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Materials for architects and builders
\"This new 6th edition has been completely revised and updated to include the latest developments in materials research, new images, appropriate technologies and relevant legislation. The ecological effects of building construction and lifetime use remain an important focus, and this new edition includes a wide range of energy saving building components.\"--Back cover.
Book
Life cycle assessment in the built environment
Life cycle assessment enables the identification of a broad range of potential environmental impacts occurring across the entire life of a product, from its design through to its eventual disposal or reuse. The need for life cycle assessment to inform environmental design within the built environment is critical, due to the complex range of materials and processes required to construct and manage our buildings and infrastructure systems.
After outlining the framework for life cycle assessment, this book uses a range of case studies to demonstrate the innovative input-output-based hybrid approach for compiling a life cycle inventory. This approach enables a comprehensive analysis of a broad range of resource requirements and environmental outputs so that the potential environmental impacts of a building or infrastructure system can be ascertained. These case studies cover a range of elements that are part of the built environment, including a residential building, a commercial office building and a wind turbine, as well as individual building components such as a residential-scale photovoltaic system.
Comprehensively introducing and demonstrating the uses and benefits of life cycle assessment for built environment projects, this book will show you how to assess the environmental performance of your clients' projects, to compare design options across their entire life and to identify opportunities for improving environmental performance.
eBook
Biomaterials technology and policies in the building sector: a review
Traditional building materials have some drawbacks in the construction industry, particularly in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Biomaterials derived from renewable sources are a promising alternative, significantly reducing the greenhouse effect and enhancing energy efficiency. However, traditional materials still dominate the construction sector, and there is a lack of understanding among some policymakers and developers regarding biomaterials. Here, we review building biomaterials and their policies and life cycle assessment through case studies. Bio-based materials have the potential to reduce over 320,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. They also exhibit advantages like decreasing water absorption by 40%, reducing energy consumption by 8.7%, enhancing acoustic absorption by 6.7%, and improving mechanical properties. We summarize recent advancements in mycelial materials, bioconcrete, natural fibers, and fiber-reinforced composites. We also explore the contributions of nanotechnology and microalgae technology in enhancing biomaterials' thermal insulation and eco-friendliness.
Journal Article
New Energy-Driven Construction Industry: Digital Green Innovation Investment Project Selection of Photovoltaic Building Materials Enterprises Using an Integrated Fuzzy Decision Approach
In the context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, digital green innovation development is becoming more and more important for enterprises. In order to effectively improve green competitiveness and increase profits, photovoltaic building materials enterprises must choose digital green innovation projects for investment. The purpose of this study is to build a reasonable investment project selection framework system and propose appropriate methods for photovoltaic building materials enterprises to help them correctly choose digital green innovation investment projects. This study firstly combines relevant theories and digital green innovation characteristics of target investment projects to build a framework system for photovoltaic building materials enterprises to select investment projects. Secondly, this study innovatively proposes a dynamic intuitionistic fuzzy multi-attribute group decision-making method considering the interaction between attributes. Finally, this study takes Yingli Group as the research object and conducts an empirical study on it to verify the scientific nature and reliability of the framework system and method selection. The results show that the framework system includes four aspects: external support system, commercialization expectation, project operation ability and project operation resources. Yingli Group should choose project A3 for cooperation. The framework system and method proposed in this study are feasible and can help Yingli Group correctly choose digital green innovation investment projects. At the same time, this study also brings positive enlightenment to other photovoltaic building materials enterprises in the world when choosing digital green innovation investment projects.
Journal Article
Thermal Characterization of Recycled Materials for Building Insulation
The building sector is known to have a significant environmental impact, considering that it is the largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions of around 36% and is also responsible for about 40% of global energy consumption. Of this, about 50% takes place during the building operational phase, while around 10–20% is consumed in materials manufacturing, transport and building construction, maintenance, and demolition. Increasing the necessity of reducing the environmental impact of buildings has led to enhancing not only the thermal performances of building materials, but also the environmental sustainability of their production chains and waste prevention. As a consequence, novel thermo-insulating building materials or products have been developed by using both locally produced natural and waste/recycled materials that are able to provide good thermal performances while also having a lower environmental impact. In this context, the aim of this work is to provide a detailed analysis for the thermal characterization of recycled materials for building insulation. To this end, the thermal behavior of different materials representing industrial residual or wastes collected or recycled using Sardinian zero-km locally available raw materials was investigated, namely: (1) plasters with recycled materials; (2) plasters with natural fibers; and (3) building insulation materials with natural fibers. Results indicate that the investigated materials were able to improve not only the energy performances but also the environmental comfort in both new and in existing buildings. In particular, plasters and mortars with recycled materials and with natural fibers showed, respectively, values of thermal conductivity (at 20 °C) lower than 0.475 and 0.272 W/(m⋅K), while that of building materials with natural fibers was always lower than 0.162 W/(m⋅K) with lower values for compounds with recycled materials (0.107 W/(m⋅K)). Further developments are underway to analyze the mechanical properties of these materials.
Journal Article
Sustainable geopolymers from polyethylene terephthalate waste and industrial by-products: a comprehensive characterisation and performance predictions
Several researchers have recently worked to create sustainable building materials. One of the fundamental prerequisites for sustainable construction methods and environmental impact assessments is the use of green building materials and manufacturing processes. In this research study, geopolymer bricks were developed using polyethylene terephthalate waste and different industrial by-products (rice husk ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, red mud, construction, and demolition waste) and investigated their performances. The polyethylene terephthalate waste was used as a replacement for sand filler in the geopolymer brick up to 100%. Key findings include a workability decrease of 14.75% and a compressive strength reduction of up to 75% with 100% plastic waste replacement, attributed to increased voids and weak geopolymer matrix interaction. Dry density consistently decreases, and water absorption rises to 13.73% with full sand replacement, indicating a porous structure. Impact resistance improves with plastic waste inclusion, enhancing ductility and thermal conductivity by 57% at full replacement. Microstructural analyses reveal correlations between physical–mechanical properties and changes in porosity, microcracks, and bond strength. Machine learning, especially linear regression, proves effective for strength parameter prediction (up to 100% efficacy, R-square of 0.998). The promising results obtained could offer a substantial environmentally friendly solution to the building and construction industry in line with Circular Economy principles.
Journal Article