Construction materials: How they contribute to sustainable buildings?

Abstract

Climatic change, ozone depletion, air pollution, acid rain, deforestation and loss of biodiversity are affecting our planet and all of them are related to human activities. Industry and transport systems have been traditionally considered responsible of these impacts. However, in the last decade this perception is changing and several studies have been developed about the role of the building sector and its relationship with these serious environmental impacts. When aiming to reduce environmental impact, a yardstick for measuring environmental performance was needed, so a variety of different assessment tools were developed. The selection of building materials plays a key role in the achievement of the sustainability target so different tools are needed to assess de environmental quality of these materials. But, as shown in this paper, actual evaluation tools have weaknesses when it comes to properly quantify the contribution of materials to sustainability, including the lack of a complete analysis of their life cycle and the presence of social and economic parameters.