Copper has a long tradition as building, construction and design material. It has commonly been used for centuries in roofs and decades in various external structures e.g. facades, claddings, gutters, and down pipes. In recent years, interest in using copper – the green metal – because of its favourable environmental characteristics, has grown amongst the architects and planners.
With the growing use of metals in outdoor designs, some concerns about emissions of metals and their interaction with the environment have been raised. With regard to these concerns the European copper industry has performed a LCA for copper, as well as a voluntary risk assessment of copper and its potential effects on health and environment.
Several other research efforts have also been performed in relation to sustainability and environment. All results show that copper is a sustainable, long lasting material with no harmful effects on the environment. |
