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66 Examples for resource efficiency | Strategies | Redesign and Re-use Strategies Redesign and Re-use Ressourceneffizienzatlas Resource Efficiency Atlas Product-Service-System (use-phase) New production and consumption patterns Inclusion of RE into Standards A Swiss initiative shows how building materials can be handled in a closed loop Gravel for future generations The construction industry uses large quantities of materials. Cities offer an enormous stock of unused resources and many elements of construction waste, which can be recycled. The most prominent problem: the image of waste. Public Building of recycling-concrete (Source: AWEL Amt für Abfall, Wasser, Energie und Luft) About 50 million tons of mineral building materials are used in Switzerland each year. Thus, the construction industry is one of the industries with the highest material requirements. At the same time, large quantities of construction waste materials are accumulated each year due to redevelopment and demolition of existing buildings. These materials, however, can be recycled and used in cement production, for example. A study by the “Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air“ (AWEL) of the canton Zurich from 2003 concludes that there is no quality loss if these materials are recycled. At present, concrete from recycled material still has different characteristics than the primary alternative. However, if these characteristics are taken into account in the early stages of building planning process, recycled concretes can be used even for structurally challenging places. This certainly requires a new way of thinking in the construction industry. Therefore, the AWEL initiated the Swiss information alliance “gravel for future generations“. This initiative aims to convey knowledge of using construction waste and to facilitate information exchange between science and practice. Resource Efficiency First of all, reusing construction waste reduces primary gravel resources and the demand of land for gravel exploitation. Moreover, the disposal of demolition material becomes redundant if recycled material is used. The use of construction waste compared to primary raw materials has only a minor influence on the production process of concrete and the cement needed for it. In order to determine the environmental impact of the combustion of fossil raw materials during the process, the content and type of cement as well as the transportation distance are crucial. This is a result of a lifecycle assessment done by the Swiss
Effects Region and Country Material Water m 2 Energy Surface fields Europe Switzerland Holcim AG in cooperation with the Institute for Building and Environment (IBU) and the University for Technology Rapperswill. Barriers and Risks Old gravel pits are frequently used for disposal of excavated material from construction sites. An increased use of secondary construction materials and the associated decrease of gravel exploitation could lead to longer transportation distances of excavated material to the nearest gravel pit. This would worsen the environmental balance significantly. Long distances should also be avoided when transporting construction waste materials to appropriate processing sites. According to the lifecycle assessment done by the Holcim AG, secondary construction materials should, thus, only be used if the transportation distance amounts to more than 30 km over that of primary gravel. Potentials Already 80 percent of construction waste is currently recycled in Switzerland. However, these materials are usually used for inferior building materials in the civil engineering underground; the remaining 20 percent are disposed Construction waste as raw material (Picture: Juliette Chrétien, Zürich) of as waste. At present, due to energetic redevelopment measures, the need of building materials shifts more and more from civil engineering to building construction: A resource model of the city of Zurich showed that the input of building materials for urban building construction adds up to 780,000 tons, whereas the input for civil engineering amounts for 104,000 tons. Thus, an increased demand for high-quality recycling materials for application in the building construction can be expected in the future. Further information www.kiesfuergenerationen.ch TEC21 (2010): Recycling-Beton. AWEL Kanton Zürich Abteilung Abfallwirtschaft und Betriebe Weinbergstrasse 34 8090 Zürich, Switzerland www.awel.zh.ch Ressourceneffizienzatlas Resource Efficiency Atlas 67
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Resource Efficiency Atlas An intern
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Resource Efficiency Atlas An intern
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Table of contents 1 Developing reso
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30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Global Oil Consu
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1.2 The project Resource Efficiency
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2 Resource efficiency potentials in
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obtained by a newly developed techn
Page 15 and 16: point of view, current data and awa
Page 17 and 18: is an indication for the growing im
Page 19 and 20: 2.2 The identification of resource
Page 21 and 22: Figure 6: Overview of sectors for r
Page 23 and 24: N-America Europe Asia Africa 0 10 2
Page 25 and 26: 2 Groasis Waterboxx Groasis Waterbo
Page 27 and 28: Effects Region and Country Material
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Page 69 and 70: Strengths Which strengths are appar
Page 71 and 72: and products might be restricted du
Page 73 and 74: Further research The Resource Effic
Page 75 and 76: European Commission (2011): Mitteil
Page 77 and 78: 6 Appendix Interviewed experts in t
Page 79 and 80: Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial
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