Sustainable Construction Materials Review

This assignment presents a comprehensive review of sustainable construction materials, examining various processes and applications. It delves into multi-criteria evaluation models for material selection and explores the role of building information modeling in promoting sustainability within the construction industry. The review draws upon a range of academic sources to provide insights into the latest trends and advancements in this field.

Sustainable Materials
for Construction

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1: The rules,regulations and legislation for handling use of construction materials................1
M1: Assessment of risk to address significant hazards...............................................................2
D1: Multiple regulations applied on site activity........................................................................2
P2:The material environmental profiling and life cycle assessments.........................................2
P3: The benefits of product declaration and environmental certification..................................3
M2: A waste management plan for a project .............................................................................4
D2: Improvement of environmental rating of building by use of sustainable practices............5
P4: The result of relevant testing procedures .............................................................................5
P5:The results in terms of material properties and regulatory requirements..............................7
P6: Selection of construction materials.......................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Construction with sustainable materials is not just good for the planet and environment
but it can also save the money of client. The non-renewable resources are not been depleted by a
sustainable materials and on the environment there is no adverse impact is caused due to use of
sustainable materials (Zanoletti and Bontempi, 2017.). By using construction materials such by
reducing transport of material and by making use of low embodied materials one can reduce the
impact on the environment. In order to choose the construction materials that are less damaging
for the environment many tools and techniques can be used.
In this report the regulation will be explained that have an impact on handing of
construction materials. The life cycle assessment and material environmental profiling will also
be examined in this report. Further more this report will discuss the advantages of product
declaration and environmental certification. The testing procedures of the selected construction
materiel will also be represented in this report. The selection strategy will be sued in order to
specify choice of materials.
P1: The rules,regulations and legislation for handling use of construction materials.
The health and safety at work etc Act 1974 – Section 3 – This law states that each and
every part of construction site need to be kept in a good order and the place of work also need to
be clean and hygienic. The goal is to achieve a good standard of house-keeping across the site.
The work need to be planned, managed and monitored by all contractors in order to do it safely
and the risk to health are also involved in it. The careful planning is included in it .Through this
the site will be kept tidy and their will be active management of housekeeping. A high standard
of health and safety is been announced by the company for its employees. At work the protection
to general pubic is been given through this act and is been made to ensure health, safety and
welfare. The highly inflammable substance, storage , transportation of explosives is also been
controlled by this act. In this the duty of employers is to give a secure place to work with safe
pant ad machinery.,To all the employees the information,training and supervision need to be
given (Health and safety in construction, 2017).
The management of health and safety at work regulations 1999- This law is applicable to
everyone at the work. The risk associated with work is assessment and the control measures are
been taken to minimize its risks. To the employees to health and safety information is been
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given and also training to employees is also given. In order to deal with harmful and imminent
danger the arrangements are been made.
Construction regulation 2007- In order to improve safety this regulation are designed. The
work need to be planned ,monitored and managed by employers and appropriate training need to
be given to employees. For the workers the adequate welfare facilities need to be given.
M1: Assessment of risk to address significant hazards
In a risk assessment the five steps need to be followed and they are as follows-:
In the step 1 : The hazards are been identified
In the step 2: Identification of who is at risk will take place.
In the step 3: Against the likelihood of it taking pace the risk from hazards is been calculated.
In the step 4: In order to reduce risk the measures need to be introduced.
In the step 5: The risk is been monitored.
From the risk assessment a method statement takes information about significant risks
and with specification of job it is been combined in order to develop a safe working method for
workers to followed on the construction site.
D1: Multiple regulations applied on site activity
The construction regulations 1996- Under these regulation the main duty holders are
employers, the self-employed and those by whom the work of construction is been controlled. In
a safe way employees have duties to carry out their work. A wide range of health and safety
issues are been covered by this regulation such as welfare requirements and also the emergency
and fire procedures (Yeheyis and Sadiq, 2013.).
The work at height regulations 2005- Through this act the work at height is been avoided where
they can and in order prevent falls while workings from height the work equipment are used.
P2:The material environmental profiling and life cycle assessments
In order to apply Life cycle assessment the environment profiles methodology is a
specific approach to build environment. For the building and infrastructure scenarios it is
appropriate and also can be used to evaluate the impact of basic materials through to entire
buildings. The reliable and comparable information about environment is been demanded by the
designed through environmental policy. Through this the opportunity is also been given to
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supplier to represent the credible environment information about products that they supply. In the
level of playing field status of environmental profiles the designers will have confidence for
every materiel type.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used for the assessment of products or process. In
order to design,compare products or to examine the environmental impact problems related to
specific product LCA can be used. One needs LCA as the customers are demanding products
with environmental credentials. The environmental performance need to be demonstrated by the
manufactures (Silva and Gorissen, 2017).
