Impact and Implications of Regulations on the Building Materials Industry

This market insight identifies major regulations impacting the building materials industry and their implications for building material manufacturers. The four key regulatory themes that have been discussed across all regions are indoor air quality, fire and safety, energy efficiency, and carbon emissions. The study sheds light on the variations in the impact of regulations across the key regions (including North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific). It also identifies the building materials that have been primarily impacted by the evolving regulations. These include paints and coatings, engineered wood products, insulation systems, structural materials, glazing systems, and construction chemicals.
These can be further classified into the following categories:
•     Paints and Coatings–Architectural, fire protection, and protective
•     Construction Chemicals–Concrete admixtures, waterproofing chemicals and membranes, adhesives and sealants, grouts, and concrete repair and industrial flooring
•     Energy-efficient Materials–Thermal insulation, advanced glazing, smart windows, and housewraps
•     Advanced Glazing Materials–Glass, plastics, sealants, and films
•     Acoustic insulation and vibration materials
•     Engineered wood and other composite materials used for building and construction
Some of the regulatory bodies, regulations, standards, certification programs considered in the insights are as follows:
Indoor Air Quality–Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), European Commission, Health Canada, and Construction Products Regulation
Fire Safety–National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC), and other regional/state building codes and regulations
Energy Efficiency–International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), ASHRAE, National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB), and Energy Conservation Law of Japan (ECL)
Carbon Emissions–Country-specific carbon emission reduction targets and policies
The study highlights the impact of regulations on participants across the value chain, such as raw material suppliers, building material manufacturers, distribution channels, and end users. Technological and product advances facilitated by the enforcement of these regulations have also been mapped across the four aforementioned themes.
The study also includes:
•     A global construction industry outlook focusing on key construction markets such as Europe, US, APAC, China, and India
•     A building materials overview by revenue across key segments such as paints and coatings, construction chemicals, energy efficient materials, acoustics insulation and vibration materials, engineered wood, and other composite materials
The research study seeks to answer the following key questions:
•     What stage is the global construction industry at, and how is it expected to grow in key construction markets?
•     What are the major regulatory themes affecting the building materials value chain?
•     What is the impact of regulations on major building material groups?
•     How does the impact of regulations vary across regions?
•     What are the major building materials affected?
•     What are the key implications for manufacturers?
•     What are the key technological developments facilitated by regulations?