Appendices to Topical Paper 1 - European Commission · From the natural environment, resources...

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Appendices to Topical Paper 1

Appendix A: Input Output Analysis and Material Flow Accounting: Methodology and

underlying data

Appendix B: Countries in EXIOBASE

Appendix C: EXIOBASE product classification and correspondence with NACE rev 1.1

classification

Appendix D: Full description of the construction work sector and subsectors in the NACE rev

1.1 classification

Appendix E: Final demand associated with the residential built environment

Appendix F: Comparison between LCA and IOA studies of residential houses

Appendix G: Contribution Analysis

Appendix H: Construction work as by-product

Appendix I: Country Comparisons

Appendix J Possibilities and limitations of the top-down approach

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Appendix A: Input Output Analysis and Material Flow Accounting:

Methodology and underlying data

A.1 Input-Output analysis

For the top-down assessment of the resource-efficiency of new residential building construction plus using and

maintaining the building stock in the year 2000, so-called input-output analysis (IOA) has been used. In IOA we

use input-output tables that describe the production and consumption system in an economy in terms of

purchase and sale of product groups, as well as natural resource extractions and emissions.

The IO tables describe the relations between different sectors in the economy. They quantify in monetary

terms how the output of (goods or services) produced by one sector goes to another sector where it serves as

input. An IO model assumes that each sector uses the outputs of the other sectors in fixed proportions in order

to produce its own unique and distinct output. Based on this assumption, a matrix is defined such that each

column shows in terms of monetary value the inputs from all different sectors required to produce one

monetary unit of a sector´s output.

For each sector involved, the matrix can be extended environmentally by assuming that the amount of

environmental interventions generated by a sector is proportional to the amount of output of the sector, and

that the nature of the environmental interventions and the ratios between them are fixed. In the most basic

form, an environmental IO analysis can be performed using one vector and two matrices:

the final demand vector that allocates the total demand for products in a country or region to the

different products and services. This final demand vector in terms of purchases of goods and services,

determines all production activities and their related environmental impacts. The final demand vector

can be final consumption expenditure of households and/or government and/or gross fixed capital

formation. How the final demand vector has been set-up that describes the construction of new

residential buildings and the use/maintenance of the building stock in 2000, is described in Appendix

E.

the 'technology matrix' shows how the production activities of the different sectors interrelate in

monetary terms

the 'environment matrix' shows input in terms of direct resource extraction for each sector and output

in terms of direct emissions.

When calculating the environmental impacts associated with the final demand of a product group, it is

important to realize that the environmental impacts associated with the product group are calculated 'cradle-

to-grave'. If for instance the copper ore extraction associated with the construction of buildings &

infrastructure is calculated this might have happened because some machinery at a factory somewhere down

the production chain needed an electro-motor.

The data to be used for the input-output analysis are extracted from EXIOBASE. The EXIOBASE database

contains supply-use tables for 43 countries (among which the 27 countries from the European Union) and 1

Rest of World region for the year 2000. In each country/region 129 product groups are distinguished. These

129 product groups can be aggregated to NACE rev 1.1 statistical classification at the 60 sector level. A full

description of this classification is given in Appendix C.

EXIOBASE was developed within the FP6 EXIOPOL project. The supply-use tables in EXIOBASE are truly multi-

regional which means that they contain a full description of all trade of product groups between countries. This

means that we can assess in a much more precise way the resource extraction and emissions of the final

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demand of products in a certain country even if most of the production takes place in foreign countries.

Traditionally, at a time when trade-linked IO tables were not available very rough assumptions had to be made

about the way imported product were produced. Using EXIOBASE these strong assumptions are not necessary

anymore.

In principal the environmental impacts associated with the final consumption of products are calculated

'cradle-to-grave' without any exclusion of production chains. Thus transport, research and development,

financial services and material goods needed for the construction work are also taken into account. However

due to data limitations the end-of-life stage is often not well covered. Handling of construction and demolition

waste, and household waste are not taken into account.

EXIOBASE contains numerous environmental extensions among which energy, resource extractions and

emissions to air. We made a selection of the environmental extensions that are most relevant for this study

and are shown in the tables below.

Resources:

Domestic Extraction Used - Biomass - Wood - timber

Domestic Extraction Used - Biomass - Wood - other extractions

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - iron ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - bauxite and aluminium ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - copper ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - lead ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - nickel ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - tin ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - zinc ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Metal Ores - other metal ores

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals - chemical and fertilizer minerals

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals - clays and kaolin

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals - limestone, gypsum, chalk, dolomite

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals – slate

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals - other industrial minerals

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals - building stones

Domestic Extraction Used - Non-Metallic Minerals - gravel and sand

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - rice

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - wheat

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - other cereals

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - roots and tubers

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - sugar crops

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - pulses

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - nuts

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - oil crops

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - vegetables

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - fruits

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - fibres

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - other crops

Water Consumption Blue - Agriculture - fodder crops

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - rice

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - wheat

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - other cereals

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - roots and tubers

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - sugar crops

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Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - pulses

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - nuts

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - oil crops

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - vegetables

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - fruits

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - fibres

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - other crops

Water Consumption Green - Agriculture - fodder crops

Land Use - Arable Land - rice

Land Use - Arable Land - wheat

Land Use - Arable Land - other cereals

Land Use - Arable Land - roots and tubers

Land Use - Arable Land - sugar crops

Land Use - Arable Land - pulses

Land Use - Arable Land - nuts

Land Use - Arable Land - oil crops

Land Use - Arable Land - vegetables

Land Use - Arable Land - fruits

Land Use - Arable Land - fibres

Land Use - Arable Land - other crops

Land Use - Arable Land - fodder crops

Land Use - Permanent Pasture

Land Use - Forest Area

Emissions to air:

CO2

CH4

N2O

SOx

NOx

NH3

CO

Benzo(a)pyrene

Benzo(b)fluoranthene

Benzo(k)fluoranthene

Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene

PAH

PCBs

Dioxins

HCB (hexa-chloro benzene)

NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic organic chemicals)

PM10

PM2.5

TSP (total suspended particles)

As

Cd

Cr

Cu

Hg

Ni

Pb

Se

Zn

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A.2 Material flow accounting

Following the concept of social metabolism (Fischer-Kowalski et al. 1997), socio-economic system can be

understood as analogue to a biological organism and thus maintain a “metabolism” (or exchange) with its

natural environment. Inputs (e.g. material, energy, water, air) from nature are used, converted, and partly

integrated into society’s stocks. Sooner or later all these inputs become outputs again, which society discharges

to its environment in the form of waste or emissions. This metabolic process can be recorded in physical or

environmental accounts, one of them being Material Flow Accounts (MFA) (Eurostat 2001, Eurostat 2009).

