While plastics industry has attributed a tremendous effort to recycling and circular economy, the construction materials industries have emphases its sustainability effort on the impact of using polymer-based materials through construction and service life, raised up to 100-years requirements. Greenhouse gases imprint remains the leading driver for sustainability in civil infrastructures and buildings, in example with LEED program. Given a significant decrease in GHG emission, polymer-based products have been criticized for their harmful impact. Among the concerns raised are the release of microplastics and the contamination of water with toxic compounds such as PFAS, BPA and phthalates.
Material selection requires a thorough evaluation of its overall impacts and life cycle, considering four gated steps for circularity: cradle-to-product, product-to-construction, construction-to end of life, and end of life-to-cradle. Durability is indeed a critical factor in the evaluation of a life cycle analysis (LCA). Degradation mechanisms are presented for several polymers, most used with building materials and geosynthetics. Prediction models for the assessment of material durability are compared with field data. Given discrepancies between models and reality, a risk management approach is proposed to compensate for the uncertainties and unforeseen.
Agenda
(Click each session to expand)
February 3, 2025
Duration: 1 Hour
Outline
Key dimensions of sustainability for plastics in buildings and infrastructures
Overview of sustainability programs and greenhouse (GHG) gas protocols
State-of-the-art practices and trends in circular economy
David Beaumier, Eng., M.Sc.A., MBA, is a business engineer specialized in technology transfer and innovation. Through 25 years’ experience in product development and research, he has developed niche sectors with specific characterization of synthetic materials, assessment of their durability, and prediction of their service life. His career initially focused on process and materials development and on advanced characterization of engineering materials. Through 18 years within CTT Group, he worked in the geosynthetics and building materials sector, known under the trade name of SAGEOS (geosynthetic analysis service). Among innovation projects, he participated within over 50 R&D projects from the manufacturing technology to the durability improvement of geosynthetics.
Recent papers from David Beaumier on durability and long-term performance:
Beaumier, D., Fourmont, S., Koerner, G.,Lifetime considerations of geotextile UV exposure before installation, GeoAmericas 2024, Toronto, Canada, 2024.
Beaumier, D., Fazli, A.,Evaluation of geomembrane UV exposure using geographic and climate data, Geosynthetics 2023, Kansas City, MO, USA, 2023.
Sati, R., Beaumier D.,Stress-Cracking Resistance of a Bi-modal PE-RT HDPE Geomembrane, Geosynthetics 2021, Virtual (Kansas City, MO, USA), 2021.
Mills, A., Fraser, B., Beaumier, D.,Long-term Performance of HDPE Geomembranes Exposed to a High Temperature Brine Solution, Geosynthetics 2019, Houston, TX, USA, 2019.
Jablonka M., Beaumier D., Blond E.,Long-term durability of polymeric water-resistive barriers, 10th Annual North American Passive House Conference, Chicago, IL, USA, 2015.
Are you working in construction, civil engineering, or material science and grappling with the challenges of selecting sustainable materials for long-lasting performance? Balancing material durability with environmental impact is key to advancing sustainability in buildings and infrastructure.
Are you evaluating polymer-based materials for construction and concerned about their long-term effects, such as microplastics release or water contamination with PFAS, BPA, and phthalates?
Do you want to understand how life cycle analysis (LCA) and circularity principles—spanning cradle-to-product, product-to-construction, and beyond—can guide better material choices?
Are you interested in exploring degradation mechanisms for commonly used polymers, comparing prediction models with field data, and implementing risk management approaches to address uncertainties?
If the answer is YES to any of these questions, then this event on Material Selection and Product Durability for Sustainable Plastics in Buildings and Infrastructures is for you!
Why Should You Attend?
Material requirements for designing must include sustainability on a wide horizon. The positive impact of plastics is to be demonstrated with metrics, including GHG emissions, LCA and durability assessment. This webinar aims promoting a methodology for rationale on the sustainability of plastics, using the construction field experience with polymers.
This educational program is provided as a service of SPE. The views and opinions expressed on this or any SPE educational program are those of the Speaker(s) and/or the persons appearing with the Speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. (SPE) or its officials, employees or designees. To comment or to present an opposing or supporting opinion, please contact us at info@4SPE.org.
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