Built Environment and Material Mining in Life Cycle Perspectives: A Case Study

The built environment is both a major consumer of natural resources and a potential reservoir of recyclable materials. As urbanization increases and material extraction intensifies, life cycle-based material efficiency and recovery solutions are becoming increasingly important for decarbonizing building. This thesis investigates the embodied carbon and resource recovery potential of a representative post-war social housing complex in Rovigo, Italy, using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) combined with urban mining principles. The goal of the study is to quantify the environmental impacts of building materials and evaluate the circular value of existing material stocks from a comprehensive perspective. Using original architectural and structural drawings, the material inventory of the building was reconstructed in detail, encompassing concrete, steel, bricks, mortar, plaster, and asbestos. A process-based Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed utilizing European-standard datasets (Ecoinvent 3.10, JRC Model). The assessment focused on emissions during the production stage (A1–A3), emissions associated with demolition (C1), and the avoided emissions resulting from full material recovery (Module D), in compliance with ISO 14040/44 and EN 15978 standards. The functional unit is defined as 1 m2 of gross floor area. The analysis indicated that structural steel, despite representing a small proportion of the building’s overall mass, contributed the largest share of embodied carbon as a result of its emission intensity. Concrete and brick materials, due to their massive volume, were also notable contributors. In a scenario achieving complete recovery, the cradle-to-gate embodied emissions of the building, estimated to be approximately 620–630 kg CO2/m2, could be minimized to a net footprint of about 13 kg CO2/m2. This suggests a theoretical reduction of production emissions by 98%. The results demonstrate that the built environment can function as both an environmental burden and a resource for materials. Reclaimed high-recovery materials, such as steel and concrete, offer substantial climatic benefits, while non-recyclable items like asbestos retain their full environmental impact. The thesis demonstrates how urban mining and circular economy principles can be integrated into quantitative environmental assessment through the III application of Module D within the life cycle framework. This integration offers significant evidence that corresponds with the goals of European policy as delineated in the Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan. The study emphasizes the importance of conducting pre-demolition audits, implementing material passports, and securing regulatory support for high-quality reuse to improve the recovery value of existing building assets. The findings indicate that accurate inventorying and selective recovery can convert aging urban structures into valuable sources of secondary materials, connecting construction methods to life cycle assessments and objectives of circularity.