In the stage 1 LCA the goal and scope is been set up – To achieve a purpose LCA usually
looks. For instance for 60 years having 1 m of external water. With each other the different ways
of making the wall could be compared. In order to look at products, process and services LCA
can also be used.
In the step 2: Inventory analysis- Over the whole life cycle in this stage all the data on inputs and
outputs are been collected. The conversion of data into resources, air etc will take place.
In stage 3 the impact is been assessed. In 3 steps that is classification, characterisation and
valuation this stage is been divided. In classification, Over the whole life all the resources that
are consumed are attributes to all the environmental categories. In characterisation in each
category the impact is been calculated. A characterised environmental profile is been given by
BRE's method. In valuation it maintains all of information on a wide range of issues.
P3: The benefits of product declaration and environmental certification.
In the industry of construction the environmental product declarations are increasingly
essential particularly for architect, builders and specifiers. The growing needs in context of
sustainable building process can be met through this. About the life cycle environmental impact
of products a standardized, comparable information is been communicated by EPD. The
environment foot print of a particular product is been represented by it. A means of representing
the sustainability credentials of a product is been provided to manufactures through EPD. The
outcomes of LCA is also been represented by EPD.For objective communication and comparison
of products environmental product declaration are standardised tools of communication. As they
are been made according to transparency standards. And by an external expert they are been
verified. With ISO 14025 it is a type lll declaration that gives accurate and comparable
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information regarding environmental performance of products. All the information about impact
of environment such as emission to air, energy use and efficiency is been given by them. The
information about company and product is included by them.
Environmental certification is a form of reputation of environment and development
where a company can select to company with predefined process or goals that is been set by
certification process (Neramitkornburi and Disfani, 2015). In most of the certification service
logo is been there that can be applied to products that certified under their standards. In a form of
corporate social responsibly it is been seen. Some of its benefits is that with current and future
statutory ad regulatory requirements it will demonstrate compliance. Through strategic
communication it will enhance the reputation and confidence of stakeholders. By incorporating
issues of environment into business management it will achieve strategic plans of business. The
environment impact of its activities, products or services is been identified and controlled by
environmental certification. The performance of environment is continually improved and in
order to set objectives of environment it implements a systematic approach. With regulation of
environment it comply and on environmental issues the assurance us been provided to external
stakeholders.
M2: A waste management plan for a project
1. Assigning responsibility – In order to manage waste on site one person will be given
responsible. That person nee to make sure that waste management need to be followed.
About championing the project whoever is in charge need to be energetic .
2. The goals and objectives are been established- As priority eliminate the generation of
waste. The waste need to be recycled and reused that is developed on the job. For
deconstruction make use of construction methods (Mousa, 2015).
3. Estimation of waste amounts
Material Waster percentage estimation
Plasterboard 7.00%
Concrete 13.00%
Roofing 5.00%
Fixings 6.00%
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4. Setting targets for redaction – In order to determine the materials to be recycles use the
REBRI resource calculator. For each type of resources set a target.
5. The methods of recycling – The possibility for recycling for each type of waste nee to be
identified and describe how to handle that particular waster materials (Kucukvar and
Tatari, 2014).
6. Recognizance of waste destinations -For each material list the specific operator of
recycling.
7. Communication and training – To the staff the training need to be given.
8. Review of project- The strength, weakness need to be reviewed.
D2: Improvement of environmental rating of building by use of sustainable practices
Green building is also known as sustainable practices. Throughout the life cycle of
building it is both structure and application of a process that are environmentally responsible and
also resources efficient. At all stages of the project it need a close cooperation of the contractor,
the architects, the engineers. For the design,construction,operation and maintenance of green
buildings Leadership in Energy and environmental Design (LEED)is set of rating system that is a
been developed by Green building council (García-Segura and Pérez-López, 2015.). For building
and large scale developments other certificates that confirms the sustainability is the British
BREEAM. In order to develop greener structures new technologies are been developed
constantly. Novacem is sustainable for the environment as the carbon dioxide is not emitted by
this cement.
P4: The result of relevant testing procedures
As per the set guidelines the test of the building materials will be there. The experts will
do the testing of individual materials and products, building systems and entire buildings. In this
both well-established methods and bespoke research tests and stimulation will be used. Against
the public standards the testing of construction materials such cement, bricks etc will be done.
