Alternative Building Materials (ABM): Towards Adoption of Common Terminology and Definitions

Natalia A. Anigbogu ,Maren Mallo Daniel ,Johnson Josiah Marut

doi:10.7176/cer/12-11-03

Abstract

There are differences in the definitions of Alternative Building Materials (ABM) and differences in the terminologies that are used in describing ABM by different researchers in the construction industry. ABM is a generic term, which is characterised of or relating to a class or group of building materials, not really specific. It encompasses building and construction materials that in literature are referred to by different names such as alternative materials, local building materials, unconventional building materials, alternative residential construction materials, sustainable building materials, indigenous building materials, vernacular building materials, green building materials, environmentally responsible building materials, eco-friendly building materials, etc. The research employed systematic literature review and content analysis to generate and analysedall the necessary information as the methodology. A working (operational) definition of Alternative Building Materials is being offered as building materials that are an alternative to conventional building materials in the form of total or partial substitution of the materials or its constituents for the purpose of reducing the cost, addressing environmental issues or dealing with lack of conventional materials. The characteristics of ABM have been identified to include low or no chemical emissions that can lead to poor indoor air quality, recycled content (post-consumer and pre-consumer), no CFC, HCFC, or other ozone depleting substances content, low embodied energy, locally produced, possibility of repairs and replacements with local means and social acceptability amongst others. Some of the benefits of utilizing ABM include; low embodied energy (often leading to reduced greenhouse gas emissions), ease of construction, widespread availability and low cost. Keywords: Alternative Building Materials, Definition, Adoption, Terminology, Characteristics DOI: 10.7176/CER/12-11-03 Publication date: November 30 th 2020

Highlights

There are divergent views onwhat constitute Alternative Building Materials (ABM) and how this could be defined (Anigbogu, 1999; Opoko, 2006; Joseph & Tretsiakova-McNally, 2010; Danso, 2013)
The research examines literature on ABM with a view to creating a common terminology and definition for the concept. This broad aim is pursued within the following three-folds: firstly, the study of the characterises ABM with the view to developing a nomenclature of terminology about the concept; secondly, it analyses wide range of definitions of ABMs that exist in literature with the view to providing a consensus definition that could guide built environment researchers and thirdly determining the benefits of utilising ABM
Gutierrezi, Bakhtiari, Azemati and Hosseini (2016) observed that the idea of substituting conventionally used building materials with ABM which are environmentally friendly building materials is that the materials have satisfactory result in decreasing the functional energy consumption of buildings by 9.5% and reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions by 3%

Summary

Introduction

There are divergent views onwhat constitute Alternative Building Materials (ABM) and how this could be defined (Anigbogu, 1999; Opoko, 2006; Joseph & Tretsiakova-McNally, 2010; Danso, 2013). The term ABM is usually used to refer to materials that are not highly industrialised, or materials that do not have standards and methods that are used in the current construction practice, which include local building materials, indigenous building materials, vernacular building materials and traditional building materials (El-Kabbany, 2013).Joseph and Tretsiakova-McNally (2010) defined ABM as those building materials that have a range of beneficial properties such as low toxicity, durability, low level of Green House Gases (GHG) and other pollutants emissions, high recycle potential and minimal processing requirements; many of them are environmental-friendly and do not produce hazardous end products. Terms that are used by different authors to described ABM are shown in (Table 1)

Authors and Year

Findings

Conclusion