Environmental Impacts of Construction: an exploration of environmental management systems - Dissertation Example

Download file to see previous pages... Moreover the usage of the buildings contributes to around another 50 percent of the total carbon emissions in the atmosphere. A number of estimates show that during 2004 the construction industry in United Kingdom was solely responsible for the production of waste products amounting to around 100 million tones. The amount of waste piling done by such has increased from around 70 million tons during 2000. Moreover the construction industry accounts for the employment of a huge amount of natural resources thus creating a large impact on the natural environment of United Kingdom. The construction industry employs around 90 percent of the total mineral resources of the country along with large amounts of timber for building purposes. These materials are generally dispatched to United Kingdom from countries having abundance of such mineral and timber resources. United Kingdom conducts such procurements from countries having a weak monitoring and legal system so as to avoid conflicts. It must be noted that procurement of timber from large number of countries creates a huge impact on the maintenance of biodiversity in the several regions. The large number of trees being felled to produce timber affects the development of habitat zones on the planet thus causing a matter of serious concern. The reduction in the habitat zones of the different regions creates a further impact on the planet through the mass extinction of different number of species. Further the extraction of large number of mineral resources from the earth’s surface creates a depletion of the mineral belts. Essential minerals like Copper and Titanium are being increasingly extracted which signifies the vanishing of such minerals from the earth’s surface at future periods of time. Evidence also suggests that the work of the construction industry also acts as a potential contributor to large amount of air, water and soil pollution through the disposal of harmful materials in the soil and air. The entire construction process accounts for the use of harmful chemicals whose dust spreads all through the atmosphere amounting to severe air pollution. The modern environmental legislations passed in developed countries like United Kingdom reinstates the use of technologically developed environment safe products, which would help in the creation of a safer environment (Environmental Impact, 2010). Thus it can be observed that the development of the construction industry culminating in the growth of large number of buildings turns out to be the main contributor for annihilation of the environment. Thus the practice of sustainable development should be widely encouraged to save the environment and the nature from potential hazards emanating out from these industries. The nature of materials used in the construction industries is generally of non-renewable types, which signify that wastage of such amount to trigger environmental pollution. Estimates show that around 40 percent of the total amount of minerals in the economy and around 25 percent of the timber resources are devoted for the use of the construction industry. The manufacturing and distribution process employed in regards to construction materials annihilate the natural environment by creating a large number of pollutants. In regards to the spread of this huge menace the governments of the world collaborated together to constitute a program for the ...Download file to see next pagesRead More