Material flow accounting and analysis (MFA) is an EU-wide harmonized accounting tool for the material inputs,

stocks and outputs of a socioeconomic system. Thus, MFA measures all material flows that are required for the

establishment, operation and maintenance of a society’s biophysical structures. These biophysical structures

(or “stocks”) by definition include all humans and artifacts as well as the entire productive livestock (animal

husbandry and aquaculture). Artifacts include the entire infrastructure, buildings, vehicles and machinery, as

well as durable goods. Material flows covered include all solid, gaseous and liquid materials, excluding water

and air, and are presented in physical units (mass, mostly in metric tonnes). MFA defines the socioeconomic

system studied, the economy, in analogy to the System of National Accounts (SNA); the boundaries to the

natural environment and to other economies are set accordingly.

1. The border between the socioeconomic system and its natural environment from which material is

extracted and into which emissions and wastes are released.

2. The border between the socioeconomic system and other socioeconomic systems (national

economies) from which goods are imported and/or to which goods are exported.

From the natural environment, resources extracted from domestic territory (domestic extraction, DE) enter the

system as inputs; emissions and waste (domestic processed output, DPO) flow back to nature as outputs.

Imports from other economies enter the system, and exports flow from the system into other economies.

There are cases where the inputs are rather quickly converted into outputs again: Examples are the

combustion of fossil energy carriers or the processing of imported material for subsequent export. However,

there are also cases where materials remain in the socioeconomic system for a longer time (more than one

year); they are – at least temporarily – incorporated into the stocks of the system. All solid, gaseous and liquid

materials (not including water and air) that cross the above-mentioned system boundaries within one year are

counted as material flows in MFA. The unit of measurement is metric tonnes. There is a highly advanced and

internationally harmonized methodology which can be used in compiling an MFA (Eurostat 2001, Eurostat

2009).

Material flow data are usually compiled along four main groups: biomass, fossil energy carriers, metals, non-

metallic minerals. Biomass comprises all resources of plant or animal origin that are extracted from the

environment by humans or productive livestock. This includes agricultural production just as much as biomass

taken up by grazing animals or products from fishing and hunting. Metallic and non-metallic minerals are

included in the MFA as mining raw production. Metals are recorded as crude ore. In the category of the non-

metallic minerals, construction minerals prevail. Fossil energy carriers are solid, liquid and gaseous mineral raw

materials used for the generation of energy (e.g. brown coal and hard coal, petroleum, natural gas).

MFA is predominantly based upon data sets from official statistics and uses estimates for the flows that are

absent from or only insufficiently covered in the statistics (grazed biomass, bulk non-metallic minerals used for

construction, conversion of metals to gross ore). Methods for the classification, aggregation and calculation of

missing data have undergone significant advancement and harmonization in recent years (Eurostat 2001 and

Eurostat 2009).

At the European level, data from national material flow accounts are collected and published annually by

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Eurostat. For the EU15, a time series exists for the years from 1970 onward; for the countries of the EU27, the

MFA time series starts in the year 2000. Besides Eurostat data, several MFA dataset exist from detailed national

studies (e.g. Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, etc.), to regional comparative studies (e.g. Asia and Pacific), and

global datasets (SERI materialflows.net, Krausmann et al. 2009).

A.3 Comparison between the methods

Both the MFA and EIOA tool presented above can be used for the top-down analysis of the resource efficiency

of countries. However the tools take a different point of view and are therefore complementary. Here we

highlight the strength and weaknesses of both tools.

EIOA MFA

Based on EXIOBASE dataset Based on Eurostat & SEC database

Distinguishes 27 Member states Distinguishes 27 Member states

Only available for year 2000 Time series: EU27 2000-2009; EU15 1970-2004

Consumption based approach: can calculate cradle-to-grave

(natural) resource use associated with consumption of products

(e.g. construction work) in a country

Territorial/production based approach: (natural) resources

production, imports, exports and use in a country

Differentiation of material according use; sand for glass production

versus sand for construction purposes

No differentiation of materials according to use.

17 different material categories + 28 air emissions 35 different material categories similar to the domestic extraction in

the EIOA tool

Only the production / building phase is included not the use phase

of the buildings

Focus on production / building phase. Information on the use phase

limited to energy use

Waste & recycling not well covered No inclusion of recycling flows

No distinction between residential buildings, office building,

infrastructure and between new construction & repair,

maintenance

No distinction between residential buildings, office building,

infrastructure and between new construction & repair, maintenance

Focus on flows (per year), stocks are not considered Focus on flows (per year), stocks are not considered

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Appendix B: Countries in EXIOBASE

AT Austria

BE Belgium

BG Bulgaria

CY Cyprus

CZ Czech Republic

DE Germany

DK Denmark

EE Estonia

ES Spain

FI Finland

FR France

GR Greece

HU Hungary

IE Ireland

IT Italy

LT Lithuania

LU Luxembourg

LV Latvia

MT Malta

NL Netherlands

PL Poland

PT Portugal

RO Romania

SE Sweden

SI Slovenia

SK Slovak Republic

GB United Kingdom

US United States

JP Japan

CN China

CA Canada

KR South Korea

BR Brazil

IN India

MX Mexico

RU Russian Federation

AU Australia

CH Switzerland

TR Turkey

TW Taiwan

NO Norway

ID Indonesia

ZA South Africa

WW Rest of World

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Appendix C: EXIOBASE product classification and correspondence with NACE rev 1.1 classification

NACE

Code

Exiobase

Code

Product group name

01

p01.a Paddy rice

p01.b Wheat

p01.c Cereal grains nec

p01.d Vegetables, fruit, nuts

p01.e Oil seeds

p01.f Sugar cane, sugar beet

p01.g Plant-based fibers

p01.h Crops nec

p01.i Cattle

p01.j Pigs

p01.k Poultry

p01.l Meat animals nec

p01.m Animal products nec

p01.n Raw milk

p01.o Wool, silk-worm cocoons

02 p02 Products of forestry, logging and related services

05 p05 Fish and other fishing products; services incidental of fishing

10 p10 Coal and lignite; peat

11

p11.a Crude petroleum and services related to crude oil extraction, …

p11.b Natural gas and services related to natural gas extraction, …

p11.c Other petroleum and gaseous materials

12 p12 Uranium and thorium ores

13

p13.1 Iron ores

p13.20.11 Copper ores and concentrates

p13.20.12 Nickel ores and concentrates

p13.20.13 Aluminium ores and concentrates

p13.20.14 Precious metal ores and concentrates

p13.20.15 Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates

p13.20.16 Other non-ferrous metal ores and concentrates

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p14.1 Stone

p14.2 Sand and clay

p14.3 Chemical and fertilizer minerals, salt and other mining and quarrying products n.e.c.

