More than 6 billion square metres of new buildings are built each year. This is about 1.2 million buildings. If we translate these figures into carbon footprint (CF) generated during the construction, it will be approximately 3.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide. The contractors all over the world – also in Poland – decide to calculate the carbon footprint for various reasons, but mostly they are compelled to do so by the market. The analysis of costs and emissions of greenhouse gases for individual phases of the construction system allows implementing solutions and preventing a negative impact on the environment without increasing the construction costs. The share of each phase in the amount of produced carbon for construction and use of the building depends mainly on the used materials and applied design solutions. Hence, the materials and solutions with lesser carbon footprint should be used. It can be achieved by using natural materials or materials which do not need much energy to be produced. The author will attempt to outline this idea and present examples of integrated analysis of costs and amount of carbon footprint during the building lifecycle.

In this paper, the analysis of carbon footprint values for children’s footwear was conducted. This group of products is characterized by similar small mass and diversity in the used materials. The carbon footprint is an environmental indicator, which is used to measure the total sets of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere caused by a product throughout its entire lifecycle. The complexity of carbon footprint calculation methodology is caused by multistage production process. The probability of emission greenhouse gases exists at each of these stages. Moreover, a large variety of footwear materials – both synthetic and natural, give the possibility of the emission of a lot of waste, sewage and gases, which can be dangerous to the environment. The diversity of materials could be the source of problems with the description of their origins, which make carbon footprint calculations difficult, especially in cases of complex supply chains. In this paper, with use of life cycle assessment, the carbon footprint was calculated for 4 children’s footwear types (one with an open upper and three with full uppers). The life cycles of the product were divided into 8 stages: raw materials extraction (stage 1), production of input materials (stage 2), footwear components manufacture (stage 3), footwear manufacture (stage 4), primary packaging manufacture (stage 5), footwear distribution to customers (stage 6), use phase (stage 7) and product’s end of life (stage 8). On these grounds, it was possible to point out the life cycle stages, where the optimization activities can be implemented in order to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The obtained results showed that the most intensive corrective actions should be focused on the following stages: 3 (the higher emissivity), 4 and 8.

In the paper, the research on the process of optimizing the carbon footprint to obtain the low-carbon products is presented. The optimization process and limits were analyzed based on the CFOOD project co-financed by the Polish Research and Development Agency. In the article, the carbon footprint (CF) testing methods with particular emphasis on product life cycle assessment (LCA) are discussed. The main problem is that the energy received from the energy-meters per the production stage is not directly represented in the raw data set obtained from the factory because many production line machines are connected to a single measurement point. In the paper, we show that in some energy-demanding production stages connected with cooling processes the energy used for the same stage and similar production can differ even 25-40%. That is why the energy optimization in the production can be very demanding.

The analysis of the costs and emissions of greenhouse gases for individual phases of construction investments allows for the implementation of solutions and the prevention of negative environmental impacts without significantly increasing construction costs. The share of individual investment phases in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced for the construction and use of buildings depends mainly on the materials used and the implemented design solutions. In accordance with the idea of sustainable construction, materials and design solutions with the lowest possible carbon footprint should be used. This can be achieved by using natural building materials, materials subjected to appropriate chemical composition modifications, or materials in which their production does not require large amounts of energy. The aim of the article is to determine the value of the purchase costs of selected road materials (concrete paving blocks, cement-sand bedding, concrete curbs, semi-dry concrete and concrete underlay, washed sand, and crushed aggregate with a fraction of 0–31.5 mm) for the implementation of a road investment. In addition, the authors focused on determining the size of the embodied carbon footprint due to GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and GHG removals in a product system, expressed as CO2 equivalents for the same materials that were subjected to cost analyzes. The article presents the results of original analyzes, and indicates the optimal solutions in terms of minimizing the cost of purchasing road materials and minimizing the carbon footprint. The discussion also covers the issue of changing the chemical composition in the context of the potential impact on the reduction of material costs and CO2 equivalent emissions.

Cut-off walls built using self-hardening slurries are an important tool for modern engineering pursuing Sustainable Development Goals. Much like cement concrete, this material is affected by the challenges posed by the increasing human pressure on the environment, although it is used significantly less widely than concrete; for this reason, relatively little comprehensive literature data is available describing the interaction of self-hardening slurries with the environment. This article provides a review that complements the current state of knowledge on self-hardening slurries in this area, with a particular focus on the durability of the material and its pollutant immobilization capabilities. To provide context, the material’s operating conditions, properties and components are briefly characterized. The resistance of self-hardening slurries to environmental aggression is described extensively, as it is a key factor in ensuring the durability of the material. A sample analysis of the material’s carbon footprint in several representative composition variants is presented. The subject of pollutant immobilization by self-hardening slurries is outlined. Lines of further research are proposed to fill gaps in the available knowledge.