The results of the National Research Programmes "Energy Turnaround" (NRP 70) and "Managing Energy Consumption" (NRP 71) are summarised under the title "National Research Programme Energy". This synthesis on "Sustainable Concrete Structures" summarises the results of the joint project "Low energy concrete" of the National Research Programme "Energy Turnaround" (NRP 70) and derives core messages, specific areas in which action is required and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders. This synthesis makes a scientific contribution to the opinion-forming process, the political and specialist debate as well as the planning of strategies and measures for the transformation of the energy system against the backdrop of Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050. This synthesis is based on the results from the research conducted in the aforementioned joint project. It does not make any statements on aspects that were not researched within this framework even in cases in which these aspects would be important for providing an overall view. Responsibility for the results of the research projects lies with the respective research teams. The joint synthesis "Sustainable Concrete Structures" is the responsibility of the two authors. Their assessments and recommendations for action do not necessarily correspond to those of the research teams, the members of the NRP 70 and NRP 71 Steering Committees or the Swiss National Science Foundation.
National policies are increasingly being introduced worldwide to establish a sustainable economy that includes principles of a circular economy (CE). The construction industry is particularly in focus with such policies, as it is responsible for almost 50% of the worldwide annual resource consumption and waste production. The Implementation of CE policies remains with local actors, and it is important to better understand the regional context of this transition to support policy- and decision-makers. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of regional aspects of a CE and identify regional differences in the building materials industry. To identify these different boundary conditions, we formulate hypotheses, which we then test based on various regional case studies. We use an integrated assessment model to assess a regional industry in terms of environmental and economic indicators and combine Material-Flow-Analysis and Life-Cycle-Assessment using an input-output approach. The results suggest that imports and exports, especially in smaller regions, can hinder the implementation of CE. CE policies should therefore be developed for functional areas rather than political boundaries to effectively manage material flows. This is also in the light of environmental impacts. Consideration of inter-industry linkages in the industry shows that policies should be formulated specifically for the construction processes, as they have the greatest leverage for policy-induced changes within the industry. The financial analysis shows that incentives should be created to minimize the extraction of primary raw materials and to avoid the landfilling of demolition and excavation material. ; ISSN:0921-3449 ; ISSN:1879-0658
The construction industry is responsible for large quantities of construction and demolition waste and almost 50% of the worldwide annual resource consumption, putting the environment, its natural resources, and ecosystems under high pressure. Therefore, governments are implementing regional policies that support a circular economy (CE). But how do we know whether these developments will lead to a shift toward a CE on a regional scale? How can we identify hotspots in a value chain and regional economy to support decision-makers and to develop regional policies? We propose an integrated assessment method that considers indicators for environmental impacts and economic benefits by combining Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with Input-Output Analysis (IOA) as the connecting element. It provides the necessary data and indicators for a holistic and comprehensive evaluation of a region or industry. We demonstrate its benefits and limitations taking the Swiss canton of Aargovia as an example. We analyze which processes in the material flow system of construction minerals are decisive for formulating mass-related or financial policies encouraging a CE. We show that a shift toward a CE can only be captured by combining material and money flows in a joined model, because a significant increase of services—mainly waste management—is a core element in this development. It can only be covered sufficiently by combining environmental and economic assessment. Our model captures the degree to which a regional economy is advanced in the transition toward a CE to compare different regions or analyze scenarios of future developments. ; ISSN:1088-1980 ; ISSN:1530-9290
There is an increasing effort of the cement and concrete industry to increase material efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Several strategies have been identified to achieve this goal, but the implementation of a circular economy (CE) strategy is being pursued most actively by governments and public organizations to increase material efficiency and improve sustainability in the construction industry. This transition to a CE, however, is a process, which features a high multi-dimensional complexity and a fundamental change of a complex socio-technical system. It can be interpreted as a co-evolutionary process between public policies and business models It is, therefore, necessary to understand the existing system and the interactions between business models and public policies to support decision- and policy-makers in the transition towards a CE. We would like to contribute to this understanding and identify initial implications on which business models and which public policies support a transition towards a CE. The aim of the paper is to provide a novel analysis of the economic structure of a regional building materials industry to identify regional conditions and give first implications on how to implement a CE in a regional context. We use an integrated assessment model to enable a comprehensive environmental and economical assessment of an industry and to generate data for policymaking. This method combines Material-Flow-Analysis (MFA) and Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) using an input-output approach. We demonstrate how we can evaluate uncertainties in model application and demonstrate in a case study that our model produces robust results. On this basis, we discuss what additional insights on systems behavior we gain from uncertainty analysis focusing on price data. We use an uncertainty analysis as a basis for identifying implications for business models and policies. In addition, we use the price model in the Input-Output Analysis (IOA) to investigate the impact of price changes on linked sectors. We use an exemplary assessment of the building materials industry in the Swiss canton of A-rgovia as a case study. First, we were able to show that the model used here is robust and has reasonable uncertainties. Using the results of the Sensitivity-Analysis we could formulate initial indications of how business models are affected by the shift to CE. We have shown that vertical integration of different sectors makes sense regarding a CE to buffer price volatilities, but also to secure the supply of raw materials. Furthermore, the results of the uncertainty analysis and the price model provided us with initial findings, in which sectors policies are most efficient and how price changes affect the downstream sectors. The new approach presented here to capture a regional industry in detail using economic calculations and uncertainty considerations represents an important contribution to better understand a regional industry and to support the process of decision- and policymaking. ; ISSN:0959-6526
