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The article proposes indicators to evaluate a thermal insulation investment in a building, such as net present value (NPV), profitability index, discounted payback period, and ecological cost efficiency. Economic and ecological aspects were taken into account. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used in the ecological analysis. The following heat sources in the building were considered: condensing gas boiler and heat pump. The developed indicators also depend on the pre-set temperature in residential premises. A methodology to determine the optimum thermal insulation thickness for both economic and ecological reasons was also proposed. A case study was analyzed, and a reference building, typical for Polish construction conditions, was used for research. Various solutions were suggested regarding the type of thermal insulation material and heat sources. The values of the indicators were determined for the proposed variants and for the economically and ecologically optimum thermal insulation thicknesses. Based on the conducted research, it was found that air temperatures maintained in the rooms of the building undergoing thermal modernization should be taken into account in the energy audit. The energy demand of the building for a room temperature of 26 °C is higher by 61% compared to the demand for the same building at the design temperature (20 °C). The innovation in the proposed approach to the economic and ecological assessment of a building is the combination of a wide range of temperatures potentially maintained in living spaces with ecological cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of rubber waste management, among others, due to the intensively developing branch of road transport, and hence a large number of manufactured car tyres, is particularly important for the sustainable development paradigm. Tyres are used not only in internal combustion cars, but also in electric cars, which are considered more ecological. Worn car tyres are not the only type of rubber waste; however, due to the scale of production, they occur most often. The article discusses laws related to this group of waste and methods of its recovery and recycling. All discussed methods of disposal of rubber waste have been characterised in terms of their advantages and disadvantages. An innovative, newly designed pyrolytic installation has also been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plaster plays an important role in the building industry. Besides an aesthetic function it provides the protection of external walls from weather conditions. In the paper thermo insulating Thermopor plaster was described. Its chemical and physical properties and manner of using were defined. The impact on the environment with the use of LCA technique was examined. Thennopor plaster can fulfil a thermo insulating function. The economic and ecological analysis of applying this plaster in the thermo insulation of the external walls of the building was conducted. The use of Thermopor plaster on external walls brings ecological benefits. The reimbursement of ecological cost related to the use of this plaster appears already after 2 to 5 years, depending on the source of heat used, which results from the decrease of thermal energy consumption for heating the building. For economic reasons, the partial reimbursement of cost is obtained as a result of the reduction of heating cost. Although Thermopor plaster has thermo insulating properties similar to typical insulating materials, such as polystyrene or mineral wool, the economic cost of using the plaster for thermo insulation becomes several times higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat insulation of the outer partitions of a building brings economic profits at the stage of using the building. The article analyzes the range of influence of the heat-insulating investment on the environment for different variants of heat insulation. The analysis was conducted with the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Moreover, the determinants with the biggest impact on economic and ecological profits resulting from heat insulation were verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates the retrospective implementation of the aims of the National Plan for Waste Management 2010 as well as the entries of the Voivodeship Plan for Waste Management in the Lubuskie Voivodeship, with a special consideration of managing biodegradable municipal waste. The legal regulations in the European Union and Poland in terms of managing bio waste were describedal together with the proposal of the solutions for the system of biodegradable wastecollection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes methods for determining the optimal thermal insulation thickness for economic and ecological reasons, depending on the number of degree days of the heating period. Life cycle assessment was used for the ecological analysis. Analyses were performed for selected variants typical of Polish conditions. The optimal thermal insulation thickness as well as the amount of economic and ecological benefits depends very much on the condition of the building without thermal insulation, but also on the heat source used and the thermal insulation material to be used. For each variant, the optimal thermal insulation thickness for ecological reasons is much greater than the optimal for economic reasons. Taking into consideration the climatic zone and the associated number of degree days of the heating period, the colder the zone, the greater the optimal insulation thickness, as well as economic and ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]