SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE

MODULE- III

Selection of materials-Eco building materials and construction

• Bio-mimicry
• Low impact construction
• Recyclable products
• Embodied energy / Life cycle analysis.

Energy sources

•Renewable
•non-renewable energy
Eco building materials

Practice of increasing efficiency in choosing building materials and

construction techniques that has been designed with the
“Least possible damages to the environment”

Why eco-friendly materials?

• Phenomenal growth in the construction industry that depends upon

depletable resources.
• Production of building materials leads to irreversible environmental impacts.
• Using eco-friendly materials is the best way to build a eco-friendly building.

• Stone quarrying leads to eroded hills, like this

picture showing the site of makarana marble
quarry.

• brick kilns in the fringes of the city lead to

denudation of topsoil, dredging for sand damage
the river biodiversity etc.

Stone Quarry
What is Eco-friendly material ?

A product that has been designed to do the least possible damage to the
environment.

US - EPA(Environmental Protection Agency)

EPP (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing/Product) program defines as:
“products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health
and the environment when compared with competing products or services
that serve the same purpose”
Character:
• it does the least possible environmental
damage
• it is a comparative scale as there are very few
materials that are completely eco-friendly.
•A material by itself can be eco-friendly, e.g.
Bamboo.
•Even conventional materials can become eco-
eco-friendly construction is that it consist of two
friendly based on the construction technique
parts – Material and Technique. that is used.

e.g. rat trap bond developed by Lauri Baker,

which require less number of bricks and are
more heat insulating than normal walls and
therefore eco-friendly.
Properties of Eco-Friendly Building Materials

The various properties of the Eco-friendly

materials and techniques are –

•Materials can be eco-friendly also if they

can assist in reduction of the energy used in
the building during operation and
maintenance.

•it is difficult to get a material that has all

these properties, and it thus becomes a
comparative assessment to identify eco-
friendly materials.
Source of Material

•Renewable source
Rapidly renewable sources e.g. wood from certified forests.

•Reuse of Waste
Salvaged products –e.g. old plumbing, door frames
Recycled contents – agriculture/ industrial waste e.g. Bagasse Board
1.Embodied Energy

Embodied energy is the energy consumed by all of the processes associated with the
production of a building, from the mining and processing of natural resources to
manufacturing, transport and product delivery.

2.Reduce Pollution
•Air Pollution– Use of materials with low VOC emissions e.g. Cement Paints
•Water Pollution – Materials that prevent leaching.
•Land Pollution– Materials that reuse waste that would otherwise have
resulted in landfill. e.g. Flyash Bricks.

3.Performance
Reduce material use
These are energy efficient and also help reduce the dead load of a building. e.g.
Ferrocement

Durability & Life Span

•Material that are exceptionally durable, or require low maintenance e.g PVC pipes.
•Materials can be eco-friendly based on how they perform. Use of certain material or
techniques can reduce the amount of material required.
•Durability – The longer the life of a material the lesser it is required to replace and
thus reduces the quantity required to produce.
4.Energy Conservation
Materials that require less energy during construction e.g. precast slabs.

Materials that help reduce the cooling loads- e.g – aerated concrete blocks.
Products that conserve energy – e. g. CFL lamps.

Fixtures & equipments that help conserve water e.g. Dual flush cisterns

5.Recyclable

Reuse or Recycle as different product e.g. steel, aluminum.

6.Biodegradable – that decompose easily e.g wood or earthen materials.

Biomimicry

•Biomimicry is an approach to Innovation that seeks suitable sustainable

solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns
and strategies.

• Nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to
solve human problems. “Innovation inspired by nature.”
Low impact construction

•Aims to reduce their impact on the environment by choosing building

materials and construction techniques “lower impact”means those
buildings using largely natural or organic materials

Benefits of low-impact building

Environmental
•Passive environmental control
•Energy & water efficiency
Health
•Built form
•Environmental health
•Personal health
Cost
•Low material costs
•Selection of materials
•Very low embodied energy
Materials
•Construction Waste Management
•Prefabricating Materials in Controlled Environments
•Managing the Site for Improved Environment
•Manufacturing to Reduce Energy
•Local, unconventional materials
Common materials and systems of low impact construction

Rammed Earth construction Re-used and recycled materials Masonry

Timber construction Straw bale construction

Light earth and hemp-lime

Recyclable Materials :

The ability to reuse and recycle materials salvaged from demolition and
building sites for reuse and recycling depends on:

•local recycling facilities

•market demand
•quality and condition of materials and components
•time available for salvage
•emphasis put on reuse and recycling.

