Sustainability of construction materials and products: substances of concern and assessment tools

This presentation reviews the sustainability topics of the current Nordic Eracobuild-project (2010-2012) dealing with the recycling and reuse of construction products and materials from demoon and renovation. The goal of the project is to provide a methodology and tools for assessment of environmental properties and sustainability construction products, especially emphasing the same approach for both primary and secondary raw materials. The basis of the work is to identify key substances of concern, future requirements on construction products and sustainability targets in renovation. The other parts of the project are focused on development of new assessment and decision making tools (e.g. use of release data in LCA). The applicability of the developed methodology is also tested on selected construction products. The tools for release and indoor assessment are also highlighted in the project. Furthermore, possibilities for implementation of information in the product management system (e.g. product declaration) are addressed. The project aims to generate new knowledge by integrating information on emissions of dangerous substances with lifecycle assessment to create design tools. This enables impact assessment of different materials in use, recycling and disposal options. Ecodesign recommendations for safe product use and sustainable recycling/reuse solutions are given as one end product of the project. Furthermore, challenges related to the recyclability of high volume construction products arising from renovation, especially concrete materials are reviewed. The Eracobuild-project is a research cooperation project with partners from the following Nordic countries: VTT (Finland) - coordinator, SGI (Sweden), IVL (Sweden), DHI (Denmark), Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut (Denmark) & DTU (Denmark).