Construction and Building Materials 38 (2013) 872878

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Construction and Building Materials

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Review

Application of agro-waste for sustainable construction materials: A review

Mangesh V. Madurwar a, Rahul V. Ralegaonkar a,, Sachin A. Mandavgane b
a
b

Department of Civil Engineering, VNIT, Nagpur, India

Department of Chemical Engineering, VNIT, Nagpur, India

h i g h l i g h t s
" Application of agro-waste for sustainable construction material design is reviewed.
" Physico-mechanical properties of sustainable construction materials are reviewed.
" Methods of production and environmental impact of several materials are studied.
" The application provides solution to conservation of natural resource and energy.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 24 May 2012
Received in revised form 10 August 2012
Accepted 20 September 2012
Available online 30 October 2012
Keywords:
Agro-waste
Sustainable construction material
Physico-mechanical properties
Environmental impact

a b s t r a c t
The rapid urbanisation is creating a shortfall of conventional building construction materials due to limited availability of natural resources. On the other hand energy consumed for the production of conventional building construction materials pollutes air, water and land. In order to meet the ever increasing
demand for the energy efcient building construction materials there is a need to adopt cost effective,
environmentally appropriate technologies and upgrade traditional techniques with available local materials. Agro-industrial and other solid waste disposal is another serious issue of concern in developing
countries. The present paper explores the potential application of agro-waste as the ingredient for alternate sustainable construction materials. Based on the availability of agro-waste materials, sustainable
construction materials are evaluated for their physico-mechanical properties, methods of production
and environmental impact. The application of agro-waste for sustainable construction materials provides
a solution which offers reduction in natural resource use as well as energy.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Development of construction material from agro-waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.
Particle boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.
Thermal insulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.
Masonry composites/bricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.
Cementitious/pozzolana/binder material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.
Aggregate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.6.
Fibre reinforcement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.7.
Reinforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Further work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 712 2801090.

E-mail address: sanvan28@yahoo.com (R.V. Ralegaonkar).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.09.011

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1. Introduction
A large demand has been placed on building material industry
especially in the last decade owing to the increasing population
that causes a chronic shortage of building materials. In order to
meet ever increasing housing demand, there is an exponential
need of production of construction materials like bricks, cement,
aggregates, steel, aluminium, wood, cladding and partitioning
materials [1]. The production of conventional building materials
such as cement, bricks and steel consume a lot of thermal and electrical energy and in turn pollute air, water and land. The use of
appropriate building materials has not received adequate attention. Disposal of solid waste generated from agricultural and industrial production activity is another serious problem in developing
countries like India. The major quantities of wastes generated from
agricultural sources are sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, jute bre,
coconut husk, cotton stalk, etc. Reuse of such wastes as a sustainable construction material appears to be viable solution not only to
pollution problem but also to the problem of the land-lling and
high cost of building materials. Growth of population, increasing
urbanization, rising standards of living due to technological innovations have contributed to an increase in the quantity and variety
of solid wastes generated by industrial, mining, domestic and agricultural activities [2]. Annually, Asia alone generates 4.4 billion
tonnes of solid wastes [3]. Fig. 1 indicates the details on status of
agro-industrial waste generation from different sources in India
[2,46]. As can be seen from Fig. 1 that agricultural sources alone
contribute more than 350 MT per year. However, it is reported that
about 600 MT of wastes have been generated in India from agricultural sources alone [7]. The major quantity of wastes generated
from agricultural sources are sugarcane bagasse, paddy and wheat
straw and husk, wastes of vegetables, food products, tea, oil pro-

