Construction Activity and Environmental Impact

Posted on Feb 12, 2025 in Business Administration and Innovation Management

Construction Activity and the Environment

Definitions

  • Environment: The physical, social, chemical, and biological factors that form a system in which a body carries out its functions.
  • Ecosystem: A system consisting of living organisms in a particular place and the environment conducive to them.
  • Sustainable Development: Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
  • Sustainability: The maintenance of ecosystem components and functions for future generations. Laws of Sustainability:
    1. Renewable resource utilization rate <= rate of its generation.
    2. Non-renewable resource utilization rate <= rate of generation of substitute resources.
    3. Contaminant generation rate <= rate of its absorption, sterilization, or recycling.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Official Definition: An objective process to evaluate environmental burdens associated with a product, process, or activity.

Phases:

  1. Identifying and quantifying energy and material use and waste emissions.
  2. Determining the impact of energy and material use and waste discharges on the environment.
  3. Evaluating and implementing environmental improvement practices.

Scope: Analysis includes the entire life cycle: raw material extraction and processing, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, use, reuse and maintenance, recycling, and final disposal.

Methodology Stages:

  1. Goal and scope definition.
  2. Inventory analysis.
  3. Impact assessment:
    1. Classification based on environmental effects.
    2. Characterization.
    3. Normalization to compare impact categories.
    4. Assessment or evaluation of different impact categories.
  4. Improvement evaluation or interpretation of results.

Royal Decree 105/2008

Objective: To establish the legal regime for the production and management of construction and demolition waste (CDW), promoting prevention, reuse, and recycling, and ensuring proper waste treatment, contributing to sustainable construction.

Definitions:

  • Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW): Any substance or object meeting the definition of waste according to Law 10/98, generated during construction or demolition work.
  • Waste (Law 10/98): Any substance or object the holder discards or intends or is obligated to discard.
  • Inert Waste: Non-hazardous waste that does not undergo significant physical, chemical, or biological transformations, is not soluble, flammable, or reactive, is not biodegradable, and does not adversely affect other matter with which it comes into contact.
  • Construction and Demolition Work: Activities including construction, rehabilitation, repair, alteration, or demolition of a property, and works altering the ground or subsoil (excavations, injections, etc.), excluding specific regulations for extractive industries.
  • CDW Producers: The individual or legal entity holding the planning permission. For works not requiring planning permission, the owner of the property.
  • CDW Holder: The individual or legal entity possessing the CDW but not managing its treatment. This includes builders, subcontractors, and freelancers, but not employees.
  • Pretreatment: Physical, chemical, or biological processes changing CDW characteristics to reduce volume or hazard, facilitate handling, increase recovery potential, or improve landfill behavior.