Life Cycle Of Building Materials Research Articles

Life cycle assessment of hemp-lime concrete wall constructions: The impact of wall finish type and renewal regimes

Using sustainable building materials is one of the key methods for minimising the negative environmental impacts of the global construction industry. Bio-based buildings building materials, such as hemp-lime concrete, are considered more sustainable, as they make use of a renewable raw material and can sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. Studies have shown that hemp-lime concrete can have a favourable global warming potential, though the life cycle of building materials affects a wide variety of negative environmental phenomena that should also be considered. Studies examining the life cycle of hemp-lime concrete have so far primarily focused on the material itself. Though the exterior surface of a hemp-lime concrete wall needs to be protected and have a finish applied to it, few studies have considered the environmental impacts of coated hemp-lime concrete wall constructions. Using life cycle assessment methodology, through a wide range of environmental impact categories, the study analysed the environmental impacts of applying lime putty and sand coatings to a hemp-lime concrete wall in pessimistic, average and optimistic scenarios, It also compared the environmental impacts of four types of appropriate wall finishes and the impacts of applying varying finish renewal regimes in the use phase. It was found that applying lime putty and sand finishes to the exterior and interior surface of a hemp lime concrete wall increased the total global warming potential by 19.054–30.793 kgCO2eq and had a noticeable effect on all other impact categories. It was found that while no one finish type could be considered globally superior to the others, in a majority of circumstances applying lime-based coatings resulted in lower embodied environmental impacts, than applying a ventilated façade with timber cladding.

Analysis of Geometric Characteristics of Cracks and Delamination in Aerated Concrete Products Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming a strategic vector for the development of companies in the construction sector. The introduction of “smart solutions” at all stages of the life cycle of building materials, products and structures is observed everywhere. Among the variety of applications of AI methods, a special place is occupied by the development of the theory and technology of creating artificial systems that process information from images obtained during construction monitoring of the structural state of objects. This paper discusses the process of developing an innovative method for analyzing the presence of cracks that arose after applying a load and delamination as a result of the technological process, followed by estimating the length of cracks and delamination using convolutional neural networks (CNN) when assessing the condition of aerated concrete products. The application of four models of convolutional neural networks in solving a problem in the field of construction flaw detection using computer vision is shown; the models are based on the U-Net and LinkNet architecture. These solutions are able to detect changes in the structure of the material, which may indicate the presence of a defect. The developed intelligent models make it possible to segment cracks and delamination and calculate their lengths using the author’s SCALE technique. It was found that the best segmentation quality was shown by a model based on the LinkNet architecture with static augmentation: precision = 0.73, recall = 0.80, F1 = 0.73 and IoU = 0.84. The use of the considered algorithms for segmentation and analysis of cracks and delamination in aerated concrete products using various convolutional neural network architectures makes it possible to improve the quality management process in the production of building materials, products and structures.

Producing Sustainable Roller Compacted Concrete by Using Fine Recycled Concrete Aggregate

One-third of the total waste generated in the world is construction and demolition waste. Reducing the life cycle of building materials includes increasing their recycling and reuse by using recycled aggregates. By preventing, the need to open new aggregate quarries and reducing the amount of construction waste dumped into landfills, the use of recycled concrete aggregate in drum compacted concrete protects the environment. Four samples of PRCC were prepared for testing (compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, density, water absorption, porosity) as the reference mix and (10, 15, and 20%) of fine recycled concrete aggregate as a partial replacement for fine natural aggregate by volume. The mix is designed according to (ACI 327-15) with the specified cylinder compressive strength (28 MPa). The results showed a decrease in mechanical properties with an increase in partial replacement compared to the reference mixture and an increase in water absorption and porosity at 28 days. This is because old cement mortar on the surfaces of fine recycled concrete aggregates leads to higher porosity and water absorption than fine natural aggregates. At 90 days, results improved slightly. This is due to the non-aqueous cement in the recycled fine concrete aggregate.

