Session
WE.2.A || Life Cycle Sustainability in Construction and Renovation of Buildings II

Authors
Ruf, Lavinia; Schwede, Dirk; Nguyen Van, Tuan; Bui, Quoc-Bao; Le Thi, Song; Stergiaropoulos, Konstantinos

Abstract
Vietnam is undergoing a continuing construction boom. This enormous volume of new constructions is characterized by simple building techniques and a large consumption of materials. In 2018, about 18 billion fired clay bricks were produced, accounting for a brick market share of about 70%. The Vietnamese government wants to reduce clay mining and the accompanying destruction of valuable agricultural land, as well as avoid inefficient brick production with high energy use and significant local environmental impacts. The aim is to switch to alternative wall-building materials in efficient and industrial production methods. To support this development, the BMBF-funded project “CAMaRSEC” is developing a system for life-cycle assessment of building materials that provides the basis for sustainable resource management and avoiding hazards to the local environment. A key focus is the holistic investigation of the Product Stage of traditionally fired clay bricks as well as currently existing alternative wall-building materials (Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Bricks, Foam Concrete and Concrete Brick Blocks). At present available data sets are mainly for developed countries and cannot be applied to the production method in Vietnam. Therefore, there is an urgent need for local data sets, which are generated within this project. Data acquisition represents a central point, which is done in close exchange with local material producers. This creates a necessary data basis that can be used by the local manufacturers themselves for process optimization, as well as within the project to develop a building material label to support the local market stakeholders to consider embedded carbon and other environmental impacts at the design stage. This label further contributes to the development of the necessary governance framework in Vietnam. In addition, the data sets are further taken up in the follow-up project “ReBuMat” and supplemented by the analysis of modules A4-5, B, C and D.