Innovative study on the life cycle analysis of construction materials

The OERCO2 project aims at creating an Open Educational Resource (OERCO2) that unifies the calculations of CO2 emissions in each phase of the building construction, to get an overall picture on its footprint, starting with conception, and decide on each variable of the construction.

The specific objectives of OERCO2 are:

  • introduce the calculation of the CO2 emissions for all phases of the construction processes as well as concepts related to recycling and reuse;
  • increase awareness about climate change;
  • provide information about emissions of each element;
  • free access to OERCO2 for parties involved in the constructions’ sector (students, EC professionals etc.)

OERCO2 intends not only to raise awareness, but also to make all entities involved in the construction sector conscious about CO2 emission, from the extraction of raw materials, production of construction materials to the demolition works or deconstruction of buildings, that is, considering the life cycle of materials and construction processes.

The first step to manage and reduce CO2 emissions is to measure them, understand the importance of this environmental aspect and implement measures to reduce them. To obtain a better understanding of the impact and work on it, it is important to measure CO2 emissions from de design and conception of the building, and according to these measures, knowing the different possibilities of reduce the footprint, doing a building more sustainable and lower-carbon.

It is important to be aware of the emissions from the first phases of the project and take early actions to choose the right materials, transport options, construction methods, during the lifecycle of the building, deconstruction systems, reuse, and evaluate how these impact the increase or decrease of the building’s emissions.

More information on the project will be soon available on: http://oerco2.eu/