The lifetime of construction products
The European Union Waste Framework Directive has established the obligation of using the waste management hierarchy when making decisions in all processes related to waste management.
This includes not only the treatment of the waste when it is considered a waste but the life cycle thinking and assessment when designing products.
All products have environmental impacts, from the extraction of raw materials to manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal. In this regard, life cycle thinking, and assessment involves looking at all stages of a product’s life to find where improvements can be made to reduce environmental impacts and improve the use or reuse of resources.
In other words, life cycle assessment is a compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs, and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. It examines the entire life cycle of a product.
The standard “ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework”, is the international regulatory framework for developing life cycle assessments. The document describes four phases:
- The goal and scope definition
- Life cycle inventory analysis phase (LCI)
- Life cycle impact assessment phase (LCIA)
- Interpretation
For last, it has to be mentioned that this life cycle assessment regulated by the standard ISO 14040 has its application in the ecolabelling of construction products and for green building assessments and certification programs.
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