Ecological Footprint of the Life Cycle
of Buildings
Cristina Rivero-Camacho, Juan Jesús Martín-Del-Río, Jaime Solís-Guzmán,
and Madelyn Marrero
Abstract In recent years, construction and use of buildings in Spain accounted for
more than 40% of energy consumption, 36% of CO 2 emissions, 50% of material
extractions from the earth’s crust and 25% of the solid waste generated. Optimizing
the resource requirement in existing buildings is a key step in the task of reaching
the community targets for 2030: 27% improvement in energy efficiency and 40%
of reduction of greenhouse gases. For this, it is necessary to analyse them through
environmental and economic indicators, so that the magnitude of the impacts can be
qualified and quantified from the Building Life Cycle (BLC), from its conception,
through the extraction of raw materials, for the manufacture of the materials, until the
demolition of the building. The paper focuses on the study of residential buildings
in Andalusia, covering its entire useful life, from its conception until the time of its
demolition or end of life. As a case study, the Ecological Footprint (EF) indicator is
applied to a residential project, to calculate the impacts during the BLC.
Keywords Ecological footprint · Emissions · Construction · Building life cycle ·
Resources consumption
1 Introduction
Construction is responsible for the consumption of more than 40% of natural
resources and 30% of energy and produces more than 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and is responsible for a significant part of wood and water consumption in the
world [1]. The reason for the considerable impact of construction is to be found in
the building processes, from the manufacture of materials, through their construction
and subsequent use, and ending with demolition. In view of the need to implement
improvements in the environmental aspect of construction, it is necessary to have
verifiable and reliable indicators that are sensitive to changes.
C. Rivero-Camacho · J. J. Martín-Del-Río · J. Solís-Guzmán (B) · M. Marrero
Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas II. ETS Ingeniería de Edificación, Universidad
de Sevilla, Avenida Reina Mercedes nº4, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
e-mail: jaimesolis@us.es
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), Assessment of Ecological Footprints,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0096-8_1
1
of Buildings
Cristina Rivero-Camacho, Juan Jesús Martín-Del-Río, Jaime Solís-Guzmán,
and Madelyn Marrero
Abstract In recent years, construction and use of buildings in Spain accounted for
more than 40% of energy consumption, 36% of CO 2 emissions, 50% of material
extractions from the earth’s crust and 25% of the solid waste generated. Optimizing
the resource requirement in existing buildings is a key step in the task of reaching
the community targets for 2030: 27% improvement in energy efficiency and 40%
of reduction of greenhouse gases. For this, it is necessary to analyse them through
environmental and economic indicators, so that the magnitude of the impacts can be
qualified and quantified from the Building Life Cycle (BLC), from its conception,
through the extraction of raw materials, for the manufacture of the materials, until the
demolition of the building. The paper focuses on the study of residential buildings
in Andalusia, covering its entire useful life, from its conception until the time of its
demolition or end of life. As a case study, the Ecological Footprint (EF) indicator is
applied to a residential project, to calculate the impacts during the BLC.
Keywords Ecological footprint · Emissions · Construction · Building life cycle ·
Resources consumption
1 Introduction
Construction is responsible for the consumption of more than 40% of natural
resources and 30% of energy and produces more than 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and is responsible for a significant part of wood and water consumption in the
world [1]. The reason for the considerable impact of construction is to be found in
the building processes, from the manufacture of materials, through their construction
and subsequent use, and ending with demolition. In view of the need to implement
improvements in the environmental aspect of construction, it is necessary to have
verifiable and reliable indicators that are sensitive to changes.
C. Rivero-Camacho · J. J. Martín-Del-Río · J. Solís-Guzmán (B) · M. Marrero
Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas II. ETS Ingeniería de Edificación, Universidad
de Sevilla, Avenida Reina Mercedes nº4, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
e-mail: jaimesolis@us.es
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), Assessment of Ecological Footprints,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0096-8_1
1