15

p15.a Products of meat cattle

p15.b Products of meat pigs

p15.c Products of meat poultry

p15.d Meat products nec

p15.e products of Vegetable oils and fats

p15.f Dairy products

p15.g Processed rice

p15.h Sugar

p15.i Food products nec

p15.j Beverages

p15.k Fish products

16 p16 Tobacco products

17 p17 Textiles

18 p18 Wearing apparel; furs

19 p19 Leather and leather products

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20 p20 Wood and products of wood and cork (except furniture); …

21 p21 Pulp, paper and paper products

22 p22 Printed matter and recorded media

23

p23.1 Coke oven products

p23.20.a Motor spirit (gasoline)

p23.20.b Kerosene, including kerosene type jet fuel

p23.20.c Gas oils

p23.20.d Fuel oils n.e.c.

p23.20.e Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons, …

p23.20.f Other petroleum products

p23.3 Nuclear fuel

24 p24 Chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibres

25 p25 Rubber and plastic products

26

p26.a Glass and glass products

p26.b Ceramic goods

p26.c Bricks, tiles and construction products, in baked clay

p26.d Cement, lime and plaster

p26.e Other non-metallic mineral products

27

p27.a Basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys and first products thereof

p27.41 Precious metals

p27.42 Aluminium and aluminium products

p27.43 Lead, zinc and tin and products thereof

p27.44 Copper products

p27.45 Other non-ferrous metal products

p27.5 Foundry work services

28 p28 Fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

29 p29 Machinery and equipment n.e.c.

30 p30 Office machinery and computers

31 p31 Electrical machinery and apparatus n.e.c.

32 p32 Radio, television and communication equipment and apparatus

33 p33 Medical, precision and optical instruments, watches and clocks

34 p34 Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

35 p35 Other transport equipment

36 p36 Furniture; other manufactured goods n.e.c.

37 p37.1 Metal secondary raw materials

p37.2 Non-metal secondary raw materials

40

p40.11.a Electricity by coal

p40.11.b Electricity by gas

p40.11.c Electricity by nuclear

p40.11.d Electricity by hydro

p40.11.e Electricity by wind

p40.11.f Electricity nec, including biomass and waste

p40.12 Transmission services of electricity

p40.13 Distribution and trade services of electricity

p40.2 Manufactured gas and distribution services of gaseous fuels …

p40.3 Steam and hot water supply services

41 p41 Collected and purified water, distribution services of water

45 p45 Construction work

50 p50.a

Sale, maintenance, repair of motor vehicles, motor vehicles parts, motorcycles,

motor cycles parts and accessoiries

p50.b Retail trade services of motor fuel

51 p51 Wholesale trade and commission trade services, except of motor vehicles and

motorcycles

52 p52 Retail trade services, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles; repair services of

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personal and household goods

55 p55 Hotel and restaurant services

60

p60.1 Railway transportation services

p60.2 Other land transportation services

p60.3 Transportation services via pipelines

61 p61.1 Sea and coastal water transportation services

p61.2 Inland water transportation services

62 p62 Air transport services

63 p63 Supporting and auxiliary transport services; travel agency services

64 p64 Post and telecommunication services

65 p65 Financial intermediation services, except insurance and pension funding services

66 p66 Insurance and pension funding services, except compulsory social security services

67 p67 Services auxiliary to financial intermediation

70 p70 Real estate services

71 p71 Renting services of machinery and equipment without operator and of personal and

household goods

72 p72 Computer and related services

73 p73 Research and development services

74 p74 Other business services

75 p75 Public administration and defence services; compulsory social security services

80 p80 Education services

85 p85 Health and social work services

90

p90.01 Collection and treatment services of sewage

p90.02.a Collection of waste

p90.02.b Incineration of waste

p90.02.c Landfill of waste

p90.03 Sanitation, remediation and similar services

91 p91 Membership organisation services n.e.c.

92 p92 Recreational, cultural and sporting services

93 p93 Other services

95 p95 Private households with employed persons

99 p99 Extra-territorial organizations and bodies

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Appendix D: Full description of the construction work sector and subsectors in the NACE rev 1.1 classification

45 Construction This division includes general construction and special trade construction for buildings and civil engineering, building installation and building completion. It includes new work, repair, additions and alterations, the erection of pre-fabricated buildings or structures on the site and also constructions of a temporary nature. General construction is the construction of entire dwellings, office buildings, stores and other public and utility buildings, farm buildings, etc., or the construction of heavy constructions such as motorways, roads, streets, bridges, tunnels, railways, airfields, harbours and other water projects, irrigation systems, sewerage systems, industrial facilities, pipelines and electric lines, sports facilities, etc. This work can be carried-out on own account or on a fee or contract basis. Portions of the work or sometimes the whole of the practical work can be carried out by subcontractors. Special trade construction includes the construction of parts of buildings and civil engineering works or preparation for this purpose. It is usually specialized in one aspect common to different structures, requiring specialized skills or equipment. Activities such as pile-driving, foundation work, water well drilling, carcass work, concrete work, brick laying, stone setting, scaffolding, roof covering, etc., are covered. The erection of steel structures is included provided that the parts are not produced by the same unit. Special trade construction will mostly be carried out under subcontract, but especially in repair construction it is done directly for the owner of the property. Building installation activities includes the installation of all kind of utilities that make the construction function as such. These activities are usually performed at the site of the construction, although parts of the job may be carried-out in a workshop. Included are activities such as plumbing, installation of heating and air-conditioning systems, aerials, alarm systems and other electrical work, sprinkler systems, elevators and escalators, etc. Also included are insulation work (water, heat, sound), sheet metal work, commercial refrigeration work, the installation of illumination and signalling systems for roads, railways, airports, harbours, etc. Repair work relating to the above mentioned activities is also included. Building completion activities encompass activities that contribute to the completion or finishing of a construction such as glazing, plastering, painting and decorating, floor and wall tiling or covering with other materials like parquet, carpets, wallpaper, etc., floor sanding, finish carpentry, acoustical work, cleaning of the exterior, etc. Repair work relating to the above mentioned activities is also included. This division excludes:

lawn and garden installation and maintenance and tree surgeons activities, see 01.41

manufacture of building materials, see section C and D

construction activities directly related to extraction of oil and natural gas, see 11.20. However, the construction of buildings, roads, etc., on the mining site remains in this class

erecting or installing industrial equipment, see section D (e.g. installation of industrial furnaces, turbines, etc.).

