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In Spain, most businesses are medium to small size enterprises, representing 90% of the total, but there is a lack of studies of the types of building this sector uses. The main objective of this paper is to present a method for the evaluation of small industrial construction projects to facilitate the introduction of eco-efficient solutions. For this, it is necessary to identify the most representative buildings and the aspects of these which have the most environmental impact. A methodology in place for the evaluation of dwelling construction is adapted, for the first time, to evaluate industrial buildings. The construction solutions characterized are those traditionally used in the sector, as identified through 87 surveys. A standardized classification of work units is proposed to enable the use of environmental product information, such as eco-labels and/or EPD, and LCA databases. The carbon footprint (CF) and water footprint (WF) are the indicators selected because of their straightforward message. Finally, a comparative analysis is performed showing the high recycling potential of concrete and cement which, along with metals and aggregates, control the impact in terms of CF. With respect to the WF indicator, plastic substitute aggregates are among the materials with the greatest impact. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Urbanization projects, understood as those supplying basic services for cities, such as drinking water, sewers, communication services, power, and lighting, are normally short-term extremely scattered actions, and it can be difficult to track their environmental impact. The present article's main contribution is to employ the project budgets of public urbanization work to provide an instrument for environmental improvement, thereby helping public procurement, including sustainability criteria. Two urban projects in Seville, Spain are studied: the first substitutes existing services, and the second also includes gardens and playgrounds in the street margins. The methodology finds the construction elements that must be controlled in each project from the perspective of three indicators: carbon, water footprints, and embodied energy. The main impacts found are due to only four construction units: concrete, aggregates, asphalt, and ceramic pipes for the sewer system, that represent 70% or more of the total impact in all indicators studied. The public developer can focus procurement on those few elements in order to exert a lower impact and to significantly reduce the environmental burden of urbanization projects. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

CO2 emissions due to the construction sector represent 40% of the total, either directly by the use of the building or indirectly by the emissions incorporated in construction materials and products. It is important to achieve a change in this sector to introduce these concepts in a simple way. There are various tools for evaluating emissions in construction projects. In the present work, the OERCO2 tool is used. This work studies housing projects in two European countries belonging to significantly different regions, Spain (Andalusia) and Romania (Bucharest and Transylvania). Although concrete or masonry structures are mainly used in Romania, due to an increased demand for residential buildings in recent years, a new niche has appeared in the construction sector: metallic and mixed (metal&ndash, concrete) structures for multi-storied buildings. For these reasons, a comparison between concrete and metallic buildings can be made in order to highlight their environmental impact. Twenty-four projects are selected from Romanian projects with metallic structures, and Spanish projects with concrete structures. They are also differentiated according to the type of foundation used. As expected, buildings with a metallic structure have more economic and environmental impact than reinforced concrete. The materials with greater impact are metal, concrete, cement, and ceramic products. The potential of the tool for the evaluation of various construction solutions, materials, and project phases is demonstrated.

The construction sector is one of the most polluting industries, generating between 30% and 40% of the worldwide environmental burden in terms of raw materials, direct and indirect energy consumption, waste, and CO2 emissions. Recent advances in computer science and data management have facilitated the evaluation of present and future impacts, thus improving the sustainability of architectural designs. Powerful software tools, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), allow environmental indicators to be incorporated into the construction elements that make up the project to evaluate it during the design stage. In this work, the state of the art of ecological indicator application through BIM platforms is studied. Barriers and uncertainties are also identified. Subsequently, a model is proposed to evaluate the environmental impact of an urbanization process or a project through several ecological indicators (carbon footprint, water footprint, and embodied energy). To perform this analysis, the most important aspect is to determine the quantities of each construction element and their clear decomposition into subelements, since both aspects add certainty to the analysis. For this purpose, construction cost databases are a good instrument for introducing environmental awareness. The reliability of LCA data, which can be obtained from generic databases or ecolabels such as environmental product declarations, becomes crucial. © 2020 by the authors.

Predicting the environmental impact of buildings from early stages of design becomes essential for improving their sustainability during the entire life cycle. Carbon footprint allows to determine the emissions of greenhouse gases derived from the building process from cradle to grave. In this chapter, the experience of the authors in carbon footprint calculation methodologies is presented through an open-source software tool for estimating the environmental impact of architectural projects from the design phase, as a product from the OERCO2 Erasmus + project. With a newly renovated interface, the internal functioning of this tool is comprehensively explained, presenting and analyzing the results obtained for representative building typologies. This tool aims to allow users to detect opportunities of improvement, environmental and economic, of their projects through modifications such as the selection of different materials or constructive solutions. Subsequently, the authors carry out an analysis of its flaws and forthcoming necessary upgrades to make this software tool more accessible to non-specialized users, thus easing the spread of knowledge on carbon footprint and the environmental impact of buildings. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

More effective construction technologies are needed nowadays in order to reduce construction energy consumption during the life-cycle of buildings. Besides which, it is necessary to consider the economic feasibility and associated costs within the framework of these alternative technologies so as to favouring their practical implementation in the construction sector. In this sense, this paper presents an economic and environmental comparison of a new non-bearing façade construction solution based on the extruded unfired stabilized clay panels as opposed to three traditional solutions with similar physical, thermal, and aesthetic characteristics in terms of the exterior cladding. The proposed panels are a sandwich type configuration with an intermediate insulating material and two exterior pieces manufactured by extrusion with raw earth stabilized with alginate and animal wool fibers. In this paper, details of the constructive technology of the system are provided. From the results obtained, it is possible to conclude that the solution is a valid alternative from the environmental point of view, considerably reducing the GlobalWarming Potential and the Cumulative Energy Demand. And although the environmental improvement of the system can be considered the primary objective of this investigation, on the other hand, once executed, it will also be a competitive constructive technology from the perspective of the system’s final costs.

Innovative designs, such as those taking place in nearly zero-energy buildings, need to tackle Life Cycle Cost, because reducing the impact of use can carry other collateral and unexpected costs. For example, it is interesting to include the evaluation of end-of-life costs by introducing future activities of selective dismantling and waste management, to also improve the environmental performance of the demotion project. For this purpose, it is necessary to develop methods that relate the process of selective demolition to the waste quantification and the costs derived from its management. In addition, a sensitivity analysis of end-of-life parameters allows different construction types, waste treatment options, and waste management costs to be compared. The assessment of end-of-life costs in the present work is developed by a case-based reasoning. Cost data are obtained from three actual studies which are part of the H2020 CRAVEzero project (Cost Reduction and Market Acceleration for Viable Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings). Results show that end-of-life costs are similar to traditional building typologies. The most influential materials are part of the substructure and structure of the building, such as concrete and steel products.