•Recyclable Materials from....

•Reuse/recycling from construction sites

•Reuse/recycling from deconstruction/demolition sites
•Reuse/recycling from waste
•Requirements for recycled or reused materials.
Reuse/recycling from waste

NewspaperWood Recy blocks Nappy roofing

Mushroom walls Wine cork panels Bottle bricks

Reuse/recycling from construction sites
•steel from reinforcing, wire, containers, and
so on concrete, which can be broken down
and recycled as base course in driveways
and footpaths Plastic Deck

•Aluminium

•plastics – grade 1 (PET) and 2 (HDPE)

•paper and cardboard

•untreated timber, which can be used as Plastic Bottle walls

firewood or mulched

•topsoil

Untreated timber Rubber walkway

Reuse/recycling from deconstruction/demolition sites
•Site works and vegetation – asphalt paving, chain link fencing, timber fencing,
trees
•concrete – in site and precast concrete
•masonry – concrete blocks and decorative concrete, paving stones, bricks,
•metals – reinforcing steel (rebar), structural steel, steel roofing including flashings
and spouting, zinc roofing, interior metal wall studs, cast iron, aluminium, copper
including flashings, spouting, claddings and pipework, lead, electrical, plumbing
fixtures
•timber – hardwood flooring, laminated beams, truss joists, treated and untreated
timbers/posts, joinery, untreated timber generally, engineered timber panels
•terracotta tiles

timber terracotta tiles decorative concrete/paving stones

Requirements for recycled or reused materials.

•cost of transport
•cost of skip hire
•value of material
•weight/amount of material
•amount of contaminants.
•material type
•acceptable and unacceptable levels of contamination
•acceptable and unacceptable levels of damage
•quantities accepted
•transportation requirements
•required documentation including waste tracking forms
•sorting and handling requirements for each material type.
Embodied energy / Life cycle analysis.

Embodied energy is the total energy required for the extraction, processing,
manufacture and delivery of building materials to the building site. Energy
consumption produces CO2, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, so
embodied energy is considered an indicator of the overall environmental impact of
building materials and systems.
Unlike the life cycle assessment, which evaluates all of the impacts over the
whole life of a material or element, embodied energy only considers the front-end
aspect of the impact of a building material. It does not include the operation or
disposal of materials.

Boundary conditions: When selecting building materials, the embodied energy

•The cradle
•Cradle to gate
•Cradle to site
•Cradle to grave
•Cradle to cradle
•Embodied carbon
should be considered with respect to:
•the durability of building materials
•how easily materials can be separated
•use of locally sourced materials
•use of recycled materials
•specifying standard sizes of materials
•avoiding waste
•selecting materials that are manufactured using
renewable energy sources.
 RENEWABLE ENERGY (SOURCES) - RES
RES capture their energy from existing flows of energy, from on-going
natural processes, such as sunshine, wind, flowing water, biological processes, and
geothermal heat flows.
renewable energy is from an energy resource that is replaced rapidly by a
natural process such as power generated from the sun or from the wind. Most
renewable forms of energy, other than geothermal and tidal power, ultimately come
from the Sun.
Some forms are stored solar energy such as rainfall and wind power which
are considered short-term solar-energy storage, whereas the energy in biomass is
accumulated over a period of months, as in straw, or through many years as in wood.
Capturing renewable energy by plants, animals and humans does not permanently
deplete the resource.
Fossil fuels, while theoretically renewable on a very long time-scale, are
exploited at rates that may deplete these resources in the near future. Renewable
energy resources may be used directly, or used to create other more convenient
forms of energy.
Examples of direct use are solar ovens, geothermal heating, and water- and
windmills.
Examples of indirect use which require energy harvesting are electricity
generation through wind turbines or photovoltaic cells, or production of fuels such as
ethanol from biomass.