erection of complete prefabricated buildings or structures from self-manufactured parts is classified in the relevant category in manufacturing, depending on the material chiefly used, except if the chief material is concrete, in which case it remains classified here

installation of self-manufactured carpentry or joinery is classified in the relevant category in manufacturing, depending on the material used, e.g. of wood in 20.30 (Manufacture of builders' carpentry and joinery)

erection of metal structures from self-manufactured parts, see 28.11

architectural and engineering activities are classified in class 74.20 (Architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy).

project management for constructions, see 74.20

cleaning of windows, inside as well as outside, chimneys, boilers, interiors, etc., see 74.70

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45.1 Site preparation 45.11 Demolition and wrecking of buildings; earth moving This class includes: - demolition or wrecking of buildings and other structures - clearing of building sites - earth moving: excavation, landfill, levelling and grading of construction sites, trench digging, rock removal,

blasting, etc. - site preparation for mining: earth moving and other development and preparation of mineral properties and sites This class also includes: - building site drainage - drainage of agricultural or forestry land

45.12 Test drilling and boring This class includes: - test drilling, test boring and core sampling for construction, geophysical, geological or similar purposes This class excludes: - drilling of production oil or gas wells, see 11.20 - water well drilling, see 45.25 - shaft sinking, see 45.25 - geophysical, geological and seismic surveying, see 74.20 - 45.2 Building of complete constructions or parts thereof; civil engineering 45.21 General construction of buildings and civil engineering works This class includes: - construction of all types of buildings - construction of civil engineering constructions: bridges, including those for elevated highways, viaducts, tunnels and subways long-distance pipelines, communication and power lines urban pipelines, urban communication and powerlines; ancillary urban works - assembly and erection of prefabricated constructions on the site This class excludes: - service activities incidental to oil and gas extraction, see 11.20 - erection of complete prefabricated constructions from self-manufactured parts not of concrete, see divisions

20, 26 and 28 - construction work, other than buildings, for stadiums, swimming pools, gymnasiums, tennis courts, golf

courses and other sports installations, see 45.23 - building installation, see 45.3 - building completion, see 45.4 - architectural and engineering activities, see 74.20 - project management for construction, see 74.20 45.22 Erection of roof covering and frames This class includes: - erection of roofs - roof covering - waterproofing, including hydrophobic wall treatment 45.23 Construction of motorways, roads, airfields and sport facilities This class includes: - construction of motorways, streets, roads, other vehicular and pedestrian ways - construction of railways - construction of airfield runways - construction work, other than buildings, for stadiums, swimming pools, gymnasiums, tennis courts, golf

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courses and other sports installations - painting of markings on road surfaces and car parks - surface work on elevated highways, bridges and tunnels - installation of crash barriers, traffic signs and the like This class excludes: - preliminary earth moving, see 45.11 45.24 Construction of water projects This class includes: - construction of:

waterways, harbour and river works, pleasure ports (marinas), locks, etc. dams and dykes

- dredging - subsurface work 45.25 Other construction work involving special trades This class includes: - construction activities specializing in one aspect common to different kind of structures, requiring specialized

skill or equipment: construction of foundations, including pile driving water well drilling and construction, shaft sinking erection of non-self-manufactured steel elements steel bending bricklaying and stone setting scaffolds and work platform erecting and dismantling, including renting of scaffolds and work platforms erection of chimneys and industrial ovens de-humidification of buildings lifting work work with specialist access requirements necessitating climbing skills and the use of related equipment i.e.

working at height on tall structures This class excludes: - renting of scaffolds without erection and dismantling, see 71.32 45.3 Building installation 45.31 Installation of electrical wiring and fittings This class includes: - installation in buildings or other construction projects of:

electrical wiring and fittings telecommunications wiring electrical heating systems, including electric solar energy collectors residential antennas and aerials fire alarms burglar alarm systems lifts and escalators lightning conductors, etc.

This class excludes: - installation of telecommunication systems, see 32.20 45.32 Insulation work activities This class includes: - installation in buildings or other construction projects of thermal, sound or vibration insulation This class excludes: - waterproofing, see 45.22 45.33 Plumbing This class includes:

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- installation in buildings or other construction projects of: plumbing and sanitary equipment gas fittings heating, ventilation, refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment and ducts non-electric solar energy collectors sprinkler systems

This class excludes: - installation of electrical heating systems, see 45.31 45.34 Other building installation This class includes: - installation of illumination and signalling systems for roads, railways, airports and harbours - installation in buildings or other construction projects of fittings and fixtures n.e.c. - general technical repair and maintenance of building installations 45.4 Building completion 45.41 Plastering This class includes: - application in buildings or other construction projects of interior and exterior plaster or stucco, including

related lathing materials 45.42 Joinery installation This class includes: - installation of not self-manufactured doors, windows, door and window frames, fitted kitchens, staircases,

shop fittings and the like, of wood or other materials - interior completion such as ceilings, wooden wall coverings, movable partitions, etc. This class excludes: - laying of parquet and other wood floor coverings, see 45.43 45.43 Floor and wall covering This class includes: - laying, tiling, hanging or fitting in buildings or other construction projects of:

ceramic, concrete or cut stone wall or floor tiles, ceramic stove fitting parquet and other wood floor coverings carpets and linoleum floor coverings, including of rubber or plastic terrazzo, marble, granite or slate floor or wall coverings wallpaper

This class excludes: - activities of interior decoration designers, see 74.87 45.44 Painting and glazing This class includes: - interior and exterior painting of buildings - painting of civil engineering structures - installation of glass, mirrors, etc. This class excludes: - installation of windows, see 45.42 45.45 Other building completion This class includes: - installation of private swimming pools - steam cleaning, sand blasting and similar activities for building exteriors - other building completion and finishing work n.e.c. This class excludes: - interior cleaning of buildings and other structures, see 74.70

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45.5 Renting of construction or demolition equipment with operator 45.50 Renting of construction or demolition equipment with operator This class includes: - renting of cranes, with operator This class excludes: - renting of construction or demolition machinery and equipment without operators, see 71.32

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Appendix E: Final demand associated with the residential built

environment

The final demand associated with the residential built environment in a single year consists of two parts.

