Moving towards sustainable nanoengineered building materials with less energy consumption

Abstract

Nanomaterials (NMs) use in building materials (BMs) has still not been widely explored, despite its boundless potential in developing novel, smart, eco-efficient and high performance BMs based on the addition of nanoparticles (NPs). NPs are used as fillers in nanocomposites because they have many unique and useful properties. Recently, NPs have been used in the manufacture of BMs to improve their performances, reduce associated carbon footprint, and reduce energy consumption. Nanoengineered building materials (NBMs) have many positive impacts on the construction industry. NBMs derived from renewable sources are a promising alternative, significantly reducing the greenhouse effect and enhancing energy efficiency. The BMs can be designed with desired properties to obtain better performance sustainability and more energy efficiency. In addition, the use of NBMs decreases the construction time, and improves the environmental quality of the building and the laborers required for constructing the buildings. NBMs have augmented surface area, more surface functionalities, and larger pore volume. These NBMs with functionalized chemical groups have countless potential to arrest greenhouse gases. Given this, it has been observed that the use of NBMs in the construction industry can reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission by 25%, reduce water absorption, enhance acoustic absorption, and augment mechanical properties. In this review, we will try to cover the latest developments in the use of synthetic and natural NMs which can help in constructing more energy efficient, sustainable BMs with less carbon footprint. In addition, we have also covered the environmental benefits, implications, and toxicity concerns of NBMs.