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      Building and Construction

      The building and construction materials sector is a sector of human activity that is highly energy intensive and contributes to the depletion of natural resources.

      November 19th, 2024

      Sector Overview 

      According to UN environment, the construction sector contributes around 37% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions each year. 

      The building and construction sector in the ecoinvent database comprises of more than 1,500 datasets, covering the extraction, processing and transportation of construction minerals and the manufacturing and end-of-life treatment of most major construction materials. The geographies covered include Brazil (BR), Colombia (CO), Peru (PE), Ecuador (EC), India (IN), South Africa (ZA), Tunisia (TN), Switzerland (CH), Europe (RER), Canada (CA) including the provinces of Québec (CA-QC) and Ontario (CA-ON), North America (RNA) and the United States (US).

      The ecoinvent database includes datasets on various activities within the building and construction sector. These include various stages of production within the construction industry, starting from the extraction of construction minerals (e.g. sand, gravel, limestone, clay, gypsum, natural stone), from quarries or mines, as well as the production of clinker, cement, and concrete. The sector also accounts for the use of alternative materials that can substitute clinker in cement (e.g. ground granulated blast furnace slag, calcined clay), along with the manufacturing of various types of glass, insulation materials (e.g. polystyrene, expanded vermiculite, stone wool), bricks, tiles, plasters, and mortars.

      Datasets on wood manufacturing and processing are included in the forestry sector of the ecoinvent database while datasets related to the production of metals and metal tools used in building and construction are included in the metals sector.

      Sector Highlights 

      Resource Extraction

      The sector covers activities related to the extraction of mineral resources in a quarry or a mine. These resources are then used in the production of materials and products that find their application in construction. Datasets cover 23 mineral resources (e.g., gravel, sand, limestone) and 11 geographies (Australia (AU), Brazil (BR), Canada (CA) including the provinces of Québec (CA-QC) and Ontario (CA-ON), India (IN), South Africa (ZA), Europe (RER) with dedicated data for Switzerland (CH) and Germany (DE), and the global geography (GLO)). 

      Data on the extraction of metal resources are accommodated in the Metals sector. At the same time, many by-products of activities in the metals sector (e.g., ground granulated blast furnace slag, electric arc furnace dust) are used as alternative resources in the production of building and construction materials. 

      Recycled resources or waste, which may substitute primary resources in material production either at a material level (e.g., glass cullet, sorted) or at a fuel level (e.g., used tyres, waste paint, waste mineral oil), are included in the waste treatment and recycling sector.

      Material Production and Processing

      The sector contains data on the production of materials used for structure (Brazil (BR), Colombia (CO), Peru (PE), Ecuador (EC), India (IN), South Africa (ZA), Tunisia (TN), Europe (RER) with dedicated data for Switzerland (CH) and Austria (AT), North America (RNA), Canada (CA) with dedicated data for the provinces of Québec (CA-QC) and Ontario (CA-ON), the United States (US), and the global geography (GLO)), insulation (Europe (RER) with dedicated data for Switzerland (CH) and Germany (DE), Québec-Canada (CA-QC) and the global geography (GLO)), façade (Europe (RER) with dedicated data for Switzerland (CH) and the global geography (GLO)), floor (geographies similar to structure), roof (geographies similar to structure) and pavement (global geography (GLO)). The sector encompasses a broad spectrum of materials falling within the same category, such as cement and concrete. The composition and properties of these materials can vary significantly based on their roles within the building. The sector encompasses specific cement composition details in compliance with both national and international regulations (e.g., EN 197-1:2011, CSA A3001, ASTM C150, ASTM C595, and ABNT NBR 16697). To align the specific concrete with diverse market needs, the dataset incorporates nine resistance classes for concrete, ranging from 15 to 50 MPa. The metadata within the datasets are designed to assist users lacking specialized knowledge in selecting the most suitable reference material based on available information regarding exposure factors (e.g. chlorides, humidity, freeze-thaw weathering) and intended usage (e.g. indoor, outdoor, walls, floor panels, sidewalks, bridges, decks). Additionally, the database includes generic concrete market activities for cases where the resistance class is unspecified (e.g., concrete, normal strength (25-37 MPa) and concrete, medium strength (40-50 MPa)).

