Materials
for Sustainable Sites Defined Chapter 2
Background:
Inputs, Outputs, and Impacts of Construction Materials
-Inputs:
resources, energy, and water
-Outputs: emissions, effluents, and solid waste
-These
impact the health of the ecosystem, the planet, and ourselves
Major Environmental and Human Health Concerns Resulting from Constriction
Materials and Products
Global Climate Change
-“Global
climate change is defined as long-term fluctuations in temperature,
precipitation, wind, and all other aspects of the earth’s climate.”
-“Global
warming, one type of global climate change, is the increase in average
temperature of the earth’s near-surface air and oceans.”
Fossil
Fuel Depletion
-“Fossil
fuels are used throughout a product’s life cycle to power vehicles (used in
extraction, transportation, construction, and maintenance); to produce steam or
heat for industrial processes; for electricity; to power machinery; and as raw
material for production of plastics, other synthetic polymers (e.g., fibers),
and solvents.”
Stratospheric
Ozone Depletion
-“The
naturally occurring ozone layer of the stratosphere is a critical barrier that
prevents harmful shortwave ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth. Human caused emissions of ozone-depleting substances,
such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs; used as a propellant in manufacturing and a
refrigerant) and halons (used in fire suppression systems), can cause a
thinning of the ozone layer, resulting in more shortwave radiation on Earth.”
Air
Pollution
-“Air
pollutants are airborne solid and liquid particles and gases that can pose
risks to the environment and human health.”
-“Airborne
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) can deposit onto soils or surface water, where
they are taken up by plants and ingested by animals, and are magnified as they
move up the food chain.”
Smog
-“Smog
is a type of air pollution, resulting when industrial and fuel emissions become
trapped at ground level and are transformed after reacting with sunlight.”
Acidification
-“Acidification
occurs in surface waters and soils as acidifying gases, primarily sulfur and
nitrogen compounds, either dissolve in water or adhere to solid particles.”
-“Acid
rain causes acidification of rivers, streams, and oceans, lowering the pH and
causing damage to fish and other aquatic animals.”
-“Acid
rain also accelerates weathering of building materials such as granite,
limestone, concrete, and metals. It may
even cause some stainless steels to stain.
This can cause premature removal and replacement of some building
materials.”
Eutrophication
-“Eutrophication
is the addition of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to soil or water
resulting in overstimulation of plant growth.”
-“In
water, it promotes algal blooms that can cloud the water, blocking sunlight and
causing their death.”
Deforestation,
Desertification, and Soil Erosion
-“Deforestation,
the large-scale removal of forests, contributes to negative environmental
impacts such as loss of biodiversity, global warming, soil erosion, and
desertification.”
Habitat
Alteration
-“Habitats
are altered or destroyed when human activity results in a change in the species
composition of plant and animal communities.”
Loss of
Biodiversity
-Biodiversity
is“ ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter
alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic organisms, and the ecological
complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species,
between species and of ecosystems.’”
Water
Resource Depletion
-“Product
manufacturing activates use water, and effluent wastes that are released to
water bodies reduce water resources through pollution. In addition, the use of impervious surfaces
(such as concrete and asphalt) seriously reduces groundwater recharge, as do
storm water management strategies that convey runoff away from the site.”
Ecological
Toxicity
-“Toxic
materials can be released into ecosystems as byproducts of manufacturing
processes and fossil fuel combustion, and from direct environmental application
of toxic pesticides.”
Human
Health Damage
-“Toxic
chemicals and substances can be encountered in all phases of the life cycle of
construction materials.”
-“The
effects of these substances vary from momentary irritation (acute) to prolonged
illness and disease (chronic) to death.”
-“Humans
are exposed through numerous pathways to toxic substances, and because the
effects are not always noticable, they are often overlooked.”
Life-cycle
Phases of a Construction Material or Product
Inputs
and Waste Outputs Associated with Building Materials/Products
Input:
Resources
-“Most
resources used today are nonrenewable, with only 5% of our material flow from
renewable resources.”
-“An
environmental footprint of worldwide resource consumption conducted in 1996
concluded that humans now consume more resources than the earth can replace.”
Resource
Use for Construction Materials
-“Each
year more than three billion metric tons of raw materials are used to
manufacture construction materials and products worldwide. This is about 40-50% of the global economy’s
total flow.”
-“Reusing,
reprocessing, or recycling materials reduces extraction of resources and
associated resources for energy generation- sometimes substantially.”
Input:
Energy
-“Generally
materials and the products with high energy intensity will have greater
environmental impacts from fuel consumption and related air emissions. There are some exceptions to this. For example, production of wood products is
somewhat energy intensive, yet the primary fuel source is renewable biomass
fuels that are by-products from wood processing; therefore environmental
impacts and economic costs may be less.”
Fuel
Type
Embodied
Energy of Materials and Products
-“The
total energy used during all stages of a material’s life is known as embodied
energy.”
