ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF

BUILDSTRUCTURE
INTRODUCTION-
The building and construction sectors have significant, worldwide impacts on energy
consumption, environmental emissions, and social issues. It has been reported that
the building industry generates from 5% to 15% of the global GDP (Gross domestic
product) and is responsible for one-third of the total final energy use and half of
worldwide electricity consumption, as well as one-third of global carbon emission.
According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the
energy use and related emissions associated with building construction and
operations may double, or even triple by year 2050, due to population growth,
relocation to urban areas, changes in family size, rising levels of affluence, and
behavioural changes. Environmental protection measures therefore become an
important worldwide issue to be considered. Compared to other industries,
construction manufacturing is considered an important source of environmental
pollution. Building construction and operations have massive direct and indirect
effects on the environment, since the construction process generates harmful gases,
noise, dust, solid and liquid wastes. As a result, many constructors look forward to
controlling the adverse impacts of their activities by adopting environmental
management system. The construction of buildings has also some marginal negative
impacts, particularly during the crushing process, on the socioeconomical and
biophysical environment such as the degradation of air quality provoked by dust
release. Besides, it may provoke loss of habitat for some fauna/flora species and
biodiversity reduction due to vegetation clearing near the extraction site.
Construction projects have become a driving force for the worldwide economy,
whose energy consumption, environmental emissions, and social impacts are
significant; construction projects also damage the surrounding fragile environments
due to the adverse impacts of building erection. Such impacts include resource
depletion, biological diversity losses (because of raw material extraction), landfill
problems (due to waste disposal), lower personnel productivity, adverse human
health (attributable to poor indoor air quality), global warming, acid rain, and smog
release (because of emissions generated by building product manufacture) and
transport that consumes energy. Enhancing the identification of the major
environmental impacts of construction processes will help to improve the
effectiveness of environmental management systems. Furthermore, prediction of the
correlated environmental impacts of construction before the construction stage, will
lead to improvements in the environmental performance of both construction
projects and sites. The determination of major environmental impacts will assist to
consider a range of on-site measures to mitigate them. During the last 20 years, there
have been significant developments in the assessment of the environmental impact
of building construction. The common tendency has been to establish an objective
and comprehensive methodology for assessing a broad range of environmental
impacts caused by a building or even a group of buildings.
MAIN BODY-
The construction industry is a conspicuous user of resources. Materials are
derived from numerous sources and suppliers, and minimisation of waste presents
problem. Although many of the materials in use are common to most sites, the
fragmented nature of development constrains the practical extent of recycling.
Furthermore, despite the long life of its products, their eventual demolition or
redevelopment can produce significant waste for land disposal unless re-used. The
mass of resources used in the UK construction industry is dominated by stone and
primary aggregates: sand and gravel extraction of these primary resources implies
major environmental impact from loss of habitat and ecosystem, damage to the
landscape, potential subsidence problems and release of methane. Noise and dust
and heavy transport through populated areas confer local nuisance and contribute to
restricted award of extraction licences by local authorities. The same issues arise in
the disposal or processing/recycling of waste. Construction also has a major impact
on the environment in its consumption of energy, both directly and embodied in the
materials that it uses. The large bulk of materials used consumes a great deal of
energy for transport. Considering both direct use and embodied energy, the
construction industry consumes about 4.5% of the national total because of this
energy consumption, construction generates over 40 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide which contributes to global warming from the greenhouse effect. Acid gases
and oxides of nitrogen (NO2) are also produced, contributing to acid rain and
photochemical smog production. The links between water and energy are gradually
becoming more evident. Generating energy uses a lot of water for cooling and a lack
of water has already led to power cuts where nuclear power stations have been shut
down during droughts. Likewise, treating, and pumping drinking water and
wastewater uses a lot of energy with the UK water industry accounting for around 1%
of UK CO2 emissions. In our homes domestic water heating is responsible for 5% of
UK CO2 emissions, and 25% of your household energy bill. The construction of a
house, using a combination of methods, requires about 6 million litres of water.
Throughout the construction cycle, and especially at the end of a structure’s life,
large quantities of waste are produced. Significant quantities of waste are also
generated by the construction process itself. Much of this wastage is avoidable on
site, but inattention to design detailing, inappropriate material, dimensions, late
variations, over-ordering, etc. also contribute to waste.
Despite the push towards reducing pollution on a global scale in recent years,
sustainable architecture is nothing new. Throughout history, the natural environment
has always been a part of the building process. Early builders sourced materials from
the surrounding environment, with cob and stone structures among the world’s
oldest.
What’s more, ancient builders looked to minimize waste while also prioritizing
efficiency throughout the process, including maintenance. As natural building
materials deteriorate over time, they require work to maintain structural integrity,
undermining their potential environmental benefits. Modern builders face
environmental challenges of a different sort even as we have access to every possible
building material, whether sourced or manufactured, natural resources are dwindling
worldwide.
Buildings have a significant carbon footprint. Reports indicate that buildings
are responsible for a significant chunk of the world’s energy usage, by a wide margin.
On average, 41% of global energy consumption can be attributed to buildings and
structures. Buildings also produce dangerous emissions that pollute our air, and the
construction industry generates more than 170 tons of debris annually. By opting for
sustainable building materials over those that may harm the environment and
produce excess waste, you can help minimize the environmental impact of any
construction project. When choosing your construction method, keep in mind that
some materials are more energy-efficient than others. For instance, the material you
use for your roof will likely affect the amount of energy required to heat or cool your
house or commercial building. Further, as technology continues to evolve,
sustainable energy systems are more affordable and more efficient than ever. Try
to think like a renewable energy engineer or similar professional, and strive to
incorporate alternative energy into your design plan.
The interaction between the built environment and the natural environment
also has significant impact on the hydrological system. The combined effect of urban
expansion and agricultural intensification has exceeded the capacity of the land to
absorb exceptional levels of rainfall. At the same time, rainfall has become more
intensive, concentrated, and erratic due to global climate change. This negative
interaction is highlighted by an increasing rate of severe flooding witnessed in several
countries. It is estimated that construction related energy consumption, including
both direct and indirect activities, amount to around 50% of the national energy use.
Land use planning can contribute to energy consumption through the configuration
and location of buildings as the location of developments initiated by the client and
the built by the construction industry is largely controlled by formal planning
procedures. However, the success of the development in integrating with, and the
acceptability of the way in which it modifies and interacts with, the surrounding
natural and the built environment, cannot be ensured wholly by regulations.

