ERG Life Cycle Analyst Paige Weiler Co-Authors New Report on Construction Material Reuse
In collaboration with the Carbon Leadership Forum, ERG co-authored a new report that advances life cycle assessment (LCA) modeling approaches for construction material reuse.
Reusing construction materials can significantly reduce embodied carbon emissions by avoiding the impacts of new material extraction, manufacturing, and disposal. Despite growing interest in reuse, these benefits are largely unrecognized in current embodied carbon policies and assessment tools. Most low‑carbon procurement policies rely on environmental product declarations (EPDs) to measure and compare environmental impacts. However, there are currently no North American EPDs for reused construction products, and no product category rules (PCRs) exist to guide their development.
To address these gaps, ERG collaborated with the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) to advance discussion and recommendations related to PCR guidance and LCA modeling approaches for reused construction materials. The report, Reclaimed and Reused: Recommended LCA Modeling Guidance to Support EPDs for Reused Construction Materials, examines key methodological considerations and differences between reused and new material life cycles. These discussions are supported by example LCA model results for reused lumber, steel, and brick, along with recommendations for future work to build upon this foundation.
ERG LCA analyst Paige Weiler co-authored the report with former ERG employee Kristina Farrell and CLF’s Brook Waldman and Jordan Palmeri, with support from ERG senior embodied carbon experts Troy Hottle and Sarah Cashman.
“I hope that we are moving into a future where existing buildings are the primary source of construction materials,” said Paige. “Ideally, deconstruction will displace raw material extraction and support a more circular built environment with fewer environmental impacts. The development of more standardized LCA approaches for reuse materials is critical to realizing these benefits and expanding the development of reuse EPDs.”
Learn more about ERG’s life cycle assessment work and efforts to support the disclosure of environmental impacts across industrial sectors: