Overview
ISO 13315-6:2019 - Environmental management for concrete and concrete structures - Part 6: Use of concrete structures provides principles and procedures for managing environmental impacts during the use phase of concrete structures. It covers environmental management for routine maintenance, targeted remedial activities (repair, rehabilitation, retrofitting), and environmental performance during ongoing operation (energy influences, leaching, waste, etc.). The standard explains how to integrate environmental considerations into client briefing, design, estimation, verification, execution, inspection and documentation for activities carried out while a structure is in service.
Key technical topics and requirements
- Scope and definitions: clarifies terms such as maintenance, remedial activity, target remedial activity and reference remedial activity to support consistent environmental comparisons.
- Environmental management process: structured steps for planning and implementing environmental management during maintenance/remedial works and operation, including:
- Client briefing and stakeholder requirements
- Setting environmental performance requirements using indicators and impact categories
- Design considerations for new and existing concrete structures during the use stage
- Estimation and verification of environmental performance
- Execution, inspection and documentation of works
- Performance indicators and metrics: guidance on selecting impact categories and indicators relevant to the use phase (see informative Annex A for examples).
- Comparative approach: use of a reference structure or remedial activity for benchmarking and quantifying reduction rates and amounts of environmental impact.
- Practical examples: informative annexes provide worked examples - indicators (Annex A), operational considerations (Annex B), environmental design example using void slabs (Annex C), and retrofitting with concrete masonry units (Annex D).
Practical applications and users
ISO 13315-6 is intended for professionals responsible for the environmental performance of concrete structures during their service life, including:
- Structural and civil engineers designing maintenance or retrofit solutions
- Asset owners and facility managers planning operation and maintenance strategies
- Contractors and remediation specialists implementing repair works
- Environmental managers and life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners assessing operational-phase impacts
- Policy makers and standardization bodies aligning procurement/specifications with environmental targets
Use cases include reducing greenhouse gas emissions from repair works, specifying environmental performance criteria for remedial options, designing concrete elements to reduce operational energy (thermal mass, pervious concrete), and documenting environmental outcomes of refurbishment projects.
Related standards
- ISO 13315-1, -2 and -4 (series on environmental management and environmental design for concrete)
- ISO 14040 (Life cycle assessment - principles and framework)
- ISO 14050 (Environmental management - vocabulary)
Keywords: ISO 13315-6:2019, environmental management, concrete structures, maintenance, remedial activities, use phase, operational performance, LCA, environmental indicators.
Open preview (PDF)Environmental management for concrete and concrete structures — Part 6: Use of concrete structures