For the new, unique and innovative products they can develop dedicated procedures. By the
expert team the testing serveries can be done. As a part of innovation projects research and
development testing is been done (Claramunt and Ardanuy, 2016). The acoustics,air quality,wind
tunnel testing are included in design testing. The site inspection is provided in remedial
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testing .For an instance for nay material and situation detaining of coatings etc. The facilitates of
testing is different and it mainly involved wind tunnel .In Europe it includes one of the largest an
echoic chambers' and also a well-equipped acoustics laboratory. The least pump facilitates are
been included in HVAC laboratory. Related to performance of timber and timber engineering a
wide range of facilities of setting is been there and also structural test facilities is also pored in
the testing of sustainable construction materials (Alwan, Jones and Holgate, 2017.).
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P5:The results in terms of material properties and regulatory requirements
By making use of Euler formula columns wit loads applied along the central axis can be
analysed. Along the central axis this formula can be applied.
F = n π2 E I / L2
In this F stands for allowable load, n stands for factor accounting for the end conditions,E
standards for modulus of elasticity,l stands for length of column and I stand for moment of
inertia.
In the year 1757 this formula was derived. For loads less than the critical load the column
will stay straight. The greatest load is the critical load by which lateral deflection is not been
caused. In a state of unstable equilibrium the column is put in by the critical load.
The characteristics of a material used in columns are that material of columns need to be
homogeneous and isotropic. On the column the compressive load is axial only. From the initial
stress the column is free and column weigh is neglected. Throughput its length the cross-section
of column is uniform (Akadiri and Chinyio, 2013).
P6: Selection of construction materials
The structural materials such as bamboo can be used in constructional site for developing
building as it is sustainable material of construction. With use bamboo the impact on the
environment will be reduced and it is also a good sources of energy. The elastic module of
bamboo is 1900.As a building material bamboo has a compressive strength .In order to provide
sport for concrete is one of the most used material of building. In order to construct bridges,
house etc it can be used. By structural farm technique the Bamboo can be used for construction.
The roofs,floor and walls are interconnected in case of bamboo. In comparison with steel
bamboo has higher tensile strength. In earthquake bamboo is widely preferred due to its features
of elasticity. They are also not so costly and can be used easily. In earthquake prone ates they can
be used (Achal and Zhang, 2015.).
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Achal, V. and Zhang, Q., 2015. Biomineralization for sustainable construction–A review of
processes and applications. Earth-Science Reviews. 148. pp.1-17.
Akadiri, P.O. and Chinyio, E.A., 2013. Multi-criteria evaluation model for the selection of
sustainable materials for building projects. Automation in Construction. 30. pp.113-125.
Alwan, Z., Jones, P. and Holgate, P., 2017. Strategic sustainable development in the UK
construction industry, through the framework for strategic sustainable development,
using building information modelling. Journal of Cleaner Production. 140. pp.349-358.
Claramunt, J. and Ardanuy, M., 2016. Natural fiber nonwoven reinforced cement composites as
sustainable materials for building envelopes. Construction and Building Materials. 115.
pp.230-239.
García-Segura, T. and Pérez-López, E., 2015. Hybrid harmony search for sustainable design of
post-tensioned concrete box-girder pedestrian bridges. Engineering Structures. 92.
pp.112-122.
Kucukvar, M. and Tatari, O., 2014. Stochastic decision modeling for sustainable pavement
designs. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 19(6). pp.1185-1199.
Mousa, A., 2015. A Business approach for transformation to sustainable construction: an
implementation on a developing country. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 101.
pp.9-19.
Neramitkornburi, A. and Disfani, M.M., 2015. Durability against wetting–drying cycles of
sustainable Lightweight Cellular Cemented construction material comprising clay and fly
ash wastes. Construction and Building Materials. 77. pp.41-49.
Silva, A. and Gorissen, L., 2017. From waste to sustainable materials management: Three case
studies of the transition journey. Waste management. 61. pp.547-557.
Yeheyis, M. and Sadiq, R., 2013. An overview of construction and demolition waste
management in Canada: a lifecycle analysis approach to sustainability. Clean
Technologies and Environmental Policy. 15(1). pp.81-91.
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Zanoletti, A. and Bontempi, E., 2017. Embodied energy as key parameter for sustainable
materials selection: The case of reusing coal fly ash for removing anionic surfactants.
Journal of Cleaner Production. 141. pp.230-236.
Online
Health and safety in construction. 2017. [PDF] Available through:
<http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg150.pdf/>.
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