at strengthening the green economy across the member states. In particular on March 2011, the EU approved the Construction Products Regulation 305/2011(CPR), replacing the previous Directive 89/106/EEC (CPD), intending to overcome the technical barriers in construction products trading (Pacheco-Torgal, 2014).
To achieve the goal, the CPR focus on four main elements: - a framework of harmonized technical specifications,
- a common conformity assessment system for each product category, - a network of notified bodies for certifications,
- the products CE marking.
The CPR harmonizes the assessment and verification methods, the declaration of performance approaches and the conformity assessment system of construction products but it does not standardize the national regulations concerning the use of such products in construction works.
One of the main updates regards the introduction the Declaration of Performance (DoP) of construction products (Replacing the Declaration of Conformity) with different meaning and content: while the declaration of conformity certified the conformity of a product with the requirements of a technical standard (Article 13 CPD), the declaration of performance requires the manufacturer to certify the essential product performances according to the relevant technical specifications (Article 6 CPR).
The selection of the product required performance level is left to the Member States. However, these values must be expressed in coherence with the harmonized technical specifications.
The harmonized technical specifications of a product define the methods of verification and declaration of performance characteristics that influence the ability to satisfy the seven basic requirements (listed below) referred to the construction works (BRCW) which, in general, have to be accomplished. Members States, however, are autonomous in choosing how to apply them nationally.
1. Mechanical resistance and stability 2. Safety in case of fire
3. Hygiene, health and the environment 4. Safety and accessibility in use
5. Protection against noise
6. Energy economy and heat retention 7. Sustainable use of natural resources
With respect to environmental consequences, in particular three requirements have great relevance:
- Hygiene, health and the environment: “The construction works must be
designed and built in such a way that they will, throughout their life cycle, not be a threat to the hygiene or health and safety of workers, occupants or neighbors, nor have an exceedingly high impact, over their entire life cycle, on the environmental quality or on the climate during their construction, use and demolition, in particular as a result of any of the following:
a) the giving-off of toxic gas;
b) the emissions of dangerous substances, volatile organic compounds (VOC), greenhouse gases or dangerous particles into indoor or outdoor air;
c) the emission of dangerous radiation;
d) the release of dangerous substances into ground water, marine waters, surface waters or soil;
e) the release of dangerous substances into drinking water or substances which have an otherwise negative impact on drinking water;
f) faulty discharge of waste water, emission of flue gases or faulty disposal of solid or liquid waste;
g) dampness in parts of the construction works or on surfaces within the
construction works”; (European Commission, Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, Annex I, p. L88/33)
- Energy economy and heat retention: “The construction works and their heating,
cooling, lighting and ventilation installations must be designed and built in such a way that the amount of energy they require in use shall be low, when account is taken of the occupants and of the climatic conditions of the location. Construction works must also be energy-efficient, using as little energy as possible during their construction and dismantling”; (European Commission, Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, Annex I, p. L88/34)
- Sustainable use of natural resources: “The construction works must be
designed, built and demolished in such a way that the use of natural resources is sustainable and in particular ensure the following:
a) reuse or recyclability of the construction works, their materials and parts after demolition;
b) durability of the construction works;
c) use of environmentally compatible raw and secondary materials in the
construction works” (European Commission, Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, Annex I, p. L88/34).
In recent years, other initiatives moved towards environmental goals for construction products, embodying older green economy precepts.
One of the first attempt to embrace sustainable approach within the European context, was the “Green Paper - public procurement in the European union: exploring the way forward” (European Commission, 1996), a document that provided the evidence of the growing attention towards the Green Public Procurement (GPP).
The GPP has been proposed as an approach to voluntary environmental policy aimed at supporting the development of products and services with reduced environmental impact through the public demand.
The "environmentally preferable" products were considered those with the less energy requirement, made of recycled material and/or free from harmful substances, easily recyclable and resulting from less impactful production processes (Tarantini et al., 2011).
Since European Commission estimates the member countries public spending for the purchase of goods and services to approximately reach 19% of the relative GDP (annually), GPP assumes significant weight in terms of the entire European economic system. Therefore, the GPP effectiveness in promoting the diffusion of a sustainable production and consumption model is evident (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, retrieved on March 2018)
For this reason, GPP has been recognized by the European Commission as a key tool of the Integrated Product Policy in 2003, within the related Communication COM 2003/302 (“Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Integrated Product Policy: Building on Environmental Life-Cycle Thinking”).
The following year, the adoption of two European directives on public procurement: 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC, gave significant legal support to the GPP. Recently, these directives have been replaced by the Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement and Directive 2014/25/EU on the procurement procedures within
the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors. Additionally, the Directive 2014/23/EU was also adopted with regards to the award of concession contracts.
At Italian national level, these directives have been implemented with the Legislative Decree 18 April 2016, n. 50 – “Code of public contracts" (amended by Legislative Decree 56/2017), making Italy the first country to establish the mandatory application of the GPP for the contracting authorities (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, retrieved on March 2018).
This decree, in particular, recalls the provisions contained in the inter-ministerial decree of 2008 (“Approval of the action plan for environmental sustainability of consumption in the public administration sector”) with regards to the Minimum Environmental Criteria (Criteri Ambientali Minimi - CAM).
CAM are intended to be environmental requirements for the various stages of the purchasing process, aimed at identifying the project solution, the product or the service with the best environmental profile along the whole life cycle, considering the availability of the market.
With respect to construction products, CAM are regulated within the Ministerial Decree on Environment of 11 October 2017 (“Assignment of design services and works for the new construction, renovation and maintenance of public buildings”) and they must be included in the contract documents.
In this context, the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) –as based on LCA approach- are a useful tool for improving the information transparency and the environmental quality of projects, (see Section 2.4.1).