Cleaner Technology Projects in Denmark 1996
The Recycled House – Cleaner Technology – Working Report
Det genanvendte hus – renere teknologi
Arbejdsrapport nr. 34, 1996, Miljøstyrelsen
The construction industry is responsible for a large part of the environmental impact. The consumption of raw materials in the industry is large and the quantity of waste is increasing. The energy consumption in both the construction industry and the housing sector is also heavy. Not only as regards to the heating of houses, but also as regards to the processes of manufacturing and transportation, through which the raw materials run in order for the industry to create bricks, steel and concrete for construction.
The project contains a concrete assessment of aspects concerning resources and environment in connection with the recycled house. The assessments are compared with a conventional construction. The project also presents a method based on the life-cycle idea for the assessment of environmental aspects in connection with construction. The method includes the following aspects:
 | Work environment |
| Internal environment |
| External environment |
The project consists of a general report and six appendix reports. The general report contains a summary and conclusions, recommendations and a review of the results of the resource and the environmental assessments. The appendix reports are independent reportings of the different project activities.
| Appendix report 1: Description of method for resource and environmental assessment of the construction elements |
| Appendix report 2: Comparison norm |
| Appendix report 3: Registration of work environment |
| Appendix report 4: Analysis of waste production and waste handling |
| Appendix report 5: Energy analysis of the production |
| Appendix report 6: Assessment of environment and work environment |
The project concludes that
| In general, the recycled house possesses environmental advantages over the comparison norm |
| It is verified that the significant differences lie in the extraction of raw materials and the production of construction elements |
| There are no significant differences in the environmental relations in connection with operation and maintenance. This observation also applies to the internal environment. |
| An improvement of the organisation, the design of this type of work place, and an elimination of the most physically demanding processes are important for a positive development of the recycling of building and construction waste. |
| The completion of the project has provided a large number of concrete data on the construction’s environmental problems. |
Moreover, the project shows that recycling does not necessarily give environmental advantages, but that recycling can play an important role in connection with cleaner technology in the construction and that the integration of environmental aspects in the whole planning and completion of construction projects is crucial.
Concurrently with this project, the applied resource and environmental assessment method was tested and applied in similar projects. For instance the method was used in the EU project under the REWARD Programme "Development of a model optimising the reuse of building demolition waste and reducing the environmental impact of this waste" carried out in the period 1991-1994. The method was also used in connection with the project design of the international airport in Gardermoen north of Oslo, Norway.
The method’s suitability for evaluating the resource and environmental aspects in a construction process has been proved. Next step is to apply the method as an integrated part of the planning phase of new building under Danish conditions for the use of the project designer, to make him able to select materials from an environmentally friendly point of view. The assessment can also be adjusted or amplified so that it can be used for other environmental analyses in connection with construction.
Author/ institution
COWIconsult in co-operation with Laboratoriet for Bygningsmaterialer (The Laboratory for Construction Materials) and Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (The Technical University of Denmark), Institute for construction technique.
This report is subsidised by the National Council for Recycling and Cleaner Production
ISSN no. 0908-9195
ISBN no. 87-7810-602-8