On Wednesday October 17, 2018 the European Concrete Paving Association (EUPAVE) and Marc Tarabella, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) held a Breakfast Debate on “Tendering for sustainable construction in the circular economy” at the European Parliament.
MEP Marc Tarabella and Mr. Stéphane Nicoud, President-EUPAVE, welcomed the participants and highlighted the importance of local authorities in tenders. The event was also the occasion to release EUPAVE’s latest position paper on “Tendering for sustainable construction in the circular economy“. The Publication is structured as follows:
- Chapter 1. Scope
- Chapter 2. Introduction
- Chapter 3. LCCA Standard Procedure
- Chapter 4. Special Topics
- Chapter 5. Examples of LCCA
- Chapter 6. References
Marc Tarabella reminded participants that the European Parliament has a commitment with procurement that considers more than simply the lowest price, as expressed in the Resolution passed on 4 October 2018 (Coelho report).
President Nicoud indicated that EUPAVE believes that the construction sector—as any other sector of the economy—should aim at designing out waste and pollution as much as possible. He presented EUPAVE’s latest publication “A Guide on the basic principles of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) of pavements” where LCCA procedure is explained in detail and examples are provided.
Mr. Manu Diependaele, Consultant-Infrastructure and Transportation Consultancy (KPMD) explained the purpose and scope of EUPAVE’s guide. He gave a presentation titled “A guide on the basic principals of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) of pavements” as a fundamental tool for public authorities. LCCA is an economic analysis technique used to evaluate materials for infrastructures. He specified it is not a cost-benefit analysis, nor a life-cycle assessment. He used the Antwerp ring as an example, project in which he participated actively.
Mr. Pieter de Winne, Head of Road Engineering Division-Flemish Agency for Roads and Traffic, talked about “the choice for a sustainable pavement”. He gave a brief introduction of the Flemish Roads Agency in a presentation titled “Where is the Agency for Roads and Traffic (AWV)?“ and the infrastructures of Flanders. He acknowledged that sustainability criteria are considered better in concrete pavements because they need less maintenance. He also mentioned the successful innovations created to reduce the rolling noise. Finally, Mr. de Winne recognized that LCCA is only applied exceptionally.
Mr. Antonio Paparella, Senior Expert and Team Coordinator-Sustainable Construction at DG GROW and European Commission explained “Challenges and opportunities for using Life Cycle Costing in public procurement: the EU perspective“. He stated that time perspectives and environmental externalities are to be taken into account and he specified that LCC is an economic analysis, not an environmental assessment—the purposes of one and the other are different. He mentioned the “Discussion Paper: State of infrastructure maintenance” launched by the European Commission in September 2018 and encouraged EUPAVE to participate.
A short debate followed and closing remarks were then made by MEP Kouroumbashev. He mentioned a serious accident that happened this summer in Bulgaria due to the bad condition of the asphalt. He underlined that public procurement differs much depending on the place in the EU where you are. “We should all aim at having more sustainable infrastructure. This is a job that affects all levels of administration”.
Mr. Stéphane Nicoud concluded the debated and thanked the attendees for their presence and participation.
For the entire article on the EUPAVE site, please go to: https://www.eupave.eu/fruitful-discussion-at-eupave-breakfast-debate-tendering-for-sustainable-construction-in-the-circular-economy/
For the ISCP November 2018 article titled “EUPAVE Position Paper—”Tendering for Sustainable Infrastructure in the Circular Economy”, please go to: https://www.concretepavements.org/2018/11/08/eupave-position-paper-tendering-for-sustainable-infrastructure-in-the-circular-economy/