Abstract
The environmental sustainability of materials used in construction applications is driving a requirement for the quanti-fcation of performance attributes of such materials. For example, the European Union (EU) Energy Performance in Buildings Directive will give commercial buildings an energy rating when rented or sold. The Code for Sustainable Homes launched by the U.K. Government’s Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) in January 2007 sets out the requirement for all new homes to be carbonneutral by 2016. In addition, homes in the United Kingdom will need to signifcantly reduce water consumption from today’s average 160 liters (1) per person per day to less than 801 per person per day. Similarly stringent targets are required for waste, materials, and other factors. Such environmental and energy standards are complementing characteristics such as strength, stiffness, durability, impact, cost, and expected life with factors such as “environmental profle,” “ecopoints” (a single unit measurement of environmental impact arising from a product throughout its lifecycle that is used in the United Kingdom), “carbon footprint” (amount of CO2 produced for the lifecycle of the item), “recycled content,” and “chain of custody” (a legal term that refers to the ability to guarantee the identity and integrity of a specimen from collection through to reporting of test results).
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
The European Parliament and The Council of the European Union, On the Energy Performance of Buildings (Directive 2002/91/Ec, December 16, 2002; www.diag.org.uk/media/18832/epd_final.pdf) (accessed January 2008).
Building Research Establishment, BRE’s Environmental Profiles (BRE, Watford, UK; www.bre.co.uk/page.jsp?id=53) (accessed January 2008).
Building Research Establishment, The BRE Green Guide to Specification (BRE, Watford, UK; www.bre.co.uk/greenguide/page.jsp?id=499) (accessed January 2008).
Building Research Establishment, BREEAM: BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BRE, Watford, UK; www.breeam.org) (accessed January 2008).
Building Research Establishment, BRE: The Code for Sustainable Homes (BRE, Watford, UK; www.bre.co.uk/page.jsp?id=847) (accessed January 2008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bonfield, P. Environmental Performance Enters Construction Materials. MRS Bulletin 33, 454–456 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs2008.89
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs2008.89