Outputs:
Waste
-“Sixty-eight
percent of waste is in the form of emissions released to air, 22% is released
to land, less than 1% is released to water, and 10% is unaccounted for due to incomplete
data. When oxygen is included, 87% of
waste is released to air and 9% is released to land.”
-“The
ecological rucksack of a product can substantially reduced with substitution of
recycled content for virgin materials in a product. For instance, each ton of iron that is
recycled saves 12.5 tons of overburden, 2.8 tons of iron ore, 0.8 tons of coal,
and many other inputs.”
Outputs
to Air
-“Wastes
released to air include greenhouse gases, particulates, criteria air pollutants
(CAPs), and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).”
Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) Emissions from Industrial Processes
-“The
extraction and use of fossil fuel resources dominate materials output flows
with release of carbon dioxide (CO2) accounting for 80% by weight of all
industrial waste.”
-“GHG
emissions from fossil fuel combustion”
-“GHG
emissions from nonenergy-related industrial processes”
Criteria
and Hazardous Air Pollutant Releases from Industrial Processes
-“Criteria
air pollutants (CAPs) are particulate matter (both PM10 and PM2.5),
ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (S2O), nitrogen oxides
(NOx) and lead, VOCs and ammonia are also monitored along with CAPs, as they
contribute to human and environmental health risks.”
Outputs
and Releases to Water
-“While
releases to water are less than 1% of all toxic releases, toxic releases to air
can drift, sometimes for substantial distances, to settle on water bodies. And releases to land can find their way into
ground and surface water.”
Outputs
and Releases to Land
-“Construction
and demolition (C&D) waste resulting from both construction and demolition
phases of the built environment is primarily released to land either directly
to landfills or to incineration, then landfill.”
Creating
Change: Ideologies, Trends, and Policies to Improve the Environmental and Human
Health Performance of Materials and Products
Industrial
Ecology
-“Most
specifically it involves the shifting of industrial processes from linear,
open-loop systems where resources move through the system to become waste, to a
closed-loop system where wastes are used as inputs for new processes.”
Industrial
Symbiosis
-“Industrial
ecosystems have started to develop where excess waste and energy from one industry
serves as an input for another. Referred
to as industries are collocated or at least within reasonable proximity.”
Construction
Ecology
-“Within
the goal of sustainable development, the building material production and
construction industries ideally would shift their use of resources and fuels
from nonrenewables to renewables, from waste production to reuse and recycling,
from first-cost accounting where all costs such as waste, emissions, and
pollution are factored into the cost of materials.”
Biomimicry
-“Biomimicry
demonstrates direct applications of ecological concepts to industrial products,
with the aim of creating strong, durable, and intelligent materials, with no
waste and use of nonrenewable energy sources.”
Prevention
Principle
-“The
prevention principle dictates that waste and pollution prevention or
minimization in all phases of a product’s life cycle should be given the
highest prority.”
Dematerialization
-“ ‘The
reduction of total material and energy throughput of any product and service,
and thus the limitation of its environment impact. This includes reduction of raw materials at
the production stage, of energy and materials at the production stage, of
energy and material inputs at the stage, and of waste at the disposal stage.’”
Factor
4 and Factor 10
-“Factor
4 and Factor 10, strategies developed to reduce resource use and support the
idea of dematerialization, suggest that to live sustainably, we need to reduce
resource use for products and services by one-quarter or one-tenth
respectively.”
Design
for Environment
-“Design
for environment (DfE) is a proactive, frontloaded approach used in industrial
design that minimizes environmental impacts during the development of a product
and its related processes.”
Eco-Efficiency
-“Eco-efficiency
is ‘achieved through the delivery of competitively priced goods and services
that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life while progressively reducing
environmental impacts of goods and resource intensity throughout the entire
life-cycle to a level at least in line with the Earth’s estimated carrying
capacity.’”
Closed-Loop
Systems and Zero Waste
-“An
alternative to the one-time use and disposal of materials is to reuse materials
and material by-products multiple times with the aim of creating closed-loop
material systems that reduce or eliminate waste and pollution.”
Cleaner
Production and Zero-emissions Concepts
-“Cleaner
production is a preventive goal that adapts production organization and
technology to make the best possible use of materials and energy and avoid
waste, wastewater generation, gaseous emissions, waste heat, and noise. Zero emissions is a goal to emit no waste products
from engines, motors, or energy sources that pollute the environment,
contribute to climate change, or pose human health risks.”
Green
Chemistry
Increased
Producer Responsibility
-Producers
don’t carry a lot of responsibility for the environmental and health impacts
they create, but moves are being made to make producers more responsible.
Extended
Producer Responsibility (EPR)
-“Extended
producer responsibility asks the manufacturer of the product to be responsible
for the entire life cycle of the product, including the take-back, disposal and
final recycling of the product.”
Polluter
Pays Principle
-“The
polluter pays principle, part of extended producer responsibility, shifts the
cost responsibility of waste from the government to those who produce it.”
Proximity
Principle
-“The
proximity principle advocates that waste should be disposed of or managed as
close to the point of generation as possible.”
