Development of a tool for measuring resource sustainability in construction materials and products

Abstract

This paper reports aspects of the development of an indicator for measuring the environmental impact of the use of resources in the manufacture of construction products. This was deemed necessary on the grounds that current established indicators of resource use placed insufficient emphasis on the relative scarcity of that resource. The proposed indicator discussed in this paper compiles the residual lives of all the resources which are employed in manufacturing a product and through the application of a characterisation system generates a current scarcity score (CSS) which is used as an indicator of resource sustainability with a higher score indicting lesser sustainability. Based on comparison against a set of criteria devised to select a characterisation system which best reflects the need for sustainability, along with the uncertainty of predicting future availability of relatively plentiful resources, a hyperbolic function has been selected