Certification of building eco-compatibility and durability: Application to new and existing buildings

The construction sector has a key part in EU sustainable development policies, also owing to the economic incidence and the reduction potential of CO2 emissions. Certification schemes on energy consumptions due to the operational heating demand of buildings are spreading nowadays. On the contrary, the analysis and study of other life stages and environmental aspects appear to be more complicated and slower. The most recent international assessment and eco-design tools of building sustainability use a Life Cycle Approach (LCA): from raw materials acquirement, to product manufacture, delivery, construction, installation and assembly into work, use, disassembly, disposal, recycling or reuse. Starting from the analysis of environmental effects (air, soil and water emissions, waste production, energy consumptions, etc) impacts and damages caused by the adoption of particular materials, techniques and typologies - but also by building production and management processes- can be calculated. The work focuses on the environmental analysis of some building techniques which are commonly used in residential buildings. The paper will show the developed methodology of sustainable assessment, which includes a LCA of building elements by taking into account likely functional quality through time (durability). Environmental damage categories are distinguished by: damages to human health, ecosystem quality and resources depletion. Such a methodology can be used for: eco-design, rehabilitation and renewal of building heritage, environmental integration of urban building codes.