International Industrial Ecology Day 2022

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The built environment constitutes the larges anthropogenic material stock and buildings are responsible for ca. 35% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, the use of industrial ecology tools is critical to manage the shift to net-zero carbon and reduce other environmental impacts. In this session we hear from practitioners on how industrial ecology tools is used in the form of better building life cycle data and how it provides a deeper understanding of climate change mitigation options for city officials. We hear about the challenges and opportunities of building retrofits and how life cycle assessment and material flow analysis are used in the creation of net-zero emission neighborhoods. The building and construction sector has a huge demand for industrial ecology competence, and these applications illustrate why.

This session is organized in cooperation with NTNU Sustainability and the Research Centre on Zero-Emission Neighbourhoods.

9:00 -9:05 am GMT: Introduction by Edgar Hertwich

9:05 -9:15 am GMT: Carine Lausselet. On the use of industrial ecology in the building sector

9:15-9:25 am GMT: Freja Rasmussen. Applied Building LCA in Denmark – research meets practice meets regulation

9:25-9:35 am GMT: Niko Heeren. Zurich goes net zero –A material efficiency pathway for the city's building stock

9:35-9:45 am GMT: Oddbjørn Dahlstrøm Andvik. From LCA to EPD (Environmental Product Declaration): Use of EPD to make decisions for the built environment.

9:45-9:55 am GMT: Panel discussion – moving towards a zero-emissions building sector. Science to achieve goals.

10:00 – 10:10 am GMT: Sahin Akin. Resource consumption of the affluent Arabic countries' residential building stock: A bottom-up approach.

10:10-10:20 am GMT: Mie Fuglseth. Old is the new new - retrofit of existing buildings as carbon mitigation measure

10:20-10:30 am GMT: Eirik Resch. Reduzer – calculate the carbon footprint of construction projects, reduce emissions, document, and certify.

10:30-10:45 am GMT: Panel discussion – Translating industrial ecology into practice. What can research do better to inform practice. How can practitioners inform research priorities? Joint learning opportunities.

Panelists

Edgar Hertwich, NTNU, Professor of Industrial Ecology. My first experience related to building and construction was as a supervisor for a series of Master theses that addressed highly efficient buildings and showed that overall greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced substantially through investing more at the construction phase. On behalf of the International Resource Panel, I lead a study illustrated how material efficiency in residential buildings (and cars) could contribute substantially and complement energy-sector measures in reducing emissions from buildings. Today, am part of the Centre for Zero-Emissions Neighborhoods and the Center for the Green Shift in the Built Environment.

Carine Lausselet, PhD, Research Manager, SINTEF. I am the research manager of a group of researchers and professionals working with the development of building materials, their use in construction, and their durability and impacts on the environment. Advanced admixtures, additives, and climate-friendly binders are tested to design concrete structures with significantly reduced CO₂ emissions and resource requirements including maintenance and repair during the structures' intended lifetime. The durability and effectiveness of construction works are assessed through calculations and condition survey including prediction of residual lifetime. Life-cycle assessment and material flow analysis over time are used to help the built environment transition to a carbon neutral built environment.

Eirik Resch, PhD, Founder and CEO, Reduzer. Eirik Resch recently completed a joint PhD at NTNU and DTU. Reduzer is a research based online tool that helps developers design and build buildings and infrastructure while keeping environmental impacts organized and helps reduce impacts. All environmental data, goals, and certifications, in an easy-to use collaborative workspace.

Niko Heeren, PhD, Team Lead Environmental Construction, City of Zurich. Niko has three years of experience in the building and construction office at the City of Zurich and works on the decarbonization of the building sector in Zurich. He also serves as adjunct associate professor at NTNU and lecturer at ETH.  

Mie Fuglseth, Senior advisor on climate and materials, Green Building Alliance Norway. She has a Master degree in Industrial Ecology from NTNU and nine years of experience as LCA consultant in Asplan Viak.

Freja Nygaard Rasmussen, postdoc at Aalborg University. My research focus on the use of different method approaches and data for LCA of buildings. I have been involved in the preparations by the Danish building authorities for the 2023-implementation of LCA-based limit values of GHG emissions for new construction.

Sahin Akin has been trained as an architect at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara and is currently a PhD student in Industrial Ecology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Oddbjørn Dahlstrøm Andvik is an Energy and Environment Consultant at Asplan Viak in Larvik, Norway. He works with the building and construction sector, including building products, conducting life cycle assessments and developing environmental product declarations.