duction, jute bre, groundnut shell, wooden mill waste, coconut

husk, cotton stalk, etc. The major industrial non-hazardous inorganic solid wastes are coal combustion residues (CCRs), bauxite
red mud, tailings from aluminium, iron, copper and zinc primary
extraction processes [2,5,79]. In the present paper application of
locally available agro-waste materials have reviewed based on
end product construction material (viz. particle boards, thermal
insulators, masonry composites/bricks, cementitious/binder,
aggregates, etc.). The design process and physico-mechanical property of the reviewed sustainable construction material is elaborated further.
2. Development of construction material from agro-waste
2.1. Particle boards
Zhou et al. [10] had manufactured environment friendly binder
less cotton stalk breboard (BCSF) made from cotton stalk with no
chemical additives. The result showed that the thermal conductivity values had a strong linear correlation with the board density.
The internal bonding strength (IBS) of boards was good at the relatively-low density level. As an environment friendly and renewable material, the BCSF is particularly suitable for ceiling and
wall application to save energy. Quintana et al. [11] produced the
breboard by performing the pre-treatment on banana bunch
using non synthetic binders. The lignocellulosic material was
steam exploded with thermo-mechanical aqueous vapour process
in a batch reactor. Lertsutthiwong et al. [12] developed composite
particle boards with low thermal conductivity produced from a
mixture of solid waste from tissue paper manufacturing and corn
peel. Khedari et al. [13] developed low thermal conductivity particleboards with optimized durian peel and coconut coir mixture ra-

Fig. 1. Status of solid waste generation in India (million tonnes/year).

Table 1
Physico-mechanical properties of particle boards manufactured from various agro-wastes.
Agro-waste

Density
(kg/m3)

Thk. (mm)

MOE (MPa)

MOR
(MPa)

Water absorption (%)

Thermal conductivity
(W/m  K)

Source

Cotton stalk
Banana bunch
TPM/corn peel
Durian peel and coconut coir
Maize husk
Paddy straw
Coconut pith
Groundnut shell
Kenaf board

150450
1000
789 16
311856
310
190
290
540
150200

25
3
3.5
10
16
16
16
16

75
3361.95
21.3 5.4
146.4132239.152
427
930
282
523

0.55
22.30
5.6 2.2
2.93436.161
5.2
6.5
5.8
6.3

13

53.8 3.2
227.38232.291
1114
1114
1114
1114

0.05850.0815
N.A.
0.1470 0.0082
0.07640.1254
0.000348
0.000229
0.000314
0.000548
0.0510.058

[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[14]
[14]
[14]
[15]

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M.V. Madurwar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 38 (2013) 872878

tio. Two parameters were investigated, namely, the mixture ratio

of durian peel and coconut coir and board density. In the results
it was observed that in comparison with either durian or coconut-based particle boards, mixture of them has better thermal
and mechanical properties. Sampathrajan et al. [14] manufactured
particle boards from ve different agro wastes (Maize Husk, Paddy
Straw, Maize Cob, Coconut Coir/Pith and Groundnut Shell) using
urea formaldehyde as the binding material and the mechanical
and thermal properties of the boards were evaluated. Several
researchers had developed various agro-waste based particle
boards, the evaluated physico-mechanical outcome like density,
thickness (Thk.), modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture
(MOR), water absorption and thermal conductivity have been studied further (Table 1).
2.2. Thermal insulator
Buildings are less able to control the internal environment to
comfortable conditions without mechanical air conditioning [16].
An only technique for reducing the scale of air conditioning is
application of thermal insulation in walls and roofs. Pinto et al.
[17] studied tabique construction (Portuguese traditional building
techniques). An experimental work concluded that there are
signicant similarities between the corns cob and the extruded
polystyrene (XPS) material in terms of microstructure and
chemical composition. Furthermore, the results indicate that the
corns cob may have adequate thermal properties for building
purpose. Korjenic et al. [18] carried out a research to develop a
new insulating material from renewable resources (jute, ax and
hemp) with comparable building physics and mechanical properties to commonly used insulations materials. The tests results
showed that the correct combination of natural materials is
absolutely comparable with convectional materials. Onsippe
et al. [19] examined the thermal properties of cement composites
reinforced with vegetable bagasse bres. Experimental investigations revealed that adding ratied bagasse bres reduces thermal
conductivity of composites and yields a weaker specic heat. There
are several possible materials viz. bagasse, rice husk, coconut coir,
corn stalk, durian peel, and palm oil leaves are evaluated on the
basis of physico-mechanical results (Table 2). Among the studied
agro-waste materials bagasse, rice husk and coconut coir have
been observed to have lower thermal conductivity.
2.3. Masonry composites/bricks
Rajput et al. [23] had utilized recycle paper mills waste and cotton waste to manufacture waste-create bricks (WCBs). WCB with
varying content of cotton waste from 1% to 5% by weight
(15 wt.%), recycle paper mills waste from 89% to 85% by weight
(8985 wt.%) and xed content of Portland cement (10 wt.%) were
prepared and tested as per IS 3495 (Part 13): 1992 standards.
Results indicated that bricks are thermally stable and meet the
standard (IS 3495 (Part 13): 1992). Alami [24] investigated the

