Search

LIFE CERSUDS is a project carried out over the period 2016-2019 whom the main objective was to improve the ability of cities to adapt to climate change by promoting the use of green infrastructures in the renewal of urban environments. Under the project, an innovative permeable urban pavement (hereinafter, CERSUDS) was designed using ceramic tile stock of low commercial value. This pavement solution was tested in a demonstrator in the town of Benicí ssim. The main objective of the project was to improve the ability of cities to adapt to climate change by promoting the use of green infrastructures in the renewal of urban environments. Under the project, a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) was built as a demonstrator in the town of Benicí ssim, using ceramic tile stock of low commercial value to manufacture an innovative permeable floor (hereinafter, CERSUDS flooring), a subject already dealt with in an earlier presentation at this congress . Once the demonstrator had been built, a monitoring period was run between August 2018 and July 2019, which enabled both the CERSUDS floor and the demonstrator's value as a rainwater management system to be validated. This article presents the design process of the ceramic permeable pavement including the main results of the tests carried in the laboratory and the main results of the project relate to: environmental and economic assessment of the CERSUDS system, user's validation of the system, monitoring of the system's mechanical performance and permeability, and monitoring of the demonstrator's hydraulic response in terms of the quantity and quality of run-off water.

Ceramic tile manufacturing is deemed to be an energy intensive industry, mainly based on combustion processes and, therefore, subject to European policies aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The “Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050”, approved by the European Commission, calls for sectoral strategies to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 and by 83–87% by 2050, compared to 1990 CO2 emissions. This study included up to 17 technological alternatives and their combination, resulting in 25 technological scenarios associated to the life cycle of porcelain stoneware tiles. In this regard, a high parametrized LCA model was developed to allow for the required flexibility. The scenario analysis can be used: a) to estimate the degree of technological innovation required; b) to define and to focus strategies and; c) to devise the lines of technological development that need to be implemented in the ceramic tile manufacturing sector in the coming years. The alternatives consisted of endogenous and exogenous sectoral technologies. The technologic alternatives involved changes in product design (thickness and decoration), changes in the manufacturing process (preparation of raw material by dry or wet route, and simultaneous implementation of thermal energy efficiency techniques), and changes in the energy sources (hybrid and/or electric driers, and kilns and decarbonization of the power grid mix). It was clearly proven that the wider the scope of the Life Cycle Assessment study is, the greater eco-innovations are necessary. In all the studied scenarios, the manufacturing stage was always the most significant from the global warming point of view. Finally, regarding the achievability of EU objectives, the results of this study show that the implementation of widespread technologies suffice for fulfilling 2020 targets; nevertheless, only some limited combinations of both widespread and ambitious breakthrough technologies may achieve the 2050 reduction targets.

Purpose Porcelain stoneware tile (PST) iscurrently the ceram- ic tile of greatest commercial and innovation interest. An envi- ronmental life cycle assessment of different varieties of PST was undertaken to enable hotspots to be identified, strategies tobedefined,differencesbetweenPSTvarietiestobeevaluated andguidanceforPSTmanufacturerstobeprovidedinchoosing the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) programme that best suited their needs according to grouping criteria. Methods Analysis of previous information allowed three main parameters (thickness, glaze content and mechanical treatment) to be identified in order to encompass all PST var- iations. Fifteen varieties of PST were thus studied. The cover- age of 1 m 2 of household floor surface with the different PST varieties for 50 years was defined as functional unit. The study sets out environmental data whose traceability was verified by independent third parties for obtaining 14 EPDs of PST under Spanish EPD programmes. Results and discussion The study presents PST inventory anal- ysis and environmental impact over the entire life cycle of the studied PST varieties. The natural gas consumed in the manufacturing stage accounted for more than 70% abiotic deple- tion – fossil fuels and global warming; electricity consumption accounted for more than 60% ozo ne layer depletion, while the electricity generated by the cogeneration systems avoided signif- icant environmental impacts in the Spanish power grid mix. The variationsinPSTthickness,amountofglazeandmechanicaltreat- ments were evaluated. The PST variety with the lowest environ- mentalimpactwastheonewiththelowestthickness,wasunglazed and had no mechanical treatments. Similarly, the PST variety with the highest environmental impact was the one with the greatest thickness, was glazed and had been mechanically treated. Conclusions The PST life cycle stage with the highest envi- ronmental impact was the manufacturing stage. The main hotspots found were production and consumption of energy and raw materials extraction. Variation in thickness was a key factor that proportionally influenced almost all studied impact categories; the quantity of glaze strongly modified abiotic de- pletion – elements and eutrophication, while the mechanical treatments contributed mainly to ozone depletion. The study of all PST varieties led to the important conclusion, against the current trend, that differences among them were found to be so significant that declaring a number of PSTs within the same EPD is not directly possible, and it needs preliminary verifi- cation to ensure compliance with the product category rule.

