Burke, R D; Parrish, K and El Asmar, M (2018) Environmental product declarations: Use in the architectural and engineering design process to support sustainable construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(5): 04018026, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
High-performing and sustainable building certification bodies continue to update their requirements, leading to modifications in the scope of certifications and increasing the number of viable sources of environmental information for building materials. In conjunction, the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is seeing increasing demand for such environmental product information. The authors conducted a survey of 119 U.S.-based AEC practitioners experienced in certified sustainable building projects to understand the sources for environmental information and how this information is used in the building design process. The analysis of survey responses forms the basis of this paper, which provides three contributions to the body of knowledge: (1) identifying the AEC professionals' varying experiences with sustainable building certifications and environmental performance information for building materials [the results show a correlation between use of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems and the exposure of members of the AEC industry to new environmental information sources]; (2) identifying the differing levels of knowledge and use of the environmental product declaration (EPD), a new environmental information source (most of the survey respondents who had used any environmental information sources were familiar with EPDs); and (3) providing insight into EPD use and guidance from early adopters for effective future use. These findings can help the AEC industry efficiently implement EPDs into its design and construction processes and better understand the environmental impacts of building materials used in construction.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | product information, exposure, environmental impact, environmental performance, building material, building design, design and construction, sustainable building, engineering design, survey, body of knowledge, practitioner, environmental design, sustainable construction, certification |
| Subjects: | sustainability assessment, practitioner, architectural design, data collection methods, public and environmental health, knowledge management, sustainable construction, design process, sustainability and energy, environmental impact, administrative processes, contractual arrangements, building materials, innovation studies |
| Topics: | Contract Administration, Business Strategy, Procurement, Health and Safety, Information Management, Sustainability, Design Practice, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here