Department of Civil Engineering

U18CE702C

Sustainable Materials and Green Buildings

Dr. A. Suchith Reddy (CE2)

 U18CE702C Sustainable Materials and Green Buildings

Course Learning Objectives (LOs):

This course will develop students’ knowledge in /on
LO1: concepts of sustainability and governing principles
LO2:green and sustainable building materials
LO3:energy and carbon reduction in buildings
LO4:building performance towards sustainability

Course Learning Outcomes (Cos):

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to…
CO1: infer the significance of sustainability in construction engineering
CO2: appraise and select sustainable building materials
CO3: interpret the energy and carbon reduction strategies
CO4: rate and propose sustainable building
Natural Step approach for sustainable materials

All materials are non-persistent and nontoxic and procured either from reused, recycled,
renewable, or abundant (in nature) sources.

a. Reused means reused or remanufactured in the same form, such as remilled lumber,
in a sustainable way.

b. Recycled means that the product is 100 percent recycled and can be recycled again in
a closed loop in a sustainable way.

c. Renewable means able to regenerate in the same form at a rate greater than the rate
of consumption.

d. Abundant means that human flows are small compared to natural flows—for
example, aluminum, silica, and iron.

e. In addition, the extraction of renewable or abundant materials has been

accomplished in a sustainable way, efficiently using renewable energy and protecting
the productivity of nature and the diversity of species.
Design and use of materials in the building will meet the following criteria in order of
priority:

a. Material selection and design favor deconstruction, reuse, and durability appropriate
to the service life of the structure.

b. Solid waste is eliminated by being as efficient as possible; or,

c. Where waste does occur, reuses are found for it on-site; or,

d. For what is left, reuses are found off-site.

e. Any solid waste that cannot be reused is recycled or composted.

A closed-loop building product and materials strategy must address several levels
of materials use in its implementation: the building, the building products, and
the materials used in the building products and in construction. Ideally, the
building materials system should follow the Cardinal Rules for a Closed-Loop
Building Materials Strategy

Cardinal Rules for a Closed-Loop Building Materials Strategy

1. Buildings must be deconstructable.

2. Products must be disassemblable.
3. Materials must be recyclable.
4. Products/materials must be harmless in production and in use.
5. Materials dissipated from recycling must be harmless.
 The cardinal rules state that the complete dismantling of the building and all of its
components is required so that materials input at the time of the building’s
construction can be recovered and returned to productive use at the end of the
building’s useful life. These rules also establish the ideal conditions for materials and
products used in building.

Pragmatic View of Green Building Materials

In order to take a pragmatic view of green building materials, it is useful to examine
contemporary efforts to wrestle more directly with the issues based on our current
understanding, capabilities, and technologies.
Products made from environmentally attractive materials
a. Salvaged products
b. Products with postconsumer recycled content
c. Products with postindustrial recycled content
d. Certified wood products
e. Rapidly renewable products
f. Products made from agricultural waste material
g. Minimally processed products
a. Salvaged products
Salvaged or reclaimed building materials are materials that are
recycled for reuse. They originate from buildings that have been
deconstructed, rather than demolished. Typically, there is little left
that is salvageable after a building has been demolished. When it
has been deconstructed, however, there is much that can be
reused.

There are two main classifications of materials that are salvaged

from deconstructed buildings:

•construction materials, such as lumber, steel and bricks; and

•appliances and ornamental items that may be fitted into an
existing home. Examples include lighting fixtures, bathtubs, sinks,
toilets, doors, stained glass, windows, ironwork, kitchen
appliances, countertops, fireplaces, molding, flooring, household
siding, pipes and insulation.
Advantages of Using Salvaged Building Materials 

The upside of using reclaimed building materials is obvious, including:

•the cost savings for homeowners. Reclaimed products are typically substantially
cheaper than their new counterparts. This is the case because reclaimed products do
not need to be produced and shipped great distances. It is often possible to find
building materials at no cost when salvaging from demolition sites;

•it's environmentally friendly because it keeps a substantial amount of waste out of

landfills. 

• it saves the energy and resources that would normally be used for the production of
new products;

•some reclaimed materials are more valuable than their new counterparts. The
primary example of this is wood from old-growth forests, which may be reclaimed
from the framing of older buildings. Such wood is highly valuable because it is of
superior quality compared to some new wood due to its fine grain and lack of knots,
as well as its aged appearance; and

•many salvaged ornamental items are valuable for their historical significance and
beauty.
Products with postconsumer recycled content

Post-consumer recycled content refers to finished goods that are used and then
recycled. Common post-consumer recycled content includes copy paper, shipping
boxes, empty plastic bottles, aluminum cans.

