HW: Unit 2 Exercise 3d. Do an environmental audit for the following applications and materials.

. Application: electrical wires in vehicles Materials: copper and aluminium.

The role of the electricity in vehicles has grown a lot in the last decades. If we think at the first cars, they used electricity only for the ignition and nowadays we can see cars that can run only on batteries. With such a use of electrical power, it is very important to make the best option when choosing the material for electrical wires in vehicles. This audit refers to copper and aluminium as a possible option for the wires. Firstly, it is very important to take the pre-use phase in consideration, and from this point of view both metals are obtained through electrolytic methods and so, they are very expensive. However, as far as I know aluminium is a little bit cheaper. But what about the in-use phase? Is aluminium good when talking about conducting electricity? I think not. Aluminium is very light and has a low melting temperature. When we say electricity we also say heat so aluminium might melt if the intensity of the current is high. Even more I have found that copper is also a better electrical conductor than aluminium. And at last but not at least we have to look at the post-use phase too. Im not sure, but I think that both materials could be recycled, although aluminium might be easier to recycle because of its low melting temperature. Otherwise I dont think any of them are bad for the environment because the electrical wires are anyway insulated so they dont come in contact with the environment.

HW: Unit 2 Exercise 3d. Do an environmental audit for the following applications and materials. Application: external walls in houses Materials: bricks and softwood

Whether it is in town or it is in middle of the forest a house has its own charm and can not be compared with an apartment. But what materials should we use when we build it? This audit refers to bricks and softwood as two possible options of building the exterior walls. If we look at the pre-use phase, at this moment I am not sure which of bricks or softwood is easier to obtain. Of course if we have many trees it is much more easier and cheaper to cut them off and make houses of wood, but because we as human race did that in the past without planting another trees Im not sure that it is still a good idea and to wait for the trees in a forest to grow can last many years, time in which we could make millions of bricks. Unfortunately that would use a lot of energy and will also pollute the environment. Anyhow, this subject needs to be researched. But what about the in-use phase? I think it is easier to build a house with softwood and takes less time. However I think bricks are safer and also keep the temperature better in the house. The bad part when using bricks is that it doesnt allow the wall to breath so the risk is to have dampness. From the post-use phase point of view I am not sure if softwood doesnt have to be coated with some substance to stop the water to get trough. This substance might be toxic and therefore might cause damages to the environment, not to mention that just cutting the trees is bad and we can see its consequences: floods, landslides and other things like that. As about the recycling I think that bricks could be recycled but it would take too much time to demolish a house brick by brick so it might not be very efficient. Regarding the softwood, I dont think it could be recycled. We could maybe use it to make a garage or a warehouse but not to build a new house. Andrei Zene, 30212, an 1, CTI-RO