8
9
Rawmaterials
Manufacturing
Transport
Use
Endof life
Nowadays green building certificates are very important in the con-
struction and real-estate sector. This is true for the erection of new
buildings and the renovationof existingones. The trend towards sus-
tainablebuildingswill grow further in the futureandall those involved
in the construction sector should enhance their knowledge and com-
petenceaccordingly.
Greenbuilding is gaininggroundaround theworld
In view of advancing climate change, the shortage of finite resources and rapid urbanization
throughout theworld, it is becomingmore andmore important that buildings are planned and
built sustainably. Green buildings not only emit less CO
2
, they can also be operatedmore eco-
nomically and soldmore profitably. Alongside the internationally recognized green building cer-
tificates LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM (Building Research
Establishment Environmental AssessmentMethod), HQE (HauteQualité Environnementale) and
DGNB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen) there aremany other public and private
initiativesonbothanational and international level.
Brilliant energybalance
Insulation materials are among the few industrially made products which
savemore energy over the product life cycle than is needed in theirmanu-
facturing. So they areper se “ecologically valuable’. Comparing theprimary
energy input identified in theArmacell LCAwith theenergy savingachieved
shows that usingArmaflex insulationmaterials save140 timesmoreenergy
than is needed for theirmanufacturing, transport anddisposal. The energy
input needed tomanufacture Armaflex has paid off after just 50 days. The
environmental product declarations certified by the
not onlymake statementson theprimaryenergy require-
ment, theyalso contain informationabout theextent towhich theproducts
contribute to the greenhouse effect, acidification, over-fertilization, deple-
tionof theozone layer and smog.
Optimal insulation is thekey toenergyefficiency
Construction is one of the most raw-material- and energy-intensive industries. The
buildingsector is thesingle largest consumerof rawmaterialsworldwideand thegreat-
est producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Some30%of all rawmaterials areused to
buildandmaintainbuildings. 30 to40%of greenhousegases result from the construc-
tion, use or disposal of buildings. In the industrial nations a huge amount of energy is
used in transport and industry, but the building sector accounts for the majority –
around40%ofEuropeanenergyconsumption!Tomeet thegrowingdemand forenergy
and protect the climate, energy efficiency in the building sector must continue to be
improved. The key toenergyefficiency is insulation. Optimal technical insulation is the
simplest, fastest andmost cost-effectivemeasure for increasingenergyefficiency.
(Georgios Eleftheriadis)
FEATURE STORY
FEATURE STORY
IndependentLCAprovides reliableenvironmentaldata
Green building requires that the individual components of
the building can also be described as being sustainable –
compatiblewith the environment, energy efficient and eco-
nomical. To prevent them getting lost in the jungle of adver-
tisingmessages, greenwashing andnumerous very different
ecomarks, specifiersneed thegreatestpossible transparency
– independent, standardized facts covering all aspects of the
life cycle. Only environmental statements which – like the
Armacell environmental product declarations – arebasedon
anextensiveLCA inaccordancewithEN15804and ISO14025
andare independently validatedare reliable.
2.2
284
-
+
I oil/m
3
I oil/m
3
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
BREEAM
LEED
HQE
DGNB
32,000
28,000
24,000
20,000
16,000
12,000
8,000
4,000
0
Development of thegreenbuilding schemes
(number of certified constructionprojects since2008)
Energy input
Energy consumption
