A framework for environmental sustainability of composite construction materials

The construction sector has an active role on the world's housing, employment and economic growth. Associated with the increase in the world population, the demand for composite construction materials increases the burden on energy, materials and water consumption as well as global warming, climate change and other environmental impacts on the natural environment. Within the scope of this thesis, an environmental sustainability framework is presented devoted to reduce the environmental impact of composite construction materials in order to increase their sustainability performance. The developed methodology was examined as a case study on 50 mm thick polyurethane filled composite façade panel (PFCFP). The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was used to evaluate environmental sustainability. On account of the proposed improvement methods in the framework, it has been shown that according to the LCA results, the material's global warming potential (GWP) is reduced by 5% by substituting waste to the selected composite construction material; by using alternative raw materials which is the second stage of the improvement methods global warming potential caused by polyurethane in panel production is reduced by 26.86%; global warming potential of the composite panel is reduced by 10% in the context of the third stage, providing waste scenario; global warming potential caused by the disposal of the panel is reduced by 58.62%; by using alternative energy sources which is the last stage, the global warming potential due to the energy used to produce the panel is reduced by 87.15%, respectively. Considering all of the proposed improvement mehods in the case study specifically, it was determined that the use of alternative raw materials provided the most positive benefit in all environmental impact categories. According to the data of this study, it is presented that for composite construction materials; the selection of the raw materials used should be made with care, the reuse of the materials that have not completed their useful life before being disposed of should be extended, the use of alternative energy sources for the industrial sector should be increased and the life cycle database for the composite construction materials should be effectuated.