Life Cycle Assessment of a Road Transverse Prestressed Wooden–Concrete Bridge

Through its anthropogenic activities in construction, human society is increasingly burdening the environment with a predominantly adverse impact. It is essential to try to use building materials that allow us to build environmentally friendly buildings. Therefore, this article deals with the determination of the environmental performance of a cross-prestressed timber-reinforced concrete bridge using life cycle assessment (LCA) compared with a reinforced concrete road bridge with a similar span and load. The positive environmental performance of the wooden concrete bridge was proved, with a relatively small (22.9 Pt) total environmental damage. The most significant impact on the environment is made by the wood–concrete bridge materials in three categories of impacts: Respiratory inorganics (7.89 Pt, 79.94 kg PM2.5 eq), Global warming (7.35 Pt, 7.28 × 104 kg CO2 eq), and Non-renewable energy (3.96 Pt, 6.01 × 105 MJ primary). When comparing the wood–concrete and steel concrete road bridge, a higher environmental performance of 28% per m2 for the wood–concrete bridge was demonstrated. Based on this environmental assessment, it can be stated that knowledge of all phases of the life cycle of building materials and structures is a necessary step for obtaining objective findings of environmental damage or environmental benefits of building materials or structures.

Cracks and their role in the life cycle of building materials

Cracks as active elements are presented in all building structures. Cracks define a spontaneous internal restructuring of the structure of the construction material. This is a necessary condition for the adaptation of the system to the influence of unfavorable factors. The presence of active elements in the material of the structure-system contributes to its structural development, which indicates the creative role of cracks. Upon reaching the maximum variety of the structure, cracks-creators are able to develop to cracks of destruction. Cracks-destroyers should be considered as open complex self-organizing systems with their own life cycle. The predominance of the goal of the new crack-system over the goal of the existence of the structure-system leads to the failure of the structure as a basic system.

MATERIAL LOOPS POTENTIAL IN POST-DISASTER TRANSITIONAL SHELTER: LEARNING FROM 2010 MERAPI ERUPTION

Due to the geographic condition of the country, Indonesia is very vulnerable to natural disasters (BNPB, 2017). As a response, this country has various mechanisms of assistance to disaster-affected communities and assistance to fulfil basic needs for disaster victims, one of which includes the provision of ‘huntara’ as temporary shelter for the victims (BNPB, 2008). Because of its temporary nature, transitional shelters in Indonesia generally have a relatively short life cycle of building materials and may produce quite the amount of waste which would be harmful to the environment. This study attempts to understand the material life cycle process in transitional shelters built during the eruption of Mount Merapi Eruption in 2010. This study uses the approach of qualitative research with two main data collection methods—observations and interviews. This study found that the design of transitional shelter for this disaster had allowed for most of the building components to principles of Design for Disassembly, which supports the potential for material loops to occur and possibly to fulfil the characteristics of sustainable transitional shelter. However, neither the victims nor the aid providers were fully aware of this potential: thus, it could not be optimally utilised. This condition is quite unfortunate, considering that Indonesia is very prone to disasters so that transitional shelters will often be needed. Therefore, further studies are required to formulate various design standards for transitional shelter in Indonesia to optimise the potential for longevity and minimise environmental impacts.

Embodied Energy Assessment of Building Materials Used : Case Study Northern Cyprus

It is a well-known fact that global warming is the extraordinary threat facing the world. The main reasons of these are human activities. Human beings have been contributing to the global warming in different ways for many years. Right material and product selection are some of the most important factors in the process of eliminating the negative effects of constructions on the natural environment and users. The life cycle of building materials involves the processes in which the products are extracted from the source. These processes are the stages of production, transportation, construction, use, demolition and destruction. Making wrong decisions in the selection and use of building materials may cause negative effects in the environment. The major purpose of this study is to to examine the embodied energy of of the traditional and comtemporary building materials according to the characteristics of the local climate. It will answer the question of; “What the embodied energy of a house was in the past and now” in Northern Cyprus. It will help to find out building materials with low embodied energy. There is no published database prepared for or in Northern Cyprus. In order to measure and evaluate the embodied energy of buildings and construction products in the world, there are no integrated systems in the Northern Cyprus at this point, while different countries have unique systems depending on the environmental, economic and social conditions of those countries. Measuring and controlling the environmental performance of environmental development is essential for the sustainable development of the Northern Cyprus. By using the The Inventory of Carbon & Energy (ICE) program the embodied carbon statuses, embodied energy and transport energy and manufacture energy were discussed for each building material. As a result of this research it was found that locally produced or locally existing materials do not always give the best result in terms of embodied energy all the time. The energy consumption of building materials used in buildings and their associated carbon emissions will assist in the selection of environmentally friendly materials.