Appropriate selection of construction materials plays a major role in a building's sustainable profile. The study sets out a comparative life cycle assessment of indoor flooring systems of different nature. The flooring systems consisted of coverings and, where required, bonding material and/or impact soundproofing material. The following coverings were assessed: inorganic (natural stone and ceramic tiles), polymer (carpeting and PVC), and wood-based (laminate and parquet) coverings. The life cycle assessment scope was defined cradle to cradle, i.e. product stage, transport to the construction site, installation of all construction elements, use, and valorisation by recycling, as end-of-life transition scenario towards a circular economy. In the use stage, three scenarios were defined as a function of pedestrian traffic intensity, which determined maintenance, repair, and replacement operations and frequencies. The environmental impacts of the coverings product stage were taken from previously assessed and selected Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), as these are standardised public documents devised to provide environmental life cycle information. The method adopted in the study suggests that, though the use of EPDs as information source is interesting, erroneous conclusions may be drawn if the EPDs are not comparable and/or if the comparison is not made in the building context. The results indicate that the flooring systems with inorganic coverings performed best in the global warming, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone creation, and abiotic depletion for fossil resources impact categories, whereas laminates performed best in the abiotic depletion for non-fossil resources and ozone layer depletion impact categories. The carpet flooring system performed worst in every impact category except photochemical ozone creation potential.

The Spanish tile manufacturing sector has grown steadily over the years covered by the three benchmark studies, carried out in 1992, 2001, and 2007, from which data are compared in this paper. In that period, production output doubled, although since the last study was published, the situation has undergone a radical change and current production output stands at a level similar to that of 1995. Nevertheless, despite the world economic crisis, which has also severely impacted the ceramic wall and floor tile sector, it is worth noting that the sector’s environmental parameters have demonstrated a constant and positive trend, both in companies’ individual environmental performance and in the actual manufacturing processes itself. To a large extent, this situation was forced upon the sector as it had to adapt to numerous environmental regulations, which in general terms call for harsher and more stringent conditions than before. In this sense, the adoption of IPPC regulations, which affect practically the entire ceramic tile sector, and the approval of EU Directive 2003/87 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading were significant factors.El sector de fabricación de baldosas cerámicas ha crecido de forma continuada durante los años que abarcan los tres estudios cuyos datos son comparados en este informe, 1992-2001-2007, ya que la producción se ha duplicado desde el primer al último estudio, aunque si se considera el periodo del último estudio hasta la actualidad, la situación ha sufrido un cambio radical estando ahora mismo en niveles de producción similares al año 1995. No obstante, a pesar de esta crisis económica mundial en la que se ha visto arrastrado el sector cerámico, merece la pena destacar una constante evolución positiva en todos los aspectos relacionados con los temas medioambientales, tanto en aquellos aspectos relacionados con el comportamiento ambiental de las empresas como en los relacionados directamente con el propio proceso de fabricación. Esta situación en gran parte ha sido forzada por la adopción de numerosa normativa medioambiental, que en líneas generales ha supuesto un endurecimiento de la legislación existente. En este sentido merece la pena destacar la adopción de la normativa IPPC, normativa que afecta prácticamente a la totalidad del sector de baldosas cerámicas, y la aprobación de la Directiva 2003/87/CE, de comercio de derechos de emisión de gases de efecto invernadero.