Materials for a Healthy, Ecological and Sustainable Built Environment

Principles for Evaluation

Brenda Vale, Maibritt Pedersen Zari, Emina K. Petrovic, Emina K. Petrović

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780081007075
• eBook ISBN: 9780081007068
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Principles for Evaluating Building Materials in Sustainable Construction: Healthy and Sustainable Materials for the Built Environment provides a comprehensive overview of the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction, proposing a holistic and integrated approach.The book evaluates the issues involved in choosing materials from an ecosystem services perspective, from the design stage to the impact of materials on the health of building users.The three main sections of the book discuss building materials in relation to ecosystem services, the implications of materials choice at the design stage, and the impact of materials on building users and their health. The final section focuses on specific case studies that illustrate the richness of solutions that existed before the rise of contemporary construction and that are consistent with a sustainable approach to creating built environments. These are followed by modern examples which apply some, if not all, of the principles discussed in the first three sections of the book.- Provides a holistic and integrated approach to the issues associated with the selection of materials for sustainable construction- Provides a thorough understanding of ecosystem services based on ecology research for built environment design- Provides an original review of the impact of materials on human health- Provides case studies to illustrate the points above

Part I

Selecting Building Materials for Reduced Impacts on Ecosystem Services: Ecosystem Services Analysis

Outline

1 Utilizing relationships between ecosystem services, built environments, and building materials

2 Ecosystem services analysis: Incorporating an understanding of ecosystem services into built environment design and materials selection

1

Utilizing relationships between ecosystem services, built environments, and building materials

Maibritt Pedersen Zari, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

This chapter introduces the concept of ecosystem services in relation to the built environment and examines materials as parts of whole ecosystems. A ranked list of key places for change in the built environment, along with which ecosystem services should be focused on in a built environment context is presented. The chapter concludes that the potential for profound positive change in terms of ecological impact, and in how built environments and the materials within them are designed, specified, valued, built, and used is apparent, if an understanding of ecosystem services is integrated into built environment design and materials selection.

Keywords

Environmental impact; ecological value; ecosystem services analysis (ESA); biodiversity; architectural design; climate change

1.1 Introduction: reducing the environmental impact of built environments

It is well known that the built environment has a large negative effect on ecosystem services (Rees, 1999). More than a third of all of the materials that are harvested, dug up, mined, and processed on the planet end up in built environments, while concurrently approximately a third of all of the waste that is buried, burnt, and dumped comes from construction and demolition activities (UNEP, 2007). In light of this, it is essential to understand the impact of this activity on the ecosystems we inhabit and rely upon for survival, not just in terms of energy use or pollutants (including the emission of carbon), but also in relation to complex and interconnected networks of ecosystem services (Zhang et al., 2010).

One way to reduce or to reverse the negative environmental impact of the built environment may be to create or redesign such environments so that they provide, integrate with, or support ecosystem services, and therefore reduce pressure on ecosystems. This is important as urban environments continue to grow and as the climate continues to change (Eigenbrod et al., 2011, McKinney, 2002). Ecosystem services analysis (ESA), developed by Pedersen Zari (2012a,b, 2014a,b, 2015a,b) is a means by which the concept of ecosystem services is specifically applied to built environment contexts. Part I of this book (this chapter and Chapter 2) expands these concepts to include the selection of building materials. Employing an understanding of ecosystem services in materials selection is a way to consider the contributions ecosystems make to providing materials, as well as the impacts that extracting, harvesting, processing, and using materials can have on ecosystems. By calculating the impact various materials have on ecosystem services at different spatial and temporal scales, a complementary set of decision-making criteria can be devised in addition to life cycle assessment (Part II) and health impact ones (Part III). Perhaps by analyzing the impact of certain building materials in relation to how ecosystems function, steps can be taken towards the creation of a built environment where positive integration with, and restoration of, local ecosystems can be realized (Olgyay and Herdt, 2004, Pedersen Zari, 2012a).

