Building Materials Environmental Guide (BMEG)

Main objectives: 1. Provide quick access to building industry professional to information about environmental impacts of common building materials. 2. Provide information on environmental better practices related to design, planning, storage, use, and disposal for common building materials. 3. Adopt these guidelines for specific country or local contexts, especially for post-disaster reconstruction. Construction industry consumes natural resources (sand, stone, soil, water, metals, lime stone) in massive scales in any country. The process of acquiring and using of natural resources, in the form of building materials cause severe environmental and social impacts which are often not fully comprehended by the practitioners in the industry (engineers, architects, procurement managers, technical officers). This is due to the fact that, impacts are hidden in complex supply chains and happens at different stages of the material life-cycle. The Building Materials Environmental Guide helps construction industry professionals to understand these complex impacts and identify the potential implications of their material related decisions, at the various stages of the construction project cycle. BMEG project of WWF has actively promoted adaptation of these guidelines at national levels in different countries, supporting a policy shift towards sustainable consumption in construction. The first version of BMEG was published in collaboration with WWF-Nepal with the endorsement of Nepal Government, as a guideline for reconstruction and humanitarian agencies involved in the earthquake (2015) reconstruction process. In 2017 a global generic version was published by WWF and had been electronically distributed widely. In 2018, Construction Industry Development Authority, Sri Lanka adapted the generic version as a government guideline for the construction industry in general. Currently a BEMG version is being prepared for Mozambique to be used in the Cyclone Idai (2019) reconstruction process. WWF-Northwestern University (NU) collaborative project to improve BMEG has developed a more comprehensive document, which provides both quantitative and descriptive information on different environmental aspects. Current BMEG versions: 1. Building Material Selection and Use - An Environmental Guide (Nepal) - 2016 2. Building Materials Environmental Guide (Generic Global Version 1) - 2017 3. Environmental Guide for Construction Materials and Products (Sri Lanka) - 2017 4. Building Materials Environmental Guide (Generic Global Version 2) - 2019 5. Building Materials Environmental Guide (Mozambique) - under preparation Partners: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - Nepal Hariyo Ban Program - Nepal Northwestern University - USA Construction Industry Development Authority - Sri Lanka Department of Building Construction and Urban Development, Government of Nepal World Wildlife Fund - Mozambique