2.4 GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS
In the building, eco friendly materials (also known as green building materials) are those in which low environmental damage activities have been carried out for their production, placement and repairs. They must be durable, reusable or recyclable, must contain recyclable materials in their structure and must come from resources in the area in which the construction activity takes place–they must be regional material. These materials must also be natural and should not be damaged by cold, heat or humidity.
2.5 SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MOST WIDELY USED FOR CONSTRUCTION
2.5.1 SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS:
Wood is the material with the minimum environmental effects on its manufacturing and life cycle and must be certified to ensure that it is produced and originally sustainable.
Fig-0.4 Renewable Materials in Construction Market
2.5.2 ISOLATION RENEWABLE MATERIALS:
They are fully recyclable and compostable, such as cellulose, which can be extracted from discarded newspapers or papers. They can not produce waste and must achieve the highest efficiency in temperature regulation.
2.5.3 PAINTS AND WOOD TREATMENTS:
These have to be natural with no substances harming the ozone layer and without solvents or any other chemical products.
Fig-0.5 reuse of waste materials
2.5.4 WASTE MATERIALS
Waste materials generated for the production of construction materials in other sectors, such as steel waste (marble, slate, etc.).Also, we have wastes generated by manufacturing processes like ashes or mud that are used, or the urban solid ones.
2.5.5 OTHER ORIGINAL TECHNIQUES
Such manufacturing concrete with recycled tire rubber; using sewage plant mud to make bricks or remains of wood and cork, and in particular vegetable fibers (bamboo, coconut, etc.) that once blended with cement are also used as insulators.
Fig-0.6 Elastogran, 2007
2.6 SELECTING SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS
The amount of energy needed to produce building materials varies. The material’s embodied energy tries to calculate the energy that enters the entire life cycle of the building material. Aluminum, for example, has a very high level of embodied energy due to the high percentage of electrical power to be used in its production from mined bauxite ore; recycled aluminum usually requires far less energy to be refabricated. The overall environmental effect of a building is reduced by choosing materials with low average embodied energy. Transport energy is saved by using local materials on imports of the same type.
• Adapt Existing Buildings to New Uses:
Most buildings survive the objective they were designed to achieve. Many of these buildings, if not all, can be transformed to new applications at a cheaper cost than new buildings.
• Incorporate Reclaimed or Recycled Materials:
Many building materials are easily recycled into new materials, such as wood, steel and glass. Some can be entirely used in the new structure, such as brick or windows. Equipment, especially office partition systems, can also be moved easily from one location to another.
• Use Materials That Can Be Recycled:
When designing the building and choosing the building materials, focus on ways to use recyclable materials. This preserves the energy inherent in their production.
• Reuse Non-Conventional Products as Building Materials:
Unconventional building materials such as recycled tires, pop bottles and farm waste are widely available. These products decrease the need for new landfills and have a lower embodied energy that is intended to replace conventional materials.
• Size Buildings and Systems Properly:
Architects are encouraged to design as much as possible around standardized building material sizes. In the United States. S., this standard is based on a plywood sheet of 4’x8. ‘ Excessive cutting of materials into non-modular spaces results in more waste.
• Employ Nontoxic Materials
The use of non – toxic materials is essential for the health of the occupants of the building, who normally spend more than three – quarters of their time indoors. The adhesives used to make many common building materials can release chemical compounds into the air for years after the original building.
2.7 POTENTIAL USE OF PLASTIC WASTE AS CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
Many studies on the alternative use of plastic waste in different types of products have been reported and published. Plastic waste for high – grade resins was recycled from used and spoiled plastics, such as: industrial products, home appliances, cloths (textiles), mulches and films. Accordingly, plastic waste treatment and reprocessing techniques could be divided into four major categories which are re-cycling, mechanical, chemical and energy recovery.
2.8 PLASTIC AGGREGATES AND PLASTIC FIBER IN CONCRETE MIX
Briefly , there are two types of plastic waste, plastic aggregates (PA) and plastic fibers (PF), which are most often used in building materials ,PAs are used for the replacement of coarse (CA) and fine (FA) aggregates.
Physical properties of concrete, including density, slump value, mechanical properties, splitting tensile strength, compressive strength, young module, flexural strength, abrasion resistance, impact resistance and pulse velocity, durability properties including resistance change.
2.9 GOOD EXAMPLE
1.5 Million Bottles Used to Build It!
A building some call ” the first plastic bottle structure built in the world ” was unveiled in Taiwan. This incredible building, known as the EcoARK, was built using a whopping 1,5 million PET bottle to raise awareness of the importance of recycling.
The EcoARK stands on three floors and has an amphitheater, an exhibition hall and a screen of falling water collected during the rainy season for air conditioning purposes.
The designers claim that the building is ” the lightest, most mobile, most breathable environmental miracle in the world, ” yet they insist that it is strong enough to handle typhoons and earthquakes-but it is certain that recycling enthusiasts are blown away. According to The China Post, the EcoARK was commissioned by the Taiwan – based Far Eastern Group three years ago at a price tag of around US$ 3 million, based on the three objectives of ” reduce, reuse and recycle. ” The company will donate the green structure to the city next month, where it will be use as exhibition hall during the 2010 Taipei Int’l Flora Expo in November.
2.9 CONCLUSION
The green building components include material efficiency, efficiency in water, energy efficiency, efficiency in indoor air quality, waste reduction. It is clear from the above that all efforts to preserve environmental resources are considering progress towards green and sustainable materials. Therefore, GRIFFA or LEED rating systems require the use of sustainable materials.
Green parameters building
Sustainable site encourages regionally appropriate landscaping
1
Water efficiency Smarter use of water inside and out
2
Energy and atmosphere use of renewable and clean sources of energy, generated onsite or off-site.
3
Materials and resources Selection of products and materials sustainably grown, processed, generated and shipped 4
Location and linkages built near already-existing infrastructure, community resources and transit
5
Innovation in design new and innovative technologies and strategies to improve a building’s performance beyond what is required by LEED 6
