Carbon dioxide reduction in the building life cycle: a critical review

The construction industry is known to be a major contributor to environmental pressures due to its high energy consumption and carbon dioxide generation. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions over buildings’ life cycles has prompted academics and professionals to initiate various studies relating to this problem. Researchers have been exploring carbon dioxide reduction methods for each phase of the building life cycle – from planning and design, materials production, materials distribution and construction process, maintenance and renovation, deconstruction and disposal, to the material reuse and recycle phase. This paper aims to present the state of the art in carbon dioxide reduction studies relating to the construction industry. Studies of carbon dioxide reduction throughout the building life cycle are reviewed and discussed, including those relating to green building design, innovative low carbon dioxide materials, green construction methods, energy efficiency schemes, life cycle energy analysis, construction waste management, reuse and recycling of materials and the cradle-to-cradle concept. The review provides building practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of carbon dioxide reduction potential and approaches worldwide. Opportunities for carbon dioxide reduction can thereby be maximised over the building life cycle by creating environmentally benign designs and using low carbon dioxide materials

Bewertung von Holz im Vergleich mit anderen Werkstoffen unter dem Aspekt der CO_2-Bilanz Forschungsbericht

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RN 5905(2700) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekForstabsatzfond, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Grundlagen fuer Oekoprofile und Oekobilanzen in der Forst- und Holzwirtschaft

The research project had different aims. One aim was to devise methods for taking the particularities of forestry and the wood industry as well as of wood as a renewable resource appropriately into account when making up ecological budgets. This includes participation in the work of national and international bodies concerned with standardization. A second aim was to show by means of an example what an ecological budget for wood products should look like that is made up along the lines of this new methodology and takes forestry aspects into account. In preparing such budgets, the emphasis should be placed on completeness, in accordance with the state of national and international standardization. As a third aim, complete budgets for wood as a construction material (sawmill, roof framework, production of glued laminated girders and production of windows) were prepared within the framework of this research project. A complete budget considers all material and energy streams that enter into, or are released by, a system. (orig./SR)Ziele des durchgefuehrten Forschungsvorhabens waren unter anderem - die Erarbeitung methodischer Wege, um die speziellen Aspekte der Forst- und Holzwirtschaft sowie Holz als erneuerbaren Rohstoff in geeigneter Weise in die Oekobilanzierung einzubringen. Dies schliesst eine Mitarbeit in den nationalen und internationalen Normungsgremien ein. - Die beispielhafte Darstellung, wie Oekobilanzen fuer Holzprodukte, einschliesslich der Forstwirtschaft, unter Beruecksichtigung der aktuellen Methodik aussehen muessen. Hierbei sollte, entsprechend dem nationalen und internationalen Stand der Normung, die Erarbeitung von Sachbilanzen im Vordergrund stehen. - Im Rahmen dieses Forschungsvorhabens wurden Sachbilanzen fuer Holz als konstruktiver Baustoff (Saegewerk, Dachstuhl, Brettschichtholz- und Fensterherstellung) erarbeitet. Eine Sachbilanz ist die Erfassung aller Stoff- und Energiestroeme, die in das jeweils betrachtete System hineingehen bzw. das System verlassen. (orig./SR)Available from TIB Hannover: RN 5905(2729) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEForstabsatzfond, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Grundlagen und Perspektiven einer nachhaltigen Bauwirtschaft. Phase A: Zustandsanalyse des fuer die Bauwirtschaft relevanten Ressourcenverbrauches (oekologische und oekonomische Relevanz) Endfassung

Available from TIB Hannover: F98B1005 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman