How can Responsible Procurement help construction to be resource efficient? What is zero waste to landfill? Interested in learning the answers to these questions? Well good news, the Irish Green Building council has a new conference on the 21st June.
Tell me about Re-Source 2018? It is a new Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) Conference focusing on how we can design buildings to minimise embodied carbon and create a circular economy for construction materials and healthy places to live and work.
This half day conference will include Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart as our key-note speaker, a pioneering thought-leader in the circular economy having developed the Cradle to Cradle design concept. The conference will also include speakers on life cycle assessment, zero waste, healthy materials and responsible procurement.
This blog post will review speakers of the second session and their topics responsible procurement and zero waste to landfill. You can check out the first blog here that reviews Environmental Product Declarations and ‘Cradle to Cradle’ design thinking.
Moving to circularity in construction
Overall in the EU, Construction and demolition waste (C&D W) is estimated to account for approximately one third of all waste generated. The construction sector is one of the most intensive with the use of resources such as raw material and energy. In response, Ireland and the EU have changed their policies over the years to focus on life cycle thinking and prevention of waste.
C&D W can contain materials such as metals, wood, glass, concrete. These have a high resource value and potential for recycling and material recovery. The EU is trying to push the management of the C&D W waste stream towards a “Circular Economy” model so that we can be efficient with our precious resources.
What is a Circular economy? The traditional economy has been based on a ‘take make consume throw away’ model, also known as the linear economy. For example, this means that product materials are discarded as waste after their usefulness has ended. There are ways however that this material can become useful again, for example through recycling.
To ensure security of raw materials in the long term a change from the linear economy is needed. One such option would be to adopt a “Circular Economy” model. This model works by looking at how we can turn goods that are at the end of their use into other resources. For example, we can prevent waste by designing products, so their materials can be reused more efficiently. Essentially managing products and their materials in closed loops.
What is zero waste to landfill? This occurs when the C&D W is diverted away from landfill and can be accomplished through different means. For example, waste created on site can be reused, recycled or composted.
There is value in everything we throw away and businesses are starting to realise the value in reducing our waste. As efficient use of resources and cost savings are connected, there is a win-win situation for those who opt for circular economy approaches.
How can we achieve this? Our speaker Noel Gill from Hegarty Demolition Ltd will discuss how to achieve zero waste on site. EU legislation has guided Ireland towards a more resource-efficient approach to C&D W which has created new opportunities for the Irish construction sector. Hegarty Demolition have been involved in many challenging zero waste to landfill projects and our speaker will talk about what steps you can take to transition from demolition to unbuilding.
A key step towards zero waste to landfill is to consider the waste material throughout the entire lifecycle of the project. From design phases to eventual demolition, the earlier waste management is implemented into the process the better.
Implementing circular economy approaches doesn’t just have benefits for the construction industry. Benefits include:
- Lower environmental impacts (e.g. less CO2 emissions)
- Resources being reused become less scarce encouraging resource price stability.
- A new job market in waste management.
Responsible Procurement
Procurement refers to the process of acquisition of works, goods or services. Procurement aims to obtain the best value for money and follows purchasing rules and regulations closely. Responsible procurement looks to consider social, environmental and economic impacts in the purchasing decision. It attempts to integrate these criteria into procurement to reduce environmental impacts while providing benefits to society and the economy.
As businesses want to show their dedication to sustainability, principles of responsible procurement can have a vital role in assisting them to move from a linear to a circular economy model.
What tools are there to assist in moving towards circularity? Our speaker Tytti Bruce-Hyrkas is a building LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) expert at Bionova and a developer of One Click LCA a software for allowing the calculation of the embodied carbon in a building. Tytti will discuss how LCA can be used for better decision making, moving beyond energy efficiency to embodied carbon and other impacts. In addition, she will discuss how LCA is being used in Public procurement.
Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a process of evaluating the effects of building materials over its lifespan. This includes embodied carbon calculation and other environmental impacts.
In addition to this LCA can contribute to credits in several certification systems. For example, it is a core credit in BREEAM, a new credit in LEED v4 and also part of the IGBC Home Performance Index (HPI).
More than ever knowledge of environmental impacts of our buildings and building materials is vital, as issues such as climate change have come into focus. Tools such as LCA are important to assist in mitigation of negative environmental impacts and for achieving a resource efficient economy.
Interested in learning more about the Conference?
Sponsored By
Exhibitors
Leadership for a Sustainable Built Environment
The Irish Green Building Council – IGBC, a non-profit organisation was launched in 2011 with organisations and businesses from the entire value chain of the built environment. The IGBC aim to transform the Irish industry to sustainable practices through policy creation, education, events and provision of tools to measure and accelerate progress.