All materials that come from a building site for reuse are recycled building
materials. This include, wood, brick, insulation, plastics, glass, building blocks,
wall coverings, and so on. Simply put, it's anything that can be reused is recycled.

Products with post-industrial recycled content

Post-industrial (often referred to as “pre-consumer”) waste, on the other hand,

refers to waste generated from the manufacturing process that led to the creation of
the original source material.
For example when plastic is blown into bottles. If these scraps are saved, repelletized
and used again, it would be referred to as “post-industrial waste.” 
Post-consumer waste refers to finished goods, while post-industrial waste refers to
waste "material" generated from a manufacturing process. 
 Certified wood products

Certified wood and paper products come from responsibly managed forests – as
defined by a particular standard.

FSC Certification for timber requires all timber to be obtained from sustainably
managed forests.

Rapidly renewable products

The “rapidly renewable” as a material that’s able to regenerate itself in 10 years or less.
That includes bio-based products made from plants harvested on a 10-year (or shorter)
cycle.

The goal of using rapidly renewable content is to reduce the number and quantity of
products made from fossil-fuel derivatives. Rapidly renewable materials include linseed,
straw, cotton, wheat, sunflowers, natural rubber, bamboo, and cork. These feedstocks are
often used in green building products, like linoleum, straw bales, cotton batt insulation,
wheatboard panels, bamboo cabinetry, cork flooring, soy-based foam release agents, and
fabrics.
Products made from agricultural waste material

These industrial and agricultural wastes are by-products, slag, rice husk ash,
bagasse, fly ash, cement dust, brick dust, sludge, glass, tires, etc. . Concrete is
obtained from natural aggregates, cement and water, compounds which make it a
cheap material and easy to produce anywhere.
Minimally processed materials

Minimally processed operations have been defined as, those procedures such
as washing, sorting, trimming, peeling, slicing, chopping, anti-oxidants
treatments and packing etc.

Natural materials t are unprocessed or minimally processed by industry, such as

lumber or glass. Synthetic materials are made in industrial settings after much
human manipulations, such as plastics and petroleum based paints. 
Products that are green because of what is not there

a. Products that reduce material use

b. Alternatives to ozone-depleting substances
c. Alternatives to products made from PVC and polycarbonate
d. Alternatives to conventional preservative-treated wood
e. Alternatives to other components considered hazardous

Products that reduce environmental impacts during construction, renovation,

or demolition

a. Products that reduce the impacts of new construction

b. Products that reduce the impacts of renovation
c. Products that reduce the impacts of demolition
Products that reduce the environmental impacts of building operation

a. Building products that reduce heating and cooling loads

b. Equipment that conserves energy
c. Renewable energy and fuel cell equipment
d. Fixtures and equipment that conserve water
e. Products with exceptional durability or low maintenance requirements f. Products
that prevent pollution or reduce waste
f. Products that reduce or eliminate pesticide treatments

Products that contribute to a safe, healthy indoor environment

a. Products that do not release significant pollutants into the building

b. Products that block the introduction, development, or spread of indoor
contaminants
c. Products that remove indoor pollutants
d. Products that warn occupants of health hazards in the building
e. Products that improve light quality
PRIORITIES FOR SELECTING BUILDING MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS

There are three priorities in selecting building materials for a project:

1. As with energy and water resources, the primary emphasis should be on reducing
the quantity of materials needed for construction.

2. The second priority is to reuse materials and products from existing buildings; this
is a relatively new strategy called deconstruction. Deconstruction is the whole or
partial dismantling of existing buildings for the purpose of recovering components
for reuse.

3. The third priority is to use products and materials that contain recycled content
and that are themselves recyclable or to use products and materials made from
renewable resources.
 TECHNICAL AND ORGANIC RECYCLING ROUTES
There are two general routes for recycling: technical and organic.

The technical recycling route is associated with synthetic materials, that is, materials that
do not exist in pure form in nature or are invented by humans. These include metals,
plastics, concrete, and nonwood composites, to name a few.

As noted earlier, only metals and plastics are fully recyclable; hence, they can potentially
retain their engineering properties through numerous cycles of reprocessing.

Materials in the technical or synthetic category require major investments of energy,

materials, and chemicals for their recycling.

Composting is the best-known organic recycling route. This route is designed to allow
nature to recycle building materials and turn them back into nutrients for ecosystems.

Vernacular architecture— design rooted in the building’s location—evolved to take advantage of local
resources such as wood, rock, and a few low-technology products made of metals and glass.

Today’s buildings are made from a far wider variety of materials, including polymers, composite materials,
and metal alloys. A side effect of these evolving building practices and materials technology is that neither
buildings nor the products that comprise them can be readily disassembled and recycled. For example, it
could be argued that recyclable plastics can be more environmentally friendly than cotton, whose
cultivation requires large quantities of energy, water, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer.