It’s time to green the construction sector
By Construction products are essential components of the built environment that surrounds us, but they also have a huge environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle. On 30 March, the European Commission will publish a proposal for the revision of the central piece regulating construction products: the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), which is expected to introduce a number of sustainability elements to align with the requirements of the European Green Deal. In the time of decarbonisation, the CPR is the lynchpin between energy-intensive industries and the built environment, two of the biggest contributors to EU emissions.
Concrete, bricks, wood beams, windows… Construction products are essential components of the built environment that surrounds us. However, they also have a huge environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle. For a greener and more sustainable Europe, we need to focus on improving their overall sustainability.
On 30 March, the European Commission will publish a proposal for the revision of the central piece regulating construction products: the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). It is scheduled to see the light of day on the same day as the horizontal Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), meant to make sustainable products the norm. CPR, in turn, is expected to introduce a number of sustainability elements to align with the requirements of the European Green Deal.
In the time of decarbonisation, the CPR is the lynchpin between energy-intensive industries and the built environment, two of the biggest contributors to EU emissions.
Why construction matters
From water and energy to wood and concrete, it takes a great amount of resources to build our homes, offices and roads. In other words, construction products have a huge environmental impact. Materials such as concrete, bricks and insulation products are responsible for 50% of all extracted raw materials and 1/3 of fresh water used in the EU. Moreover, the manufacturing of construction products alone contributes 250 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
To top it off, construction products and buildings are the main source of waste generation in the EU, representing 30% of our total waste, with most materials still ending up in landfill and less than 1% overall being reused in new buildings.
It goes without saying that it is high time for the construction sector to embrace sustainability and the circular economy.
This is why the tabled revision must put sustainability at its core, to ensure the construction industry will contribute to the EU’s overarching environmental objectives, including carbon neutrality targets. Largely escaping legal sustainability requirements up till now, the CPR should finally start pushing the construction sector towards the inevitable transition.
What do sustainable construction products look like?
Sustainable construction products are resource-efficient and circular materials, favouring reuse and closed-loop recycling. In other words, they are products that are durable, easy to repair, reuse and upgrade, as well as easy to dismantle from building structures. In addition, they are toxic-free, created without harmful chemicals that impact the environment and our health, and, finally, low in embodied carbon.
Unfortunately, the current Construction Products Regulation is not there yet. Until now, manufacturers have not been obliged to declare information on their products’ sustainability performance, such as carbon footprint, chemical content, or resource consumption. In fact, the existing regulation does not impose any mandatory requirements on sustainability or the reporting of key sustainability indicators. It does not limit the environmental footprint of materials either.
What the current CPR does, on the other hand, is allow manufacturers to self-regulate within the European Standardisation System, where industry players are able to set their own (unambitious) obligations in technical specifications.
How to green the construction sector
If the European Union wants a green transition, the construction sector and the CPR must work towards sustainability.
It is crucial that every sector of our economy contributes to the transition – and this means putting an end to the preferential treatment the construction industry has been receiving. To do this, policy makers must set requirements and limits based on key indicators such as carbon footprint, resource and water use, and presence of toxic chemicals within the legal text. Manufacturers must be obliged to follow minimum requirements, including uptake of used products, by eliminating the legal uncertainty that has long limited their market access.
Moreover, standards should be used in an appropriate way: in support of EU rules. The industry should not be in a position to regulate itself within the standardisation system, allowing for dominant market players to limit innovation. Policymakers must step in instead, and create mandatory minimum requirements for construction products to ensure that only sustainable, circular and low-carbon products can circulate on the European market. These ambitious EU rules should then be underpinned by robust standards, but never the other way around.
In short
Ambition under the CPR should be kept in line with the principles of the Sustainable Products Initiative, ensuring that sustainable (construction) products become the norm on the European Market. Otherwise, the regulation will fail to set an environmental direction of travel for the sector, and will relegate European companies to last place in the global sustainability race, making Europe the standards-taker, not maker, in the construction sector.
The perceived complexity of the sector should not be an excuse for the EU to leave circular and sustainable construction products behind. The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to green the European construction market – as long as we are bold enough not to choose the easy way out.