Table 2
Physico-mechanical properties of particle insulation board made from agro-waste
materials.
Agro-waste

Density
(kg/m3)

Thermal conductivity
(W/mK)

Source

Rice husk
Coconut coir
Bagasse
Corn cob
Durian peel
Oil palm leaves

150175
300350
90140
300330
400875
8001000

0.0460.056
0.0470.085
0.0470.050
0.0970.098
0.0650.150
0.1180.240

[16,20]
[16]
[16,19,21]
[16,17]
[13,16]
[16,22]

effect of adding unburnt olive husk to clay bricks on its thermomechanical properties. The amount of husk added was varied,
along with the drying temperature. The specimen scored the lower
thermal conductivity resulted than the conventional clay bricks.
Chiang et al. [25] produced the lightweight bricks from the sintering mixes of dried water treatment sludge and rice husk. Samples
containing up to 20 wt.% rice husks had been red using a heating
schedule that allowed effective organic burn-out. It was observed
that addition of rice husk below 15 wt.% and sintered at 1100 C
produced the low density and relatively high strength bricks
compliant with relevant Taiwan standards for lightweight bricks.
Ling and Teo [26] had developed the bricks from the waste rice
husk ash (RHA) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads. RHA was
used as partial replacement cement replacement while EPS was
used as partial aggregate replacement in the mixes. The engineering properties of the bricks were investigated. It was found that the
properties of the bricks were mainly inuenced by the content of
EPS and RHA in the mix and also the curing condition used.
Lertsatitthanakorn et al. [27] had developed rice husk ash based
sandcement block. Its performance was compared with that of a
standard commercial clay brick. It was resulted that the RHA based
sandcement block reduces solar heat transfer by 46 W. Demir [28]
utilized several organic residues having long cellulose bres like
sawdust, tobacco residues in clay bricks. The result indicated that
insulation capacity of brick increases with the increasing porosity
of clay body. It was observed that the brous nature of residue
did not create extrusion problems. As a result, sawdust, tobacco
residue and grass can be utilized in an environmentally safe way
as organic pore-forming agents in clay bricks. Algin and Turgut
[29,30] used combination of cotton wastes (CWs) limestone powder wastes (LPWs) and a combination wood sawdust wastes
(WSWs) and limestone powder wastes (LPWs) for producing low
cost and lightweight composite as a building material. The obtained
compressive strength, exural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity
(UPV), unit weight and water absorption values satisfy the relevant
international standards. It results a sturdy lighter weight composite
having potential to be used for walls, wooden board substitute,
economically alternative to the concrete blocks, ceiling panels,
sound barrier panels, etc. Rahman [31] developed bricks from
claysand mixes with different percentages of rice husk ash. The
effects of rice husk ash contents on workable mixing water content,
atterberg limits, linear shrinkage, density, compressive strength
and water absorption of the bricks were investigated. Test results
indicated that the compressive strength of the bricks was higher
with rice husk ash contents. Performance of various agro-waste
materials evaluated from the common tests of compressive
strength, water absorption and specic weight (Sp. Wt.) are studied
further (Table 3).
2.4. Cementitious/pozzolana/binder material
Amin [32] describes the waste product of sugar industries
(Bagasse ash) as a cement replacement in concrete. The results
indicated that bagasse ash (BA) is an effective mineral admixture
and pozzolana with the original ratio of 20% cement which reduced
the chloride diffusion by more than 50% without any adverse effects on other properties of the hardened concrete. Suvimol and
Daungruedee [33] reported the ground ash, with percentages retained on sieve no. 325 in the range of 328, were used as cement
replacement in the range of 2040%. According to Jaturapitakkul
et al. [34] the expansion and loss in compressive strength were reduced when the palm oil fuel ash (POFA) neness was increased.
The results suggested that ground POFA could be used as a pozzolanic material and could also improve the sulphate resistance of
concrete. Ramasamy and Biswas [35] utilized rice husk ash (RHA)
as a cement replacement material. The test results indicated that

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M.V. Madurwar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 38 (2013) 872878

Table 3
Physico-mechanical properties of bricks made from various agro-waste materials.
Agro-waste

Compressive
strength (MPa)

Water
absorption
(%)

Sp. wt.
(gm/cm3)

Source

Papercotton
wastecement
Tobacco residue
Grass
Cotton waste
cement
Sawdust
RHA

22.27 0.5

100

0.56 0.02

23

11.55
12.35
7.0 0.3

21.85
21.65
17.4 1.4

1.53
1.55
1.51

28
28
29

13.60
12.65

21.40
20.20

1.56
1.42

28,30
31

optimum quantity of RHA increases the mechanical properties of

concrete. Xu et al. [36] studied the microstructure of RHA from
the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and compressive strength test
results. It was observed that the optimum combustion temperature
for obtaining highly reactive RHA is 600 C. Thus, RHA can partially
replace cement as a mineral admixture for construction purpose.
Tashima et al. [37] in their research reported that the addition of
RHA enhances the strength and reduces the water absorption of
concrete. Adesanya and Raheem [38] utilized corn cob ash (CCA)
as a pozzolanic material for cement production. Factory production
of the CCA blended cement was carried out by replacing ordinary
portland cement clinker with CCA. The developed blended cement
satises both the NIS 439:2000 and ASTM C 150 requirements.
Ganesan et al. [39] in their study investigated the effects of BA content as partial replacement of cement on physical and mechanical
properties of hardened concrete. The properties of concrete investigated include compressive strength, splitting tensile strength,
water absorption, permeability characteristic, chloride diffusion
and resistance to chloride ion penetration. The test results indicate
that BA is an effective mineral admixture, with 20% as optimal
replacement ratio of cement. Chusilp et al. [40] investigated the
physical properties of concrete containing ground BA including
compressive strength, water permeability, and heat evolution.
Bagasse ash from a sugar factory was ground using a ball mill until
the particles retained on a no. 325 sieve were less than 5 wt.%. They
were then used as a replacement for Type I Portland cement at 10,
20 and 30 wt.% of binder. The water to binder (W/B) ratio and binder content of the concrete were held constant at 0.50 and 350 kg/
m3, respectively. The results showed that, at the age at 28 days, the
concrete samples containing 1030% ground bagasse ash by
weight of binder had greater compressive strengths than the control concrete (concrete without ground bagasse ash), while the
water permeability was lower than the control concrete. Concrete
containing 20% ground bagasse ash had the highest compressive
strength at 113% of the control concrete. The water permeability
of concrete decreased as the fractional replacement of ground bagasse ash was increased. For the heat evolution, the maximum
temperature rise of concrete containing ground bagasse ash was
lower than the control concrete. It was also found that the maximum temperature rise of the concrete was reduced 13%, 23%,
and 33% as compared with the control concrete when the cement
was replaced by ground bagasse ash at 10, 20, and 30 wt.% of binder, respectively. According to Cordeiro et al. [41] incorporation of
an ultra nely-ground ash in a high-performance concrete for partial replacement of Portland cement resulted in no measurable
change in mechanical behaviour, but improved rheology and resistance to penetration of chloride ions. Sata et al. [42] investigated
the effects of agro-industrial by-product pozzolana on mechanical
properties of high-strength concrete. The results suggested that
the agro-wastes and its by-products can be utilized as a substitute
to portland cement to produce high-strength concrete without
alteration the mechanical properties of concrete. Rukzon and

