Integrated MFA/BIM analysis to evaluate the circularity of the Italian brick industry
Abstract
Clay brick masonry is a vernacular construction technique; today it continues to be used extensively in Italy and many other countries around the globe. Despite the essential role clay bricks play in construction, and the release of atmospheric pollutants associated to their production, they are often overlooked in the environmental literature, and sound production data are hard to obtain. This study integrates a top-down material flow analysis (MFA) and a bottom-up building information modeling (BIM) to assess the quantity and use cases of clay bricks and terracotta tiles used for construction in Italy. Material flows for these products were traced from cradle to grave in Italy in 2006, 2011, and 2016. Residential building archetypes were modeled in BIM and used to create material intensity database to investigate functional uses of bricks. Hollow bricks used as infills in external walls and load-bearing bricks were the main manufactured products for all the period of analysis, followed by bricks used in internal walls and floor-forming bricks. In all cases, maintenance and refurbishment of existing buildings was the primary end-use category. From 2006 to 2016, the Italian brick production shrank four-fold, from 20.6 Tg to 5.1 Tg, while direct carbon dioxide emissions from the calcination of calcium carbonate during firing decreased from 2.4 Tg to 0.5 Tg. Functional recycling is rare, and this poses serious challenges to the circularity of the construction sector. The results demonstrate that the integration of MFA and BIM approaches allows for the identification of end-uses, thus enabling targeted recycling strategies for the promotion of a circular building sector.
« Back to Posters