1.2 Ecosystem services: definitions and boundaries

Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans derive, either directly or indirectly, from the functions of ecosystems (Costanza et al., 1997). They are fundamental to basic human survival and wellbeing. Human use of ecosystem services is expanding due to human population increases as well as rises in per capita rates of consumption including building materials. In their seminal paper, Costanza et al. (1997) estimated that although humans would not be able to replace the ecosystem services they utilize, if these services had to be paid for in monetary terms, the cost would have been almost twice the entire global gross national product at the time of the research. Many of these services simply cannot be replaced with current human technology (Norberg, 1999), though approximately 60%, including 70% of all regulating and supporting ecosystem services, have now been degraded by human activities (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005b). The global condition of most ecosystem services except for the provisioning of food and raw materials has declined significantly over the past 60 years (Carpenter et al., 2009). In fact, ecosystems have changed more in the last 60 years than in any other period of human history (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005b). Several studies have also proven that in most cases, the costs of ecosystem conservation are far outweighed by the net benefits generated by healthy intact ecosystems (Turner and Daily, 2008).

Ecosystem services have been described as “the aspects of ecosystems consumed and utilised to yield human well-being” (Turner and Daily, 2008). These are aside from the intrinsic value some people believe ecosystems have, independent of the ability of humans to exploit them. Farber et al., (2002) state: “as humans are only one of many species in an ecosystem, the values they place on ecosystem functions, structures and processes may differ significantly from the values of those ecosystem characteristics to species or the maintenance (health) of the ecosystem itself.” Proponents of deep ecology also believe that ecosystems have value aside from their functional or economic value to humans (Drengson and Inoue, 1995).

Up to 80% of the economic values of ecosystem services are currently not captured in traditional market-based mechanisms (de Groot et al., 2010). The ecosystem services concept is the subject of intensive international research and policy development initiatives in an attempt to define values with the intention that this may lead to preservation or restoration of ecosystems (Naidoo et al., 2008). Understanding ecosystem services aids in the setting of policy and development of tools to determine how much polluters should pay or how much protectors and regenerators of ecosystem services should be compensated (Carpenter et al., 2009, TEEB Foundations, 2010, TEEB in Business, 2011, TEEB in Local Policy, 2011, TEEB, 2011b). Examples of the many schemes incorporating an ecosystem services approach that have emerged since 2000 include: direct compensation paid to landowners for ecosystem services; conservation banking; tradable habitat rights; debt-for-nature swaps; insurance schemes; and tax relief programs. Some proponents of such schemes point out that it is unlikely that economic incentives alone will change human behavior so that people value and adopt environmental stewardship practices (Turner and Daily, 2008).

A focus on ecosystem services has been widely adopted internationally among ecology and policy professionals (Carpenter et al., 2009) and increasingly governments (Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2015), and even large financial institutions (Henry, 2016). This has occurred particularly since the concept was examined and formalized by the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing (Alcamo et al., 2003, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005a,b, de Groot et al., 2010). Applying the concept of ecosystem services to architectural and urban design, landscape design, and particularly to building materials selection is still being developed however, and faces challenges (de Groot et al., 2010). When it comes to specifying materials for use in built environments the implications for ecosystem services are rarely taken into account (Zhang et al., 2010).

Although ecosystem services are inherently interconnected and interdependent, several ecologists define and list individual ecosystem services (Daily et al., 2000, de Groot et al., 2002, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005a, Cavanagh and Clemons, 2006, Costanza et al., 1997). The services that humans receive from ecosystems can be divided into: provisioning services such as food and medicines; regulation services such as pollination and climate regulation; supporting services such as soil formation and fixation of solar ener...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of contributors
• Preface: A call for ontological consideration of building materials
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I: Selecting Building Materials for Reduced Impacts on Ecosystem Services: Ecosystem Services Analysis
• Part II: Choosing Sustainable Materials
• Part III: Indoor Toxicity from Building Materials
• Part IV: Case Studies
• Conclusion
• Index