Chindaprasirt [43] utilized bagasse ash (BA) as a pozzolanic material for producing high-strength concrete. The concrete mixtures,
in part, were replaced with 10%, 20% and 30% of BA respectively.
The compressive strength, porosity, the coefcient of water
absorption, the rapid chloride penetration and chloride diffusion
of concrete were determined. The test results indicated that the
incorporation of BA up to 30% replacement level not only increases
the resistance to chloride penetration but also increases the
compressive strength reasonably. Nair et al. [44] examined the
long-term strength of different rice husk ashes as a pozzolana with
lime or cement to suggest a sustainable affordable option for rural
housing in India. According to Akram et al. [45] the compressive
strengths developed by the self compacting concrete mixes with
bagasse ash at 28 days were compared to the control concrete. Cost
analysis showed that the cost of ingredients of specic self compacting concrete mix was 35.63% less than that of control concrete,
both having compressive strength above 34 MPa. Memon et al. [46]
utilized rice husk ash as viscosity modifying agent in self compacting concrete (SCC). Based on the experimental results it was
observed that the possibility of developing low cost SCC using
RHA is feasible. Fairbairn et al. [47] in their study carried out the
simulation to estimate the potential of CO2 emission reductions
and the viability to issue certied emission reduction (CER) credits.
The simulation was developed within the framework of the
methodology established by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the Clean Development Mechanism. The results indicated that sugarcane bagasse
ash (SCBA) blended cement reduces CO2 emissions and generally
improves the behaviour of the cementitious construction
materials. Several researchers had utilized various agro-waste
by-products as pozzolanic/cementitious material in various
classications of concretes (i.e. ordinary concrete Table 4 and high
strength concrete Table 5), to evaluated physico-mechanical
properties like compressive strength and water absorption.

Table 4
Cement replacement, water to binder ratio (w/b) and compressive strength of various
agro-wastes for ordinary concrete.
Agrowaste

Cement
replacement
(%)

w/b
ratio (%)

Compressive strength,
28 days (MPa)

Source

Bagasse
ash
Palm oil
fuel ash
Rice husk
ash

30

0.53

32.00

32

30

0.71

30.10

34

30

0.504

49.74

44

Table 5
Cement replacement, water to cement ratio (w/c) and compressive strength of
various agro-wastes for high strength concrete.
Agrowaste

Cement
replacement
(%)

w/c
ratio
(%)

Compressive
strength, 28 days
(MPa)

Design
strength
(MPa)

Source

Rice
husk
barak
ash
Palm oil
fuel
ash
Bagasse
ash

10
20
30

0.28
0.28
0.28

86
88
85

78

42

10
20
30
10
20
30

0.28
0.28
0.28
0.30
0.30
0.30

81
86
80
65
67
68

78

42

65

43

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M.V. Madurwar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 38 (2013) 872878

2.5. Aggregate

2.7. Reinforcement

Mannan and Ganapathy [48] utilized Oil Palm Shell (OPS) as a

coarse aggregate for a structural concrete. The results indicated
that the bulk density of OPS concrete is about 1850 kg/m3 and
the compressive strength was in between 20 and 24 N/mm2 for
28 days; that satises the strength requirement of structural
lightweight concrete. Sales and Lima [49] prepared mortars and
concretes with sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) as sand replacement
and performance tests were carried out. The results indicate
that the SCBA samples presented physical properties similar to
those of natural sand. The mortars produced with SCBA in place
of sand showed better mechanical results than the conventional
mortar.

Ghavami [56] studied the ultimate load behaviour of bamboo

reinforced lightweight concrete beams and the results indicated
that the tensile strength of bamboo is relatively high and can reach
370 MPa that makes bamboo an attractive alternative to steel in
tensile loading applications. This is due to the fact that the ratio
of tensile strength to specic weight of bamboo is six times greater
than that of steel. Rahman et al. [57] carried out the performance
evaluation of bamboo reinforced concrete beam and from stress
strain curves of bamboo. It was observed that bamboo possesses
low modulus of elasticity compared to steel and it cannot prevent
cracking of concrete under ultimate load. But, from the exural test
of bamboo reinforced beam, it was observed that using bamboo as
reinforcement in concrete can increase the load carrying capacity
of beam having the same dimensions. For singly bamboo reinforced concrete beam, the load carrying capacity increased about
2 times and that for doubly bamboo reinforced concrete beam
about 2.5 times than that of plain concrete beam having same
dimensions. The maximum deection of singly reinforced beam
and doubly reinforced beam are about 4.5 and 8 times respectively
than that of plain concrete. Mahzuz et al. [58] studied the strength
properties of composite members made up of bamboo. It determined the compressive strength of bamboo, the strength of composite column made up of bamboo and mortar in its hollow area,
and the strength of composite column of bamboo and concrete.
Different mixing ratios and cross-sectional areas were used for
conducting the study. From the results of study it was observed
that samples constructed as aid of bamboo can offer respectable
amount of strength that can be safely used for low-cost housing.
Mark and Russell [59] carried out a comparative study of bamboo
reinforced concrete beams with shear links made of different
materials. The different stirrup materials considered were bamboo,
rattan cane and steel. From the results it was recommended that
bamboo reinforced concrete beams were reinforced with steel stirrups to improve on its load carrying behaviour.

