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The construction sector is responsible for the one third of the pollutants emitted worldwide. The building activity absorbs approximately 40% of the worldwide inorganic materials consumption, 25% of the worldwide timber consumption and 16% of the worldwide water consumption. Furthermore, construction industries such as cement industry, steelworks, ceramics as well as industries of sealants and insulating material, consume large energy amounts for their production processes. Masonries, specifically, constitute a large part of a building construction, along with the materials that compose them. Aim of this paper is the comparative environmental impact analysis of three masonries of different block types, through a lifecycle perspective. The three systems under study are: i) Masonry consisting of vertical hole bricks, ii) Masonry consisting of horizontal holes bricks, and iii) Masonry consisting of blocks of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). Overall, the results of this study show that the use of AAC blocks present significantly less environmental impacts than the traditional clay bricks, both in midpoint and endpoint analysis. In the crucial category of climate change, AAC blocks present reduced impact of up to 44%. Finally, a comparison with relevant studies was performed, in an at-tempt to provide additional validity to the results of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the official establishment of the Industrial Symbiosis (IS) in Kalundborg, Denmark, there have been a lot of effort in understanding and promoting Eco-Industrial Development (EID) as a mean to achieve sustainable industrial growth. Under the perspective of Industrial Ecology (IE), EID is a way of mimicking natural ecosystem for better environmental and economic outcomes. The core of EID is a methodological approach for networking waste and by-product exchanges in a closed-loop industrial synergistic system Despite the evident environmental, economic and social benefits of the successful implemented examples, EID in Greece is still a relatively unknown concept. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to identify the barriers and opportunities regarding EID, at an early stage of planning, in order to determine and adjust the needs, the capabilities and specifications. This paper aims to discuss the existing situation of EID in Greece and identify barriers to its implementation. This is achieved with a review of the most commonly addressed multi-level barriers of EID in the existing literature, but also capitalising on previous knowledge and research in the concept of EID. Moreover, besides identified barriers, this paper discusses opportunities that arise in Greece that may facilitate EID in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production and utilization of fertilizers are processes with known and noteworthy environmental impacts. Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a high contribution to water eutrophication due to the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) derivatives are some of the most crucial impacts derived from the overall life cycle of fertilizer use. The life cycle assessment (LCA) has been reliable and analytical tool for the identification, quantification, and evaluation of potential environmental impacts of fertilizers related to the products, production processes, or activities throughout their lifecycle. In this paper, a gate-to-gate LCA approach was applied in order to identify and evaluate the impacts derived from the production processes of nitrate and compound fertilizers the production industry in Northeastern Greece. The results from this study prove that compound fertilizers have a greater impact compared with nitrate fertilizers, contributing up to 70% of the total production impacts. Furthermore, climate change, freshwater eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion were identified as the most crucial impact categories. Finally, a comparison with relevant LCA studies was conducted, in order to identify the possibility of a consistency pattern of the fertilizer production impacts in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]