IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/recore/v72y2013icp127-135.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Recycling concepts and the index of recyclability for building materials

Author

Listed:
  • Vefago, Luiz H. Maccarini
  • Avellaneda, Jaume

Abstract

It is well known that reserves of non-renewable resources are limited and that waste emitted into the air, soil and earth pollute the environment. In addition to proposing a change in the architects’ way of thinking, the climate change further requires an improvement in the environment, politics and social consciousness. The chase for sustainable architecture must also consider the end of the life cycles of materials. The aim of this work is to introduce new concepts regarding materials and building elements that reach the end of their first life cycle and to evaluate the potential for recyclability of those materials. The research method is based on a hierarchic upside down pyramid that gives priority to the reuse and recycling of materials and afterwards allows for the creation of recyclability levels of the materials and elements. The results show that the concepts created regarding recycled, infracycled, reused and infraused materials are more suitable to the current situation. The indexes of recyclability quantify the betterment of the environment in the construction processes of buildings that are made from recycled or recyclable materials. In this manner, recyclability allows changing the way architects design and construct buildings, and it is a step forward to the closed-loop material cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Vefago, Luiz H. Maccarini & Avellaneda, Jaume, 2013. "Recycling concepts and the index of recyclability for building materials," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 127-135.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:72:y:2013:i:c:p:127-135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.12.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344912002297
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.12.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dodoo, Ambrose & Gustavsson, Leif & Sathre, Roger, 2010. "Life cycle primary energy implication of retrofitting a wood-framed apartment building to passive house standard," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(12), pages 1152-1160.
    2. Weber, Céline & Koyama, Michihisa & Kraines, Steven, 2006. "CO2-emissions reduction potential and costs of a decentralized energy system for providing electricity, cooling and heating in an office-building in Tokyo," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(14), pages 3041-3061.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Doussoulin, Jean Pierre & Bittencourt, Mariana, 2022. "How effective is the construction sector in promoting the circular economy in Brazil and France? : A waste input-output analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 47-58.
    2. Rabbat, Christelle & Awad, Sary & Villot, Audrey & Rollet, Delphine & Andrès, Yves, 2022. "Sustainability of biomass-based insulation materials in buildings: Current status in France, end-of-life projections and energy recovery potentials," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Tang, Xu & Li, Chunyan & Hu, Shiyuan & Liu, Yaolin & Geng, Hong, 2016. "Evaluating extended land consumption in building life cycle to improve land conservation: A case study in Shenyang, China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 78-89.
    4. Lotfi, Somayeh & Deja, Jan & Rem, Peter & Mróz, Radosław & van Roekel, Eric & van der Stelt, Hans, 2014. "Mechanical recycling of EOL concrete into high-grade aggregates," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 117-125.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aprea, Ciro & Maiorino, Angelo, 2011. "An experimental investigation of the global environmental impact of the R22 retrofit with R422D," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 1161-1170.
    2. Kylili, Angeliki & Ilic, Milos & Fokaides, Paris A., 2017. "Whole-building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a passive house of the sub-tropical climatic zone," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 169-177.
    3. David Grosspietsch & Marissa Saenger & Bastien Girod, 2019. "Matching decentralized energy production and local consumption: A review of renewable energy systems with conversion and storage technologies," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(4), July.
    4. Jradi, M. & Riffat, S., 2014. "Tri-generation systems: Energy policies, prime movers, cooling technologies, configurations and operation strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 396-415.
    5. Yanık, Seda & Sürer, Özge & Öztayşi, Başar, 2016. "Designing sustainable energy regions using genetic algorithms and location-allocation approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 161-172.
    6. Alexandros Arsalis & George E. Georghiou, 2018. "A Decentralized, Hybrid Photovoltaic-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System for Application to a Commercial Building," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Aprea, C. & Greco, A. & Maiorino, A., 2012. "An experimental evaluation of the greenhouse effect in the substitution of R134a with CO2," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 753-761.
    8. Tsai, Wen-Hsien & Lin, Sin-Jin & Liu, Jau-Yang & Lin, Wan-Rung & Lee, Kuen-Chang, 2011. "Incorporating life cycle assessments into building project decision-making: An energy consumption and CO2 emission perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 3022-3029.
    9. Sadeghi, Mohsen & Chitsaz, Ata & Mahmoudi, S.M.S. & Rosen, Marc A., 2015. "Thermoeconomic optimization using an evolutionary algorithm of a trigeneration system driven by a solid oxide fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 191-204.
    10. Zhu, L. & Hurt, R. & Correa, D. & Boehm, R., 2009. "Comprehensive energy and economic analyses on a zero energy house versus a conventional house," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1043-1053.
    11. Liu, Mingxi & Shi, Yang & Fang, Fang, 2014. "Combined cooling, heating and power systems: A survey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-22.
    12. Radhi, H., 2010. "On the optimal selection of wall cladding system to reduce direct and indirect CO2 emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1412-1424.
    13. Jiménez Rivero, Ana & Sathre, Roger & García Navarro, Justo, 2016. "Life cycle energy and material flow implications of gypsum plasterboard recycling in the European Union," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 171-181.
    14. Fong, K.F. & Lee, C.K., 2014. "Investigation on zero grid-electricity design strategies of solid oxide fuel cell trigeneration system for high-rise building in hot and humid climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 426-433.
    15. Syed Shujaa Safdar Gardezi & Nasir Shafiq & Muhammad Waris Ali Khan, 2022. "Relational pre-impact assessment of conventional housing features and carbon footprint for achieving sustainable built environment," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 8441-8463, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:72:y:2013:i:c:p:127-135. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kai Meng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-conservation-and-recycling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.