ABSTRACT
Preventing environmental degradation and climate changes are some of the primary challenges of our civilization. Changes to the construction sector, which consumes vast amounts of raw materials, emits significant amounts of greenhouse gas and significant amounts of waste, are very important to reduce emissions and stop negative environmental changes. Regardless of the type of goal, an essential element to achieve it is understanding the purpose and tools necessary to implement appropriate and efficient solutions. This paper presents the survey results on understanding issues related to assessing construction products, including their environmental impact. The survey was conducted among professional groups related to construction, i.e., 181 investors, 522 contractors, and 116 sellers of construction products from various regions of Poland. Questions concerning thermal insulation materials and the external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS), the most widely used solution in the EU for the improvement of thermal performance of buildings, were asked. The obtained results indicate that the knowledge of the basic requirements of construction works under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is not too high (the share of correct answers was respectively 33.5%, 23.2%, and 16.2% in contractors, sellers, and investors groups). Similarly, the awareness of the tested, related to the environmental burden in terms of GWP of insulation materials and components of ETICS, should be assessed (49.7% of investors, 57.1% sellers of construction products, and 76.4% contractors indicated the thermal insulation material as the ETICS component with the highest environmental impact in terms of GWP). The obtained research results indicate the need for further education for evaluating construction products and sustainability.
ABSTRACT
External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) is a commonly used solution in EU countries to increase building energy efficiency. The article describes ETICS in terms of environmental impact from two perspectives, i.e., industry and academia. In EU countries, ETICS manufacturers to place construction products to the market must subject it to the assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP). The basis of this process is the European Technical Assessment (ETA). Based on the number of issued and valid ETAs for ETICS and the number of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), the dimension of sustainability issues was discussed. Analysis of one of the environmental indicators (Global Warming Potential—GWP) for ETICS with EPS, XPS, and MW showed only a general trend. However, there are significant differences between the values of the GWP and other environmental indicators that one can use for future AVCP of construction products. In the light of the research described in the paper, it seems reasonable to conclude that AVCP for ETICS in terms of sustainability will be challenging to implement in practice-based only on environmental indicators according to EN 15804. The article also reviews scientific publications on the sustainability of ETICS.