The Construction Material Pyramid: 'Upfront impacts' as a methodical change in architectural design

The article aims to discuss the methodical change in architectural design processes when using a new tool as the Construction Material Pyramid (CMP), which offers basic environmental data visualized as dynamic hierarchies. Based on the food pyramid’s graphical language, a digital version of the Construction Material Pyramid has been developed. The digital version of the Construction Material Pyramid enables a comparison of e.g., CO2 emissions between different categories of materials or between material types within the same category. It is also possible to compare and relate different kinds of environmental impacts across the different sorts of materials. It thus offers a tangible, interactive calculation tool and at the same time it opens up for a dialogue about more detailed studies of the materials’ position in the pyramid and later their place in the project design. The idea is to provide a simple way to gain a quick overview of the relative sustainability of the individual building materials.
The Construction Material Pyramid brings ethical ecological considerations of materiality to the forefront of the design process resulting in a more direct material point of departure for architectural design. At present the Construction Material Pyramid is based on Environmental Product Declarations (EPD’s) and it only shows the initial life cycle phases of construction (A1–A3), until the material is on site. But the environmental impact of production cannot stand alone and as such the Construction Material Pyramid is aiming at being a stimulator for the necessary complex holistic discussions of architectural sustainability, including longevity, maintenance, product miles, detailing and material composition, End-of-Life etc. The Construction Material Pyramid deviates from conventional LCA in a number of ways and this article discuss the validity of challenging conventional thinking that make way for EPD’s and argue for the use of ‘Initial Impact Assessment’ as it can lead to design informed by critical thinking as for the complexity of design construction. It is argued that the Construction Material Pyramid can work as a dynamic point of departure in design where common LCA-tools have a tendency to be used in retrospect without the possibility to change and inform design. Also, we will touch upon the formal aspects of the EPD’s, who defines/controls the declaration systems and how do they feed into the LCA and DGNB systems? And how do these assessment tools/systems affect the decision-making and improve the final architectural solutions aiming for maximum environmentally healthy results?
By using the Construction Material Pyramid in the early design phases, the architectural design decisions tend to move beyond the level of material awareness and scrutiny. They eventually include ideas of Design for Disassembly as a means to prolonging material longevity and pushes towards a holistic design approach. The article will look deeper into how a simple tool like the Construction Material Pyramid can act as a productive step towards a complex holistic discussion on architectural technology as a whole and help to show how architectural technology play a significant role in the green transition of the construction industry.