Approaching Green Building Concept by Eco-Efficient Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) in Portugal

Recent years have seen widespread building activity, which has resulted in widespread environmental damage, significant CO2 emissions, and the waste of valuable natural resources throughout the world. Construction is one of the most energy-intensive industries in the European Union (EU), using about 40% of the union's total energy and producing 36% of its GHG emissions. According to the International Green Building Council, over 35% of all landfill waste is made up of CDW, while the construction sector is responsible for more than half of all materials removed worldwide. To avoid these problems, authorities have drafted laws and developed plans to lessen the ecological toll of building supplies through Green Building (GB) concept, Circular Economy (CE), life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methods. Portuguese law on the harmonization of regulations for the sale, manufacture, and disposal of construction materials is mostly lifted verbatim from its European Union counterpart. This research contributes an eco-efficiency framework for CDW management and CDW use in green building and circular economy concept in Portugal, which is consistent with the principle of Eco-efficiency.