2.6. Fibre reinforcement

As reported by Coutts [50], vegetable bres contain cellulose, a
natural polymer, as the main reinforcement material. The chains of
cellulose form micro-brils, which are held together by amorphous
hemicelluloses and lignin that form brils. The brils are assembled in various layers to build up the structure of the bre. Fibres
or cells are cemented together in the plant by lignin, which can
be dissolved by the alkalinity of the cement matrix [51]. According
to Ghavami [52] vegetable bres can be used either alone or as
reinforcement in different types of matrices such as soil and cement composites. Li et al. [53] recommended use of sisal bre as
a promising reinforcement for use in composites on account of
its low cost, low density, high specic strength and modulus, no
health risk, easy availability in some countries and renewability.
Ramakrishna and Sundararajan [54] studied the variation in chemical composition and tensile strength of coir, sisal, jute and hibiscus
bres, when they are subjected to alternate wetting and drying and
continuous immersion for 60 days in three different medium of
water, saturated lime and sodium hydroxide respectively. From
the results it was observed that theres a substantial reduction in
the salient chemical composition of all four bres, after exposure
in the various mediums. Coir bres are found to retain higher percentages of their initial strength than all other bres, after the
specied period of exposure in the various mediums. The compressive and exural strengths of all natural bre reinforced mortar
specimens using corroded bres (i.e. the bres subjected to continuous immersion/alternate wetting and drying in the above mediums) are less than the strength of the reference mortar (i.e.
without bres) and bre reinforced mortar specimen reinforced
with dry natural bres. Ashour et al. [55] utilised straw as a reinforcement bre in plaster material for wall plaster. Three types
of straw were used such as wheat straw, barley straw and wood
shavings. The result indicated that the thermal conductivity of
materials decreased with increasing straw bre content and decreased with increasing sand content. The straw bres have greater
effect on the change of thermal conductivity than the effect of
sand. The result also revealed that plaster reinforced by barley
straw bres has the highest values of thermal insulation. The various physico-chemical characteristics of the natural bres are presented in Table 6.

3. Discussion
It is observed from the review (Tables 15) that researchers
have used various agro-wastes materials in different proportions
and also adopted various methodologies to produce different
building materials and composites viz. particle boards, thermal
insulated wall and ceiling panels, bricks, cementitious pozzolana
for concretes. Several thermo-mechanical tests were conducted
on different materials and composites as per the various available
standards. The common parameters calculated for the particle and
insulating boards were density, MOE, MOR and thermal conductivity. It is observed that densities of particle boards manufactured
from incorporating agro-wastes are meeting the minimum
requirement of standards (S-20 grade of JIS A 5905-1994) [60].
Thermal conductivity values of these materials and composites lies
in the standard range 0.0540.143 W/mK and satises the requirement of insulation materials as per BS874-2 [61]. The common test
parameters calculated by the various researchers for the brick or
masonry is water absorption and compressive strength. Minimum

Table 6
Physico-chemical properties of natural bres.
Fibre type

Fibre length (mm)

Fibre diameter (mm)

Tensile strength (N/mm2)

Elongation (%)

Hemi-cellulose (%)

Cellulose (%)

Lignin (%)