The first part is the demand for new dwellings, and major alterations/additions/renovations of existing

buildings. Typically the demand for new dwellings is not recorded as a direct payment from households to the

construction sector but as an investment recorded as gross fixed capital formation. Eurostat gives information

on gross fixed capital formation by asset type in the Gross fixed capital formation by 6 asset types - current

prices (nama_pi6_c) table. One of the asset types specified is dwellings. These values have been used to specify

the demand for construction work in the European countries. Substantial alterations, additions and

renovations of dwellings might also be included in this gross fixed capital formation for dwellings. The GFCF

value covers investment by all sectors such as private households and other institutions. Hence new dwellings

built for public housing corporations are included as well.

The second part is associated with the use and maintenance of the residential buildings. Part of larger

maintenance work is covered by GFCF but some smaller maintenance work like painting is covered by direct

payments (not an investment) to the construction work sector and demand for construction materials. The

final demand for construction materials and direct payments to the construction work sector were available in

EXIOBASE. Another activity of the use of the residential built environment is space heating and cooling. Space

heating can be provided by different kinds of fuels and electricity. Final demand for natural gas, heat and

coal&peat, was assumed to be all used for space heating. Final demand for electricity was only partly attributed

to space heating and cooling. Country specific data describing the household use of electricity were used to

estimate the fraction used for space heating. Of all oil fuels bought by private households only the final

demand for fuel oil was assumed to be used for space heating. Wood may both be used for space heating and

for construction purposes.

Combining the information on GFCF in dwellings available from Eurostat plus the direct payments of private

consumers on energy products for space heating and cooling plus the direct payment of private consumers on

building materials and construction work described the demand for new construction and use/maintenance of

the current dwelling stock in the year 2000.

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Appendix F: Comparison between LCA and IOA studies of residential

houses

LCA and IOA are both life cycle tools that try to model all environmental interventions from 'gradle-to-grave' of

an product or service. However when IOA is used to examine the environmental interventions associated with

new residential housing and use/maintenance of residential housing in one year – as is done in this study – an

important difference exists between the two approaches.

In LCAs of residential houses the functional unit is a single residential building. The environmental interventions

associated with the building phase, use/maintenance phase, and demolition phase of this single building are all

recorded. Because the lifetime of a building is so large it means that the build phase may have happened many

years in the past when examining existing buildings and that the demolition phase will only happen many years

into the future. However the data needed to model the emissions in the supply chain of the everything needed

in the building phase, use/maintenance phase and demolition phase are only available for the present (or

slightly outdated). We do not have a LCA model of the supply chain in the 1950's when the house was built nor

do we have a LCA model for 2050 when demolition of the house will likely take place. All stages are modelled

with current technology. This limitation of LCAs of residential units is something to be kept in mind when

comparing the environmental impacts associated with the building phase, use phase and demolition phase of a

single residential unit. Likely there is an overestimation of the impacts associated with the use phase or

underestimation of the impacts associated with the building phase because technology improves in time.

In the current IOA of residential housing the functional unit is all the houses built in a single year and all

use/maintenance of the existing stock of residential houses in that same year. This means that the

environmental emissions associated with the building phase relates to a different group of houses than the

environmental emissions associated with the use phase. Thus the object of study in an IOA is completely

different from the object of study of an building LCA.

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Appendix G: Contribution Analysis

Land use

Commodity(v) Commodity(>) Contrib.(%)

Products of forestry[EU] Products of forestry[EU] 31

Construction work[EU] Products of forestry[XX] 22

Construction work[EU] Products of forestry[EU] 20

Wood and products of wood [EU] Products of forestry[EU] 6

Construction work[EU] Crops nec[EU] 4

Construction work[EU] Crops nec[XX] 4

Wood and products of wood [EU] Products of forestry[XX] 3

Construction work[EU] Construction work[EU] 2

Water Blue





Construction work[EU] Beverages[EU] 2


Products of forestry[EU] Crops nec[EU] 1


Construction work[EU] Food products nec[EU] 1

Construction work[EU] Paddy rice[XX] 1

Water green





Construction work[EU] Beverages[EU] 2


Products of forestry[EU] Crops nec[EU] 1

Construction work[EU] Wheat[EU] 1

Construction work[EU] Food products nec[EU] 1

Timber

Commodity(v) Commodity(>) Contrib. (%)





Iron ore


Construction work[EU] Iron ores[XX] 83

Construction work[EU] Iron ores[EU] 6

Distribution and trade services of electricity[EU] Iron ores[XX] 2

Manufactured gas and distribution services of gaseous fuels

through mains[EU] Iron ores[XX] 2

Electricity by coal[EU] Iron ores[XX] 1

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Iron ores[XX] 1

19

Bauxite and aluminium ores


Construction work[EU] Aluminium ores and concentrates[XX] 61


Construction work[EU] Aluminium ores and concentrates[EU] 9


through mains[EU] Aluminium ores and concentrates[XX] 2

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Aluminium ores and concentrates[XX] 1

Copper ores


Construction work[EU] Copper ores and concentrates[XX] 57

Construction work[EU] Precious metals[EU] 23

Construction work[EU] Copper ores and concentrates[EU] 9


through mains[EU] Copper ores and concentrates[XX] 2

Lead ores


Construction work[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[EU] 41

Construction work[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[XX] 32



through mains[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[XX] 2

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[EU] 2

Construction work[EU] Sand and clay[EU] 2

Construction work[EU] Cement, lime and plaster[EU] 2

Distribution and trade services of electricity[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[XX] 1


through mains[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[EU] 1

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[XX] 1

Nickel ores


Construction work[EU] Nickel ores and concentrates[XX] 31

Construction work[EU] Precious metal ores and concentrates[XX] 21

Construction work[EU] Coal and lignite; peat[XX] 18

Construction work[EU] Nickel ores and concentrates[EU] 9


Electricity by coal[EU] Coal and lignite; peat[XX] 3


Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Coal and lignite; peat[XX] 2

Tin ores







Electricity by coal[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[XX] 2

Electricity by gas[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[XX] 1

20

Zinc ores

Commodity(v) Commodity(>)

Contrib.