Sustainable Manufacturing Processes of Building Materials: Energy Efficiency

The increase of energy consumption has produced significant environmental impacts such as climatic change, acid rain, photo chemical smog formation, nonrenewable resource consumption etc. Considering the urgency of saving the world’s energy reserve and reduction of environmental impacts, studies on the energy consumption throughout the life cycle of building materials are crucial.In this study, it was aimed to indicate the factors which contribute the energy efficiency in manufacturing processes of building materials. The study included the energy used for raw material extraction, production energy for manufacturing of building materials, transportation energy and construction energy on site. A literature review was made. Energy use and efficiency for each process were evaluated.

Improving aerodynamic performance of tall buildings using Fluid based Aerodynamic Modification

A novel approach is proposed to integrate active air flow control into the assembly of building envelopes in order to affect the interaction between tall buildings and surrounding air flow. The potential benefits of the proposed approach include reduction of embodied energy contained within the building structure, improvement of the overall life-cycle of building materials, and increased access to natural daylight by shallow lease spans. To date, the trend towards light-weight and high-strength materials in tall buildings, compounded with the emerging inclination towards modular prefabrication of structural assemblies, increasing flexibility and reduced damping, and greater slenderness ratios, has increased the susceptibility of the structural performance of tall buildings to dynamic wind load effects. Currently, mitigating wind loads relies on either changing structural or geometric characteristics such as the building׳s shape or through the addition of auxiliary damping systems. Furthermore, market driven pressures on increasing the slenderness ratios of tall buildings have been at odds with the socio-economic viability of the corresponding deep lease spans that tall buildings have required at their base. The proposed Fluid-based Aerodynamic Modification (FAM) approach is fundamentally different: instead of re-shaping the solid material to improve the aerodynamic ‘shape’ of the structure, fluid-based active flow control is used to manipulate the separating boundary layer in order to improve the building׳s aerodynamic performance and thus reduce the wind excitation.

Optimization of Building Envelope Components Based on Life Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs

Recent national and international building regulations on the energy performance of buildings focus mainly on the reduction of operational energy. This can be achieved by increasing the energy efficiency of the building, installing highly efficient building service systems and applying renewable energy sources. However, these measures have a price in terms of investment costs, and also in terms of environmental impacts. The life-cycle of building materials, building constructions or whole buildings from cradle to grave can be assessed using the method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost analysis (LCC). These tools take into account not only the heating energy saving due to additional insulation, but also the embodied environmental impacts and costs of the investment. In this paper, the optimum thickness of various insulation materials, including natural and recycled materials is examined considering three main environmental indicators and global costs. The analysis is performed for a typical Hungarian single-family house subject to retrofit.

Environmental impacts and benefits of the end-of-life of building materials – calculation rules, results and contribution to a “cradle to cradle” life cycle

Abstract The aim of this paper is to improve the contribution of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to setting up a cradle to cradle (C2C) life cycle of building materials. For this, the rules included in the most recent European Standards for the environmental assessment of the waste flows in the life cycle of these materials were taken into account. The paper starts with the identification of the waste flows that can be generated or used throughout the life cycle of building materials. Standardized calculation rules for the evaluation of the environmental impacts and benefits of these flows are then described and analysed in detail. Finally, a summary of the information available in LCA databases related to the end-of-life of construction materials is presented, and selected case studies are examined to provide an overview of the contribution of the LCA approach described in European Standards to close the loop in the life cycle of building materials. This paper demonstrates that results achieved through the application of the most recent European standards on the environmental assessment of waste flows can be an important source of data for decision-making at the end-of-life of building materials, especially to ascertain whether the minimization of waste flows, the maximization of their reuse or recycling operations, or the increase of the recycled content maximizes their C2C environmental performance. This work's innovation lies mainly on the systemization, visual representation and analysis of the rules for environmental assessment of the waste flows in the life cycle of building materials, namely the ones defined in the most recent European Standards (EN 15804; FprEN 15978), and on the verification that the later can promote a C2C perspective in LCA of construction materials.

