Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) database
(2019) ISBN: [9780734054951], 268 pages, published
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- Abstract
- The construction of buildings and built infrastructure assets is a major contributor to global resource demands, waste production, and greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. Therefore, the construction industry has an important role to play in reducing the current and future effects of human activities on the natural environment. In order to facilitate this, information on how various design and construction-related decisions affect the environment, are needed. If key decision makers, such as asset owners, architects, engineers and contractors have access to detailed information about the resource demands and environmental effects associated with materials, they are in a better position to make decisions around material selection in order to improve the overall environmental performance of a project. While some data already exists for informing these critical decisions, it is often based on disparate data sources, limited in coverage to only a fraction of the environmental flows associated with the production of any given material, and difficult or costly to access. The aim of the EPiC Database is to provide open-access data on the environmental flows associated with construction materials, based on a consistent methodological approach and ensuring maximum coverage of environmental flows, helping to reduce the environmental effects of construction. The database contains embodied energy, embodied water and embodied greenhouse gas emissions coefficients for over 250 common construction materials. The approach used to compile the EPiC coefficients is based on over 60 years of research, stemming from the work of researchers like Walter Isard and Wassily Leontief. More recently, the work of Graham Treloar forms the most critical basis for the EPiC coefficients. Graham’s work on hybrid methods for compiling life cycle inventories and quantifying embodied energy, as well as its subsequent development in recent years provides the EPiC Database with consistency and broad coverage of material-related environmental flows. A key strength of the EPiC Database is its high level of transparency. The approach used to compile the coefficients is outlined in detail within this book and has been peer-reviewed in multiple scientific papers. The data used is made available as open-access (see Related Resources) and individual material fact sheets provide further insight into the environmental flows associated with each material. This EPiC Database is an invaluable resource for anyone involved in the construction industry, including material specifiers, planners, architects, engineers, asset owners, developers and contractors. The EPiC coefficients can be used to compare materials or quantify the environmental flows associated with entire construction projects. They can also be integrated into broader life cycle assessment studies to ensure that the environmental effects of construction projects are optimised across their entire life cycle. The EPiC Database would not have happened were it not for the support and contribution of a number of people and organisations. The database and associated resource hub are the result of a four-year Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project – ‘Improving the Environmental Performance of Australian Construction Projects’ (DP150100962) and we acknowledge the Australian Research Council for their support. In addition to this, The University of Melbourne has provided on-going support and facilities to the project, which is also greatly appreciated. We also acknowledge Thomas Wiedmann and Man Yu as members of the Discovery Project team for their contribution to the broader project and Paul-Antoine Bontinck for his many years of dedication to the project and in particular his assistance in compiling the raw data and the environmental flow coefficients contained within the EPiC Database.
- Affiliations
The University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
Citations
Crawford, R. H., Stephan, A., & Prideaux, F. (2019). Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) database. https://doi.org/10.26188/5dc228ef98c5a