(%)


Construction work[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[EU] 31







Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Lead, zinc and tin ores and concentrates[EU] 1


Clays and clay minerals



Construction work[EU] Sand and clay[XX] 5

Sand and clay[EU] Sand and clay[EU] 4


Construction work[EU] Other non-metallic mineral products[EU] 2

Limestone, gypsum, chalk, dolomit


Construction work[EU] Stone[EU] 86


Construction work[EU] Stone[XX] 5


Slate






Building stones





Gravel and sand



Sand and clay[EU] Sand and clay[EU] 5


Construction work[EU] Sand and clay[XX] 4


21

Acidification

Commodity(v) Commodity(>) Extension Contrib. (%)

direct direct SOx 19

Electricity by coal[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] SOx 15

Construction work[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] SOx 10

direct direct NOx 8

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Steam and hot water supply services[EU] SOx 4

Construction work[EU] Construction work[EU] SOx 4

Construction work[EU] Electricity by coal[XX] SOx 3

Electricity by coal[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] NOx 2

Electricity nec, including biomass and

waste[EU] Electricity nec, including biomass and waste[EU] SOx 2

Construction work[EU] Cement, lime and plaster[EU] SOx 2

Construction work[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] NOx 2

Construction work[EU] Construction work[EU] NOx 2

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] SOx 1

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Steam and hot water supply services[EU] NOx 1

Construction work[EU]

Basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys and first products

thereof[EU] SOx 1

Human toxicity




thereof[EU] PAH 26

direct direct NMVOC 15



thereof[XX] PAH 5

Construction work[EU] Inland water transportation services[XX] As 5

Construction work[EU] Copper products[EU] As 4

Construction work[EU] Construction work[EU] NMVOC 4

Construction work[EU] Inland water transportation services[EU] As 3

Electricity by coal[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] As 2



thereof[EU] As 2

Construction work[EU] Copper products[XX] As 2

Construction work[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] As 1

Construction work[EU] Construction work[EU] Ni 1

Global warming


direct direct CO2 46

Construction work[EU] Cement, lime and plaster[EU] CO2 8

Electricity by coal[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] CO2 5



thereof[EU] CO2 5

Steam and hot water supply services[EU] Steam and hot water supply services[EU] CO2 3

Construction work[EU] Electricity by coal[EU] CO2 3

Construction work[EU] Construction work[EU] CO2 3

Coal and lignite; peat[EU] Coal and lignite; peat[EU] CH4 2

Electricity by gas[EU] Electricity by gas[EU] CO2 2



thereof[XX] CO2 1

Direct direct CH4 1

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Appendix H: Construction work as by-product

The EXIOBASE supply-use tables used in the top-down analysis show that the product "construction work" is for the largest part delivered by the "construction" sector. However some construction work is also produced as a by-product of other activities. For example an open cast mine may build roads for itself for access to the mine. This road building is recorded as by-product of the mining activity. Here we examine what it means that some of the construction work is a by-product of other activities in European countries.

The share of construction work produced by the construction sector in the total production of construction work is dominant in European countries as shown in Table H.1. On average 93% of construction work in the EU27 is output of the construction sector. It ranges from 100% in Denmark, Ireland and Romania to 76.9% in Malta.

When analysing the environmental interventions associated with the demand for construction work the supply-use tables are converted into input-output tables. When creating the input-output tables, the construction work by-products and associated environmental interventions are transferred to the construction sector making the construction sector the only supplier of construction work (in the input-output table every sector produces only its main product and no by-products). When transferring the construction work as by-product, the environmental interventions that are brought along may seem awkward for the construction sector. This effect will be illustrated below with a small example.

Table H.1: output of construction work by the construction sector as share of the total product output of construction work.

Country

code

Total output of construction

work by all sectors

Output of construction work

by the sector construction

only

Construction work provided

by sector construction

M.Eur M.Eur %

EU27 4904781 4559128 93.0

AT 29161 27356 93.8

BE 37571 34407 91.6

BG 1501 1356 90.3

CY 1592 1507 94.7

CZ 13551 12214 90.1

DE 226622 217037 95.8

DK 20496 20496 100.0

EE 949 892 93.9

ES 125492 123285 98.2

FI 16941 16643 98.2

FR 158647 157213 99.1

GR 21402 20873 97.5

HU 5410 4657 86.1

IE 19474 19474 100.0

IT 132508 129793 98.0

23

LT 1282 1219 95.1

LU 2896 2756 95.2

LV 1028 955 93.0

MT 361 278 76.9

NL 61332 58894 96.0

PL 33922 30471 89.8

PT 24974 24049 96.3

RO 4529 4529 100.0

SE 18782 17862 95.1

SI 3361 3190 94.9

SK 4143 3609 87.1

GB 203022 197810 97.4

Suppose that our economy has two industry sectors: iron ore mining and construction. The iron ore mining sector produces iron ore as main product and a small amount of construction work as by-product. The construction sector produces construction work only. This information is shown in the supply table (Table H.2). The iron ore mining sector uses some construction work, labour and has profits. The construction sector has inputs of iron ore and some self-input of construction work. This information is contained in the use table (Table H.3).

The iron ore mining industry also has some environmental interventions. It takes iron ore from nature. This natural resource extraction is contained in the environmental extensions table (Table H.4).

Table H.2: hypothetical supply table

iron ore mining construction total

iron ore 130 0 130

construction work 20 200 220

Total 150 200

Table H.3: hypothetical use table

iron ore mining construction final demand total

iron ore 0 80 50 130

construction work 60 30 130 220

labour 60 20 - 80

profits 30 70 - 100

total 150 200 180

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Table H.4: environmental interventions

iron ore mining construction total

iron ore extraction 5 0 5

When the supply–use tables are converted into a PxP-ita1 input-output table and the direct environmental intervention associated with the construction work are calculated (Table H.5), we see that some of the iron ore extraction has been transferred to construction work. The total iron ore extraction in the economy remains the same. Please notice the change in labels. In Table H.4 the direct environmental interventions associated with the industry sectors are given. After conversion of the supply-use table in a PxP-ita input-output table we have obtained the direct environmental extensions associated with the products.

