AIMday in UCD, 30th April 2024

Exploring opportunities for the increased use of recycled materials in the Construction industry

Submitted by Circol ELT

Increasing circularity in the Construction industry, especially circularity of materials is an important step in reducing the carbon footprint of Ireland’s built environment. Is it worthwhile to look at specific cases and explore opportunities, such as how can we use recycled tyre rubber in the construction industry while taking advantage of the material properties such as tensility & resilience?

Circol ELT currently managed in excess of 40k tonnes of waste tyre rubber in Ireland. Much of this material is exported for processing into Reclaim Rubber, Fossil Fuel Replacement, Possible areas for consideration include:

• Rubberised Concrete
• Soundproofing and Acoustic Barriers
• Flooring Materials and Roofing Materials
• Shock Absorbers & Pavement Underlay
• Recycled rubber mats or sheets can be used as underlayment for pavements
• Green Building Materials: Incorporating recycled rubber into construction materials aligning with sustainable building practices

For more information please visit open access article.

Question Area: Sustainability & Circular Economy

How to expedite the introduction of embodied carbon thresholds for new builds and relate them to national emissions targets?

Submitted by COILLTE

Embodied carbon.

The EPBD will require disclosure of GWP by 2028 for larger buildings and all by 2030.
The new Danish regulations already require disclosure through Lifecycle Assessment Calculation. For new buildings greater than 1,000m², a threshold limit value of 12kg CO₂-eq/m²/year is now in force. This threshold value comprises all building related greenhouse gas emissions. New constructions smaller than 1,000m² are required to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment but without a threshold limit value for now. Over time, and at two-year intervals, this limit becomes mandatory, and the threshold is lowered for all buildings. Other countries already have similar regulations or are very close to implementing them.

Building on the work of the Construct Innovate project Indicate which is developing national Whole life carbon baselines and the development of the national methodology UPFront CO2e what additional research is required to accelerate the introduction of limit values for Ireland ahead of the 2028 and to link them to national carbon targets?

Question Area: Sustainability

What potential alternative options to certification of innovative/new products/systems exist?

Submitted by MMC Eco Homes

NSAI Agrement is the primary accepted certification process for new/innovative products/systems onto the market in Ireland, but it is costly & time consuming. This is a significant barrier for new/innovative products/systems getting onto sites quickly, is blocking innovation in the industry and increasing costs. The industry has a need for alternative accepted routes to proving compliance with Building Regulations. There may exist the potential for a number of bodies to exist in Ireland that will stand over the compliance of new systems onto the market. This could drive innovation and inward investment in the construction sector, with particular focus on MMC.

The first step could be a comparison between Agrement and other potential routes to certification in other jurisdictions to see the benefits and drawbacks of the current system in place, with particular context to Ireland. The full ecosystem of stakeholders of the Irish Building Regulation compliance system would need to be engaged.

Question Area: Quality and Safety