LCA of building materials within the framework of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) in Europe

Abstract

AbstractBuildings and constructed assets form the basis for economic and social development. However, their production, construction, maintenance and operation lead, among other things, to the use of natural resources and cause undesirable effects on the global and local environment. Increasingly, therefore, requirements for the environmental performance of buildings are being formulated in funding programs, sustainability assessment systems and legislation. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used as a method for recording, evaluating and influencing the environmental performance of buildings. The assessment of the environmental performance ‐ and as part of it ‐ the preparation of the LCA requires the provision and availability of environmentally relevant product information on all building materials, components and technical systems. Based on the draft of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) in Europe as well as the state of standardization, the contribution discusses how requirements for construction product characteristics and construction product information can be derived from the requirements for buildings. Consequences for product development and the communication of technical and environmental product information are discussed.