TY - GEN
T1 - The Construction Material Pyramid
T2 - sbe22 Berlin
AU - Munch-Petersen, Pelle
AU - Lewis, Martha
PY - 2022/9/22
Y1 - 2022/9/22
N2 - This article investigates how hazardous substances and toxicity information can be integrated into the Construction Material Pyramid [Pyramid] in order to showcase the potentialhealth impacts of material choices in architecture. The current Pyramid indicates differentmaterials’ upfront environmental impacts in the initial life phase of a building product,specifically in the Life Cycle Assessment phases A1-A3. The success of the Pyramid hinges onits communicative strength of conveying complex data in a simple format, easily understood byarchitects and planners. Can other aspects of material impacts be conveyed with a similar graphicease to provide a more complete material assessment? Material health and toxicity is notoriouslydifficult to assess, as data is insufficient and hard to acquire due to proprietary concerns frommanufacturers and lack of proper legislation to ensure transparency. The Pyramid has not yetdealt with health and toxicity as a parameter and there exists no predefined method as to howthese problems can be included in a comparative model such as the Pyramid. This article's firstline of inquiry is to discuss a suitable methodology to disclose the potential health impacts ofconstruction materials and their associated, often invisible, chemical products applied formounting, finishing, mold or fire resistance. The Swedish Chemicals Agency’s and the EuropeanChemicals Agency’s evaluation of substances will inform the framework for a comparativesystem. Secondly, the article will address how the model can graphically convey the potentialhealth and environmental impacts from the production and construction phases of prime andassociated materials. This augmentation of the Pyramid would enable architects and designers tomore easily obtain information regarding potential health impacts resulting from hazardouschemical content and could provide incentives for selecting less-toxic alternatives. By drawingon H-phases and SundaHus’s product assessment, a ‘stop-sign method’ is used to indicate hazardlevels of construction materials
AB - This article investigates how hazardous substances and toxicity information can be integrated into the Construction Material Pyramid [Pyramid] in order to showcase the potentialhealth impacts of material choices in architecture. The current Pyramid indicates differentmaterials’ upfront environmental impacts in the initial life phase of a building product,specifically in the Life Cycle Assessment phases A1-A3. The success of the Pyramid hinges onits communicative strength of conveying complex data in a simple format, easily understood byarchitects and planners. Can other aspects of material impacts be conveyed with a similar graphicease to provide a more complete material assessment? Material health and toxicity is notoriouslydifficult to assess, as data is insufficient and hard to acquire due to proprietary concerns frommanufacturers and lack of proper legislation to ensure transparency. The Pyramid has not yetdealt with health and toxicity as a parameter and there exists no predefined method as to howthese problems can be included in a comparative model such as the Pyramid. This article's firstline of inquiry is to discuss a suitable methodology to disclose the potential health impacts ofconstruction materials and their associated, often invisible, chemical products applied formounting, finishing, mold or fire resistance. The Swedish Chemicals Agency’s and the EuropeanChemicals Agency’s evaluation of substances will inform the framework for a comparativesystem. Secondly, the article will address how the model can graphically convey the potentialhealth and environmental impacts from the production and construction phases of prime andassociated materials. This augmentation of the Pyramid would enable architects and designers tomore easily obtain information regarding potential health impacts resulting from hazardouschemical content and could provide incentives for selecting less-toxic alternatives. By drawingon H-phases and SundaHus’s product assessment, a ‘stop-sign method’ is used to indicate hazardlevels of construction materials
U2 - 10.1088/1755-1315/1078/1/012107
DO - 10.1088/1755-1315/1078/1/012107
M3 - Article in proceedings
SN - 9781713861645
T3 - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
BT - SBE22 Berlin D-A-CH Conference
PB - Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP)
Y2 - 20 September 2022 through 23 September 2022
ER -