Table H.5: environmental interventions associated with the products

iron ore construction work total

iron ore extraction 4.33 0.67 5

The previous example explains why we see that construction work has a direct contribution to environmental resource extraction while in the original supply-use tables no direct environmental resource extraction takes place in the construction sector.

1 Product-by-product input-output table based on industry technology assumption. Model B from the Eurostat manual

(EC, 2008).

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Appendix I: Country comparisons

I.1 Resource use

Between countries there are differences in the importance of the construction sector and the use of resources for the construction sector. Looking at contribution to GDP, it ranges from 4% (Sweden) to 13% (Luxemburg, Greece and Spain), mostly being around 9 or 10%. Looking at the use of resources, the construction work sector contributes much in all countries, but the ranges are wider: from around 25% (Malta, Poland and Sweden) to over 60% (Finland, Cyprus and Greece).

Resource intensity calculations can be made as well. Figure I.1 shows the intensity of use for sand and gravel in three ways: per € (corrected for differences in level of income), per capita and per m2 constructed building. The numbers are normalized to the EU-average. Interesting differences can be seen, that are worthy of further analysis. In general it seems that the three ways of calculating resource intensity provide rather similar results. This probably says something about the construction activity itself, or, alternatively, about the way the construction statistics are organized. There are exceptions, however – Ireland has a high per capita intensity but does not score so high on the other two, while Latvia and Lithuania score very high per € but not so much on the other two. High and low scorers in general can be distinguished, however, it does not appear to be linked to geographical location of the countries. This issue is explored further in Section 5.

Figure I.1: sand and gravel intensity per country, normalized to EU-27 average, ca. 2000

A similar graph has been made for iron ore. Figure I.2 shows this. Again, we can see significant differences between countries. Although the pattern is not identical, it shows great similarities to the sand and gravel graph.

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Figure I.2: iron intensity per country, normalized to EU-27 average, ca, 2000

I.2 Emissions

The GHG emissions of the construction work sector throughout the EU-27 show a remarkable similarity. The contribution to the national total ranges from 5-6% (Sweden, Bulgaria, Great-Britain and Malta) to 15-17% (Cyprus, Slovenia and Portugal). Other emissions range from a contribution to acidification of 3-4% (Latvia, Malta, Bulgaria and Sweden) to 11-12% (Cyprus, Portugal and Greece), to human toxicity of 5-6% (Malta, Sweden) to 24-27% (Cyprus, Portugal), and to POCP from 7-9% (Bulgaria, Romania and Sweden) to 25-30% (Latvia, Greece and Portugal). The ranges are somewhat wider, and some of the same countries seem to appear at the lower and higher end of the range. Notably Cyprus, Greece and Portugal seem to have high emissions associated to construction, while Sweden always appears at the lower end.

Figure I.3 shows the GHG emissions per €, per capita and per m2, normalized to EU-27 average levels. Especially the amount of GHG-emissions per m2 is remarkably constant, not varying more than a factor 2 over all countries. The GHG-emissions per capita are also rather constant. Only the emissions / € fluctuate a bit more, with high values especially for a number of Eastern European countries. This seems to reflect differences in GDP rather than anything else.

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Figure I.3: GHG emission intensity of the Construction work sector in EU-27 countries, normalized to average EU-27 levels, ca. 2000.

I.3 Country clustering

Clustering on the basis of heating degrees days

It has been suggested that countries, depending on their characteristics, have similar construction practices. Climate may have to do with it, or the presence of a large tourist sector, or the average level of welfare. A distinction in three regions has been made to test this hypothesis with the EXIOPOL data, in line with the IMPRO building study where three clusters of countries have been made on the basis of Heating Degrees Days (HDD):

North: LT, LV, EE, SE, FI

South: MT, CY, PT, GR, ES, IT, FR

Central and East: BE, NL, IE, HU, SI, LU, DE, UK, SK, DK, CZ, AT, PL, RO, BG

These three regions are defined based on climate: number of heating days. This is especially useful when analyzing energy use for heating and cooling in the use phase of the building. It has implications for the construction stage as well, such as more construction minerals used for roads in order to gain resistance to frost for example. Figure I.4 shows, for these three regions, a comparison of their life-cycle resource use and emissions per capita.

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Figure I.4: Resource extractions and emissions per capita of the construction sector for EU-27 divided into three regions, normalized to the highest score

Interesting differences can be seen – for example, the use of wood is high in the Northern countries, as is the use of copper and zinc, while clay, slate, tin and zinc score highly in Central European countries. Southern countries appear to use more stone and aluminium. Emissions are highest in Southern European countries. It should be noted, however, that the spread within those regions is very high. To identify those three regions as really characteristic in their building practices is therefore not easy. The Figures in Chapter 3 show that there are indeed differences per country, especially when looking at resource use.

Figures I.5 and I.6 shows that changing the comparison basis (from per capita to per € or per m2) in most cases does not have a large influence on the results. Only Southern countries seem to score lower, especially for the emissions, compared to the other two regions.

Figure I.5: resource extractions and emissions per m2 of addition floor space of the construction sector for EU-27 divided into three regions, normalized to the highest score.

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Figure I.6: resource extractions and emissions per price level corrected Euro of the construction sector for EU-27 divided into three regions, normalized to the highest score.

Clustering on the basis of environmental impacts

In the previous section we showed how resource cradle-to-grave extraction and environmental impacts differed between three regions that differ in the number of heating degrees days. In this section we will investigate how clusters of countries would look like, if we cluster on the basis of the environmental characteristics of the construction work sector. Perhaps we can identify clusters of countries where the construction is particular efficient.

This clustering could have been done in a manual fashion but a more formalized approach is cluster analysis. Cluster analysis tries to group the countries in such a way that within a single cluster the characteristics are

30

more similar than between the clusters. To be able to do so the impacts in a specific category were normalized by setting the highest impact to 1. It was assumed that every category (resource extraction or environmental theme) had equal weight and that three clusters was an appropriate number of clusters.

The result of the cluster analysis resulted in the following groups:

1. GR, RO 2. AT, BE, DE. ES, FR, GB, IE, IT, LU, MT, PT, SI 3. BG, CY, CZ, DK, EE, FI, HU, LT, LV, NL, PL, SE, SK

Creating a heat map of the normalized impacts of construction work in each country putting the countries with a cluster next to each other, illustrates the result as shown in Figure I.7.

