubet P, Sonnemann G (2016) Critical review of guidelines against a systematic framework with regard to consistency on allocation procedures for recycling in LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 21:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1069
Flower DJM, Sanjayan JG (2007) Green house gas emissions due to concrete manufacture. Int J Life Cycle Assess 12:282–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-007-0327-3
Habert G, D’Espinose De Lacaillerie JB, Roussel N (2011) An environmental evaluation of geopolymer based concrete production: Reviewing current research trends. J Clean Prod 19:1229–1238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.03.012
Tait MW, Cheung WM (2016) A comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of three concrete mix designs. Int J Life Cycle Assess 847–860. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1045-5
Chen C, Habert G, Bouzidi Y, Jullien A (2010) Environmental impact of cement production: detail of the different processes and cement plant variability evaluation. J Clean Prod 18:478–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.12.014
Seco A, RamÃrez F, Miqueleiz L, Garci B, Prieto E (2011) The use of non-conventional additives in Marls stabilization. Appl Clay Sci 51:419–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2010.12.032
Oti JE, Kinuthia JM, Bai J (2008) Developing unfired stabilized building materials in the UK. Proc Inst Civ Eng (ICE) J Eng Sustain 161(4):211–218. https://doi.org/10.1680/ensu.2008.161.4.211
Oti JE, Kinuthia JM, Bai J (2009) Engineering properties of unfired clay masonry. Eng Geol 107(3–4):130–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2009.05.002
BS EN 197-1:2000 (2000) Cement. Part 1: composition, specifications and conformity criteria for common cements
BS EN 15167-2:2006 (2006) Ground granulated blast furnace slag for use in concrete, mortar and grout. Definitions, specifications and conformity criteria
European reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD) (2016) Life cycle inventory (LCI) data from front-running EU-level business associations and other sources for key materials, energy carriers, transport, and waste management. http://www.eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ELCD3/. Accessed on 26 Sept 2016
Oti JE, Kinuthia JM (2012) Stabilised unfired clay bricks for environmental and sustainable use. Appl Clay Sci 58:52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2012.01.011
Guinée JB, Gorrée M, Heijungs R, Huppes G, Kleijn R, de Koning A, van Oers L, Wegener Sleeswijk A, Suh S, Udo de Haes HA, de Bruijn H, van Duin R, Huijbregts MAJ (2002) Handbook on life cycle assessment. Operational guide to the ISO standards. I: LCA in perspective. IIa: Guide. Iib: Operational annex. III: Scientific background. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. ISBN 1-4020-0228-9
CEMBUREAU (2015) Environmental product declaration (EPD) according to EN 15804 and ISO 14025. Portland-composite cement (CEM II) produced in Europe 1–10 (European life cycle data base). http://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ELCD3/processList.xhtml
BS 6073-2:2008 (2008) Precast concrete masonry units. Guide for specifying precast concrete masonry units
BS EN 771-1:2011 (2011) Specification for masonry units. Clay masonry units
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kinuthia, J., Marcelino, S., Oti, J., Seco, A. (2018). Problems Encountered in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Recycled Materials in Construction. In: Fırat, S., Kinuthia, J., Abu-Tair, A. (eds) Proceedings of 3rd International Sustainable Buildings Symposium (ISBS 2017). ISBS 2017. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering , vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63709-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63709-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63708-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63709-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)