The major sources generating the emitted gas on construction sites are the
operating vehicles and machinery used on building construction sites. To reduce the
emitted gases on construction sites, there should be proper maintenance and tuning
of the engines of the machinery and vehicles used on construction sites. Catalytic
converters and particulate matter filters should be used for the vehicles and
machinery. The catalytic converter is installed onto the exhaust pipes of the engines
of the vehicles and machineries that are used on site. It is composed of a metal
housing that has a ceramic honeycomb -type interior with insulating layers. This
honeycomb interior has thin wall channels that are coated with aluminium oxide
support, containing platinum, rhodium, and palladium as the catalysts. The converter
therefore converts toxic fumes into gases that are not nearly as harmful to the
environment. The last part of the converter is a control system that controls the fuel
–injection system. This system is aided by an oxygen sensor that monitors how much
oxygen is in the exhaust stream. The three-way catalytic converter reduces nitrogen
oxides into elemental nitrogen and oxygen, oxidises carbon monoxide to carbon
dioxide and oxidises hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water. The various
methods of controlling environmental impacts in building construction projects are
presented in Figure 6. The respondents strongly agreed that upgrading skills and
work site health and safety on vehicles to comply to set emission standards, reuse
and recycling of waste materials, innovation regarding materials technologies and
methods, covering of loads entering and leaving the site, use of water as dust
suppressant where applicable and putting in place real time dust monitors across
sites with. Respondents agreed that improving energy efficiency in buildings,
reducing material wastage in construction, increasing structure service life,
minimizing dust generating activities, identification of authorized responsible person
on site for air quality, elimination of site run off water and mud and increasing of
waste recycling of building materials were methods of controlling environmental
impacts from construction projects.
The resource efficiency of building materials would be increased if there were
measures put in place to reduce waste in the manufacturing processes. These
measures include recycling of material to create new products to reduce construction
waste. Recycling of material means that the embodied energy can be preserved,
improving sustainability and optimising waste management. Waste generation can
be reduced by recycling collected particulate matter, reusing maintenance and
laboratory waste as fuel and raw material substitutes
OBSERVATION-
The research findings revealed the construction phase of buildings has many
environmental impacts. The analysis results at the midpoint showed that the highest
share belongs to global warming impact (38%). Human carcinogenic toxicity accounts
for 12% of the impacts. The share of belongs to mineral resource scarcity (10%) and
fossil resource (10%) and land use (10%) and water consumption (8%). The
contribution of other impacts is only 5% of the entire impacts of the building
construction. The largest shares at the endpoint are related to the global warming
(54%) and fine particulate matter formation (16%) and fossil resource scarcity (12%)
and mineral resource scarcity (10%) and water consumption (2%) and human non-
carcinogenic toxicity (2%). Other impacts account for 4% of the endpoint impacts.
Among the consumables, the most significant environmental impacts are associated
with metal mold, PVC window frame, rebar, and concrete. According to the findings
of this study, the government should adopt more eco-friendly policies to establish
and support green building industry, which leads to a reduction in the environmental
impacts of high-rise construction [34]. This study showed that the use of recycled
building materials can mitigate the environmental impacts of construction. In
addition, recycling of building materials can lead to savings in natural resources and
energy required for extra-quality production. The environmental performance of the
construction works is considered and include all stages of the life cycle of buildings
from design stage to use and demolition, it is not limited to the operation stage.
Therefore, it is suggested that the high-rise building in Tehran's metropolitan be
amended so that, in the framework of an integrated environmental approach, the
environmental performance of the construction works is considered and includes all
stages of the life cycle of buildings, from design to use and demolition, and is not
limited to only the operation phase. Sustainable construction is considered to keep
the construction industry in line with environmental protection. Eco-building is
seeking to establish a balance among social, economic, and environmental
performance in construction projects. In the belief of this principle, the link between
sustainable development and construction will be clear. Construction, despite the
high importance, has many environmental and social impacts. To mitigate the
harmful of construction on the environment and achieve sustainability in this
industry, the fulfilment of three principles, including “savings in exploitation of
resources”, “savings in costs”, and “considering the lifecycle of all construction
stages” is necessary.
 AMEY U BUNDELE
TY.B.ARCH
07
ELECTIVE 2

TOPICS:
B8 SUSTAINABLE CITY AND COMMUNITY

SUB-TOPICS:
A) AFFORDBLE AND CLEAN HOUSING
B) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON CITIES
C) RESILIANCE TO DISASTER

FINAL TOPIC-
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BUILDSPACES