Food pyramids are familiar to all of us. They are visual guides that show us the proportions of foods that we should supposedly eat on a daily basis, in order to stay healthy. Composed of a series of layers with different food types–such as grains, flour, fats, vegetables, and others–, at the base are the foods that should be consumed in larger quantities. Towards the top, each layer becomes successively smaller, indicating the foods that are meant to be ingested rarely. The pyramid can vary according to countries and cultures, but its main purpose is always to provide a guide for a balanced life. There are no prohibitions, but it does indicate some foods that should be consumed with caution because of their impacts on our health.
If we are what we eat, is it possible to also replicate this in the construction industry and our buildings? Using this same easy to understand visual language, the Royal Danish Academy Center for Industrialized Architecture (Cinark) developed the Construction Material Pyramid. The idea was to highlight the environmental impact of the most used construction materials, focusing on the analysis of the first three life phases: extraction of raw materials, transportation and manufacturing.
The digital tool makes it possible to compare the impacts of materials in different categories or between types of materials in the same category. This way, architects can be fully informed about each material or product specification decision in a project. "The goal is for it to provide a simple way to get a quick overview of the relative sustainability of individual construction materials." Through clear and intuitive language, it offers an interactive and tangible calculation tool and at the same time opens the dialogue on more detailed studies of the position of each material in the pyramid and its place in project design.