      This sector also encompasses various related products and market activities essential for a comprehensive construction database. These products include gypsum plasterboards and a range of insulation materials, such as glass wool, stone wool, gypsum- and wood-based fibreboards, as well as various types of foams mostly under the Switzerland (CH) and Global (GLO) geographies. In addition, the sector covers different types of processing activities (cutting, grounding, polishing, milling) for four geographies (Switzerland (CH), Europe without Switzerland, Québec-Canada (CA-QC), and global (GLO)), and packing activities for two geographies (Switzerland (CH) and global (GLO)).

      Data on the production of steel and timber products are respectively part of the metals sector and the forestry sector. End-of-life treatments of the materials are included in the waste management and recycling sector.

      Product Manufacturing

      The database contains data on the manufacturing of products used in the building and construction sector. Such products include structural products (cob work and different types of concrete blocks), flooring (different types of floor and tiles), walls (different types of bricks and boards), windows, doors, plumbing and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning elements (HVAC). The geographies covered vary depending on the available dataset. Most of the covered geographies are Europe (RER) and the global geography (GLO), however, dedicated activities are implemented for representing the Swiss (CH) and German (DE) geographies.

      Infrastructure

      The database contains data on the required infrastructure for resource extraction (e.g., quarry and mine construction), material processing, and product manufacturing, covering both mobile and immobile infrastructures. This includes conveyor belts, machinery used for industrial and construction purposes, as well as plants used specifically for cement manufacturing. Notably, the sector includes cement plants for Swiss (CH) and global (GLO) geographies, with a recent update (v3.11) including an integrated cement plant in Canada (CA). The coverage of other infrastructure and machinery varies depending on the available dataset and mostly include Europe (RER) and global geography (GLO) with dedicated activities implemented for the Swiss (CH) and the German (DE) geographies.

      For more information about the coverage of infrastructure and machinery data in the ecoinvent database, please consult the infrastructure sector.

      Data Providers 

      ecoinvent Data originates from different sources. Notable providers of LCI datasets on building and construction activities include (but are not limited to): 

        Editors

        • Bruno Peuportier (Main Editor), Mines ParisTech, France
        • Sébastien Lasvaux (Co-Editor), Institute of Energies (iE), HEIG-VD, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Switzerland
        • Mija Frossard (Co-Editor), Institute of Energies (iE), HEIG-VD, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Switzerland
        • Chris Foster (Main Editor for Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)), EuGeos srl, Belgium

        Relevant Sources 

        Ananth, P. V. K., Muralikrishnan, K., Mundada P., (2017). Cement, concrete and related industries. In Building materials. Zürich: ecoinvent Association. Accessible at SRI project results (registration required). 

        Silva, F.B., Cleto, F.R., Diestelkamp, E.D., Yoshida, O.S., Oliveira, L.A., Saade, M. R.M., Silva, V.G., Moraga, G.L., Passuello, A.C.B., Silva, M.G., Myers, N., Gmünder, S. (2018). Cement, concrete and related industries – Latin America. In Building materials, Zürich: ecoinvent Association. Accessible at SRI project results (registration required). 

        Gmünder, S., Myers, N., Belizario, F., Laffley, J., Rubio, L. (2018). Cement, concrete and related industries Colombia and Peru. In Building materials, Zürich: ecoinvent Association.

        Muigai, R., Pradhan, P. (2018). Cement, concrete and related industries, South Africa. In Building materials, Zürich: ecoinvent Association. Accessible at SRI project results (registration required). 

        Kellenberger, D., Althaus, H.-J., Künniger, T., Lehmann, M., Jungbluth, N., Thalmann, P. (2007). Life Cycle Inventories of Building Products. ecoinvent report No 7. Dübendorf: Centre for Life Cycle Inventories. Accessible in the Reports section of version 2. of the ecoinvent database