Selecting Materials for Environmental-Friendly Buildings: The Need for Improved Environmental Impact Data

Buildings of the future need to be more environmental-friendly. Selecting environmentally-benign materials in design stage would partly help achieving such goal. Examination of existing environmental impact data of building materials reveals that the data differ greatly from one source to another. Comparisons of environmental impact values of selected materials are presented. The sources that give rise to data variation are identified and discussed. The applicability of existing data is assessed from the designers’ perspective. Limitations of current practice in data acquisition and presentation are also discussed. It is concluded that existing environmental impact data of building materials are inconsistent and perplexing to designers. An alternative approach to data acquisition and presentation is to break the life cycle of building materials into several phases and to calculate the total impact value as the sum of the impacts of all phases. This would make the determination of the full life cycle value feasible and increase external validity of research results.

Comparison of environmental impact of building materials of three residential buildings

Building industry is responsible for 1/3 of total CO2 emissions and consumes 40% of primal energy in the industry. This paper presents the results of environmental impact assessment of building materials in three houses based on Life Cycle Assessment of the whole life cycle. Building materials were evaluated by special tool by Createrra. CO2 emissions related to life cycle of building materials vary from 0,176 kg CO2eq/kg − 0,305 kg CO2eq/kg, SO2 emissions range form 0,836 g SO2eq/kg − 1,656 g SO2eq/kg and primal energy intensity reached values from 2,347 MJ/kg to 2,534 MJ/kg.

Selection of building materials based upon ecological characteristics: priorities in function of environmental protection

Numerous scientific researches show that the activities connected with building materials produce significant negative environmental effects. Observed from the point of architecture, the use of building materials is found to be one of the critical factors of environmental pollution and degradation. The purpose of introducing architectural interventions, including proper selection, is the reduction of the negative environmental impact of building materials. The aim of this paper is to define, from the ecological aspect, basic principles for the selection of building materials. First, principles were defined through the all - inclusive analysis of every phase in the life cycle of building materials. Summing categories: embodied energy and embodied CO2 are discussed afterwards. In the order to simplify the procedure of arriving at a decision, priorities in selection were emphasized in every separate segment of this paper. The selection of building materials with reduced negative environmental impact (ecologically correct building materials) is one of the key decisions in the process of designing ecologically correct buildings.

Paving Paradise: The Peril of Impervious Surfaces

Paved surfaces are quite possibly the most ubiquitous structures created by humans. In the United States alone, pavements and other impervious surfaces cover more than 43,000 square miles—an area nearly the size of Ohio—according to research published in the 15 June 2004 issue of Eos, the newsletter of the American Geophysical Union. Bruce Ferguson, director of the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design and author of the 2005 book Porous Pavements, says that a quarter of a million U.S. acres are either paved or repaved every year. Impervious surfaces can be concrete or asphalt, they can be roofs or parking lots, but they all have at least one thing in common—water runs off of them, not through them. And with that runoff comes a host of problems.

A Transparent, Interactive Software Environment for Communicating Life‐Cycle Assessment Results: An Application to Residential Windows

SummaryLife‐cycle assessments (LCAs) can be used to support the selection of environmentally preferable building materials. But the dominance of the usage phase in the life cycle of building materials represents a special challenge for two reasons. First, many aspects of a building material's usage phase can be context specific. Second, the LCA outcome may rest on a building material's service life, a parameter for which there is typically insufficient information for proper determination. For example, in the selection of a window, important usagephase, context‐specific factors that could be determinant include lo‐cation/climate, heating‐system characteristics (efficiency and fuel), and product durability. A prototype software tool, the Life Cycle Explorer, has been developed that enables decision makers to assess the relative importance of literally dozens of such influential parameters in determining the outcomes of LCA evaluations for building components. The software employed by the Life Cycle Explorer permits extensive layering while maintaining ease of browsing, with the intent of accessibility to both the layperson and the expert. An initial application of the tool addressed residential window selection; the design principles of the software are relevant to the communication phase of a wide variety of LCA and industrial‐ecologyrelated modeling projects.