Source

Coir
Sisal
Jute
Hibiscus

60250
180600
1281525
1631527

0.400.10
0.100.50
0.040.35
0.040.16

15327
31221
29312
18180

75.0
14.8
19.0
12.4

31.1
26
22.7
25

33.2
38.2
33.4
28

20.5
26.0
28.0
22.7

54
54
54
54

M.V. Madurwar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 38 (2013) 872878

range recommended for characteristic compressive strength for

non load bearing and load bearing solid red clay brick are 3
5 MPa and 510 MPa respectively. IS code also species the water
absorption of brick to be not more than 20% by weight. It is observed that all the brick incorporating agro-wastes satisfy the criterion of compressive strength whereas the water absorption
value slightly exceeds the requirement of IS 1077:1992 [62] and
needs the further investigations. The common parameter required
for utilising any material as mineral admixture or pozzolana depends on the proportion of silica in its by-product. Burnt residue
by-product of quality conforming IS 456:2000 can be used as pozzolana in the manufacturing of concrete provided that there are
satisfactory data on their suitability such as performance test on
concrete containing that residue [63]. The performance test conducted on concretes containing various proportions of different
agro-waste residues indicated that the characteristic compressive
strength of concrete is enhanced whereas effect of chemical attacks
like chloride and sulphate are diminished. The overall performance
and durability of the concrete is enhanced with the addition of
agro-waste burnt residue. The purpose of bre reinforcement is
to improve the properties of a building material but the main
drawback to the use the natural bres is the durability of these bres in a cementitious matrix. The alkaline media weaken the most
natural bres, especially the vegetable ones which are actually
strands of individual laments liable to separated from each other.
The severe degradation of exposed composites can also be attributed to interfacial damages due to continuous volume changes of
the porous vegetable bres inside the cement matrix. There are
two approaches to improve the durability of vegetable bres.
One is based on the protection of the bres by coating them or
sealing the dry composite to avoid the effect of water, mainly alkalinity. The other approach is reduction of free alkalis in the matrix
by developing low alkaline binders based on industrial and agricultural by-products. The consumption of building components made
of bre reinforced cement is increasing rapidly specially in developing countries because with this type of material it is possible
to produce light weight building components, with good mechanical performance, suitable thermal-acoustic insulation and its economic viability. Traditionally steel is used as reinforcement in
concrete. But because of cost and availability, replacement of steel
with some other suitable materials as reinforcement is now a major concern. Bamboo is natural, cheap, widely available and most
importantly strong in both tension and compression. Maximum
tensile strength of bamboo is up to 370 MPa whereas compression
test of bamboo gives an average stress of 41.02 MPa these are the
good value to resist moderate loads especially of low cost
buildings.

4. Conclusion
Accumulation of unmanaged agro-waste especially from the
developing counties has an increased environmental concern.
Recycling of such wastes into sustainable, energy efcient construction materials is a viable solution for the problem of pollution
and natural resource conservation for future generation. The various methodologies to design the construction building materials
have been reviewed. Various physical, mechanical properties of
the construction building materials are studied in accordance with
reviewed literature and relevant standards. Agro-wastes have
shown the potential to develop energy efcient and cost effective
sustainable construction materials along with enhanced thermomechanical behaviour. From the various literatures it is observed
that construction products/composites produced from various
agro-waste materials are comparatively cheaper, have lower thermal conductivity and are durable, lightweight and environmental

877

friendly than the conventional one. The application of agro-wastes

and its by-product as a raw material is of practical signicance for
developing material components as substitutes for traditional construction materials and are environmental friendly.

5. Further work
The reviewed literature broadly signies the application of various solid agro-wastes for innovative construction materials. The
reviewed physical, chemical and mechanical properties of these
innovative materials signify broad variation in the behaviour. An
international benchmarking can further be done for better application of these innovative construction materials. Water absorption
is a serious concern for most of the reviewed products which needs
further investigations. The demonstrative model houses can be designed and developed over the specic study area to evaluate the
environmental performance. The techno-economic feasibility of
the developed product will be carried out for potential commercial
application. A national level database can be prepared based on
production of agro-waste materials along with its potential application in construction industry. The generated database will eventually be benecial to the manufacturers to develop innovative
construction materials.

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