Romania and Greece are exceptional in that they score very high or highest in several resource extraction categories, but do not score very high in the impact categories. The group Bulgaria – Slovak Republic score on the high side with regard to environmental impacts and are score middle/high in many resource extraction categories. The group Austria – Slovenia consists of the countries that score on the lower side with regard to resource extraction and environmental impacts.

Figure I.7: heat map of countries, clustered in three groups based on their extractions-and-emissions profile. Category number 1-16 are the natural resource extraction categories, and category number 17-20 are the acidification, photochemical oxidation, human toxicity, and global warming categories respectively.

We can further see that within the clusters there is a high variability, indicating there is no strict pattern even within those clusters. The last four columns show up a little more prominently in the third cluster: those are the four emission categories. The same is true for the second column (iron ore) and the fifteenth (sand and gravel). Apparently the construction sector in these countries is a bit more material and energy intensive. In the two larger clusters, countries from all over Europe appear. The four largest countries (the UK, Germany, France and Italy) are all in the second cluster. The third cluster includes many Eastern European countries, but also Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands.

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Conclusions

A cluster analysis can be performed in different ways. It would be interesting to explore other options in the project, to see whether more consistent patterns can be detected, and to exclude any statistical glitches as are now apparent in the database.

These preliminary results discussed in Section 5.1 and 5.2 indicate that climate and its effects on the way buildings are constructed does not have a decisive influence on the environmental impacts associated with the construction of these buildings. Otherwise the clustering on the basis of the environmental impacts would have looked similar to a clustering on basis of HDD of a country. Of course climate might have a decisive influence on the environmental impacts of the use phase of buildings because of heating and/or cooling requirements.

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Appendix J Possibilities and limitations of the top-down approach

J.1 Evaluation of the top-down approach

The top-down approach is very useful in different ways. Because the two main databases are comprehensive, there is no worry about sectors, flows etc. that are not included. The MFA database finds its detail in the materials covered, while the IOA database obtains its added value from the sectoral structure and the chain approach that is possible because of it.

MFA databases can be used to spot trends over time, since time series spanning decades are available. Changes in the pattern of a nation’s resource use can be detected. Also, a comparison between countries can be made. Emissions are not included in MFA accounts. However, an approach has been developed to link MFA accounts to an environmental impact assessment, using LCA data on impacts per kg of material. This allows the materials to be environmentally weighed.

IOA databases link emissions and extractions to sectors. By the monetary flows, it is also possible to allocate emissions to sectors via the chain. Since EXIOPOL has a global coverage, also emissions occurring outside the EU are included. This is a very strong point of IOA. Unfortunately, EXIOPOL does not contain time series, so trends over time cannot be spotted. Country comparisons are possible, however.

Both approaches also have their limitations. With MFA, it is possible to see material flows in great detail. However, there is no sectoral distinction in MFA or any indication of where the materials are further used. It is therefore not possible to see who uses the material and for what. Also, stocks are not accounted for. Dynamic MFA as an approach exists and may be linked to the MFA accounts, but presently this is not available.

A first model of stocks and flows for buildings and infrastructure (road and rail) was developed recently and applied to the EU27. This model started from data on buildings and roads and thus is considered a bottom-up approach. However, the conceptual framework follows the MFA conventions, and thus MFA data can be related to the stock/flow model results. The stock/flow model then allows for investigating the material flows necessary to maintain existing stocks as well as the flows used for building new stocks. Relevant results from the stock/flow model will be included in the next version of this topical paper.

IOA has a distinction into sectors. The level of detail required for this project however is larger than EXIOPOL can deliver. In the built environment, the use phase is very important. IOA is typically production-oriented and has very little detail in the use phase and therefore cannot specify the contribution of energy use related to buildings. As for MFA, also IOA is flow oriented, so stocks are not specified. Expanding IOA with stocks is even more complicated than for MFA. This is a real problem when we have to start modeling. The list of emissions included in EXIOPOL is large compared to other IOA models. Nevertheless is it far from complete. Many impact categories are missing and any emissions to other environmental compartments than air are absent.

All in all, the two main top-down approaches used in this process have a number of gaps:

Missing emissions / impact categories in IOA, no emissions at all in MFA

Missing resources in both MFA and IOA, especially land, water

Insufficient detail in the sectoral structure; completely missing in MFA and too aggregate in IOA

Stock/flow issues, difficult to address in any top-down approach, but very important for the built environment: not covered in IOA, incidentally in MFA

Use-phase impacts: consumption categories not included in MFA and very aggregate in IOA.

Therefore it is not possible to arrive at a focus on specific sub-systems of the built environment from a top-down approach. To justify such a focus, a bottom-up approach is indicated.

It also implies that if we want to calculate the impacts of certain changes in construction practice or the built environment using IOA, additions must be made to the IOA-model. This can either have the shape of distinguishing sub-sectors of the built environment and bringing more detail in the consumption categories, or

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of using additional, bottom-up models such as LCA or dynamic SFA, and combine those with the IOA model in a hybrid approach.

J.2 Using EXOBASE together with the bottom-up building scenarios

The analysis of the environmental impacts associated with construction work in this paper has focused on the situation in 2000. In the next phase of the project, future scenarios will be investigated. EXIOBASE will be used to examine environmental impacts and wider economic effects of these scenarios.

The principal data for the scenarios that describe the future developments of infrastructure in Europe are typically detailed data on the amount of plaster, cement, bricks, windowpane glass needed every year. These materials are necessary both for new infrastructure as well as renovation. Also the development in time of the energy use for heating and cooling of residential and office buildings will be gathered.

These detailed physical building material data (which are in itself already interesting) have to be connected with the input-output model. The input-output model will be used to calculate the environmental interventions associated with the use of the building materials and use-phase of the current building stock. To be able to do so we need to solve three problems. First there is a classification problem. The product groups distinguished in EXIOBASE are different from the specific materials distinguished in the bottom-up scenarios. Therefore we have to develop a correspondence table between the detailed materials distinguished in the scenarios and the rather broad product groups in EXIOBASE. A second challenge is the difference between the expression of the bottom-up construction material specification in physical terms and the EXIOBASE monetary flows. This will be solved by specifying the bottom-up scenarios in relative change of materials used with regard to the ‘status quo’ scenario which specifies the current situation. The third challenge is to specify the use phase of the current building stock in the input-output model. This means that we have to specify direct emissions from households as associated with the use of the current building stock and the energy use of the current building stock. For each point in time we would need a separate specification of these emissions as the building stock evolves in time, both in size and in composition.

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