The generation of EPDs for activities related to building maintenance

Conference paper (2006)

Authors

L.C.M. Itard OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovation
I.S. Blom OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovation
D Anink External organisation
Research Group
OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovation
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Published Date

2006

Language

Undefined/Unknown

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Research Group

OLD Housing Quality and Process Innovation

Abstract

In comparison to goods to which LCA is conventionally applied, buildings have a very long service life. During this service life, the building and its equipment are subject to maintenance and to renovations. Very little is known about the environmental effects of maintenance and renovation. Maintenance firms and housing associations that are interested in the sustainability aspects of maintenance have too little environmental information on their own activities. This is because environmental profiles of materials that are accessible from LCA databases are not suitable for direct use by maintenance firms, because this data are not related to the activities that are really performed by these companies. EPDs at material level could be a solution for maintenance companies, but nor for housing associations that want to label the environmental quality of the maintenance. This is because housing associations (and therefore their maintenance contractors) are interested in the environmental quality of the maintenance of, for instance, window frames but not in the environmental quality of one kilogram paint. EPDs at activity level could offer a possible solution to this problem. The research described in this paper aims to define at which level EPDs are needed and which technical information is necessary to produce EPDs that can support sustainable maintenance options. This paper focuses on the maintenance aspects of openings in facades (windows) in dwellings located in The Netherlands. Owner occupied houses are not taken into account because in most cases owners do not use standardized maintenance by specialized companies. They are do-it-yourselfer from which information is difficult to gather. Housing associations use maintenance contractors in an organized way, which simplifies the gathering of information. Besides, housing associations cover about 35 % of the total housing stock in the Netherlands and should be therefore a main target of environmental building policies.