Report title Ecology and sustainability of building materials Select 5 most commonly used building materials and analyze

them on account of: a) b) c) d) e) f) Energy consumption in production processing and transportation Pollution in production, use and demolition Renewable or non renewable sources Potential for re-use/recycling Health hazards in production and use Cost of maintenance Suggest alternate choices for non-environment friendly materials

1. INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 2. METHODOLOGY FOR FIELD RESEARCH

It has been given in the assignment to select 5 most commonly used building materials and to analyze them on the account of sustainability and their environmental impacts on the surroundings. The five materials which I have selected are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Brick Concrete Glass Steel Wood

These materials have been analyzed on the account of: a) b) c) d) e) f) Energy consumption in production processing and transportation Pollution in production, use and demolition Renewable or non renewable sources Potential for re-use/recycling Health hazards in production and use Cost of maintenance

Suggestion for environmental friendly materials have also been given in the end of the report.

3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose.

Unlike all other living creatures, man has always to protect himself against nature by means of clothing and buildings. Apart from animal hides, building materials are the oldest category of materials used by man to maintain his existence, followed soon by weapons. The traditional materials used in the developing world were by their nature more sustainable than most modern materials. Renewable or very widely available raw materials were used without elaborate or energy consuming processes, though frequent labour intensive maintenance was required. Modern materials often imply greater environmental impact, without necessarily assuring of better environmental quality. This rises the problems of comparing and assessing different types of variables.

The construction industry is a huge and increasing consumer of materials. Total materials take by all industries currently runs over 10 billion tons per annum, with construction responsible for around 80% of that amount. Construction uses a wider range of materials than almost any other industry, including metals, ceramics, plastics, natural materials such as timber and natural stones, etc. Construction materials are not particularly high-technology types, neither are they expensive. Compared with other industries, the materials for construction are, in general, among the cheapest. They are not high embodied-energy materials. There are several aspects that must be taken into consideration when choosing building materials with regard to the sustainability:

Limit use and reuse of building materials;

The environmental impact of building materials;

Use of residual products;

The possibilities for recycling of the chosen materials;

The durability of buildings and materials;

The quantity of energy required for the production and the use of the materials. Sustain means to support or to keep a process going, and the goal of sustainability is that life on the planet can be sustained for the foreseeable future. There are three components of sustainability: environment, economy, and society. To meet its goal, sustainable development must provide that these three components remain healthy and balanced. Furthermore, it must do so simultaneously and throughout the entire planet, both now and in the future. At the moment, the environment is probably the most important component, and an engineer or architect uses sustainability to mean having no net negative impact on the environment. Thus the term sustainable has come to be synonymous with environmentally sound or friendly and green. Despite the critical importance of all three components (environmental, economic, and social) in sustainable development, this report focuses on the environmental impact of most commonly used building materials.

In the manufacture and use of construction materials, the critical elements of environmental impact are the utilization of resources, the embodied energy, and the generation of waste materials. These are the issues that engineers and architects must consider when planning and building a structure. In order to estimate the environmental impact of a building material, it is necessary to consider all stages in the life of the material. Each construction material is manufactured from some combination of raw materials, with some expenditure of energy, and with associated wastes. Therefore manufacture is an essential element in computing the environmental impact, and manufacture is probably the element most widely cited when considering the environmental impact of construction materials. Are the raw materials renewable? Are they scarce? Are they important to the global environment? How much energy is required in the manufacture? How much waste is produced during the manufacture? What impact do these wastes have on the environment? These questions are very important and in order to achieve sustainability, these points must be considered.

1. CONCRETE
Concrete is a high-volume, low-cost building material produced by mixing cement, water and coarse and fine aggregates. Its use is nearly universal in modern construction, as it is an essential component of roads, foundations, high-rises, dams and other staples of the developed landscape.

Energy consumption is production, processing and transportation: Concrete is manufactured from aggregates (rock and sand), hydraulic cement, and water. It usually contains a small amount of some chemical admixture, and it often contains a mineral admixture replacing some portion of the cement. A typical concrete formulation contains a large amount of coarse and fine aggregate, a moderate amount of cement and water, and a small amount of admixture.

The aggregates are usually obtained by mining. The coarse and fine aggregates are usually mined separately. Occasionally aggregate is obtained as a by-product of some other process (e.g., slag or recycled concrete). Aggregates may be crushed and may be washed. They are usually separated into various size fractions and reconstituted so as to satisfy the grading requirements. A modest amount of energy is involved in all these processes. The hydraulic cement may be straight Portland cement or a mixture of Portland cement and some proportion of a supplemental cementing material such as fly ash or slag. Portland cement is usually manufactured by heating a mixture of limestone and shale in a kiln to a high temperature (approximately 1500C), then intergrinding the resulting clinker with gypsum to form a fine powder. Thus it is not surprising that the Portland cement has a rather high embodied energy. Energy consumption is the biggest environmental concern with cement and concrete production. Cement production is one of the most energy intensive of all industrial manufacturing processes. Including direct fuel use for mining and transporting raw materials, cement production takes about six million Btus for every ton of cement (Table 2). In some Third World countries, cement production accounts for as much as two-thirds of total energy use, according to the Worldwatch Institute. Supplemental cementing materials, as noted above, may also be used as mineral admixtures in concrete. These are byproducts of other manufacturing processes and as such are taken to have minimal embodied energy. The water in concrete is normally ordinary tap water with no further processing. Thus it has very little embodied energy and no waste. Concrete is usually manufactured by combining and mixing these constituents in large batches in a ready-mixed concrete plant and hauling the mixture to the construction site in a truck. These

processes (moving materials, mixing them, and hauling the concrete) require modest amounts of energy and produce small amounts of waste. Including energy for hauling, sand and crushed stone have embodied energy values of about 40,000 and 100,000 Btus per ton, respectively. Concrete used in structural applications normally includes some amount of reinforcing steel, and in some applications this steel is prestressed. Prestressed concrete is often precast. Precast concrete is manufactured at a plant and heated to accelerate the early hydration reactions and allow rapid removal from formwork. The environmental impact of using concrete at a construction site is basically similar to the impact of manufacturing concrete in a ready-mixed concrete plant. The concrete is moved to its desired location, consolidated into the formwork, and finished. After the concrete has set and gained some strength, the formwork is typically removed. These are all low-energy operations. The impact of concrete on sustainability during the lifetime of the structure is primarily a function of its role in energy transmittance (i.e., its insulating properties) and its role in energy storage. Concrete is not an especially good heat conductor, not as good as steel, for example. It is also not an especially good insulator, not as good as wood, for example. A very high porosity is necessary to provide good insulating properties, and concrete has less porosity than wood. On the other hand, concrete provides a large thermal mass so it can store energy and release it later.

Embodied Energy for Cement and Concrete Production

Notes: Calculations of energy requirements for cement production based on figures supplied by the Portland Cement Association, 1990 data. Aggregate and hauling energy requirements based on data supplied by PCA and based on the following assumptions: Cement hauled 50 miles to ready-mix plant Aggregate hauled 10 miles to plant

 Concrete mix hauled 5 miles to building site Concrete mix: 500 lbs. cement, 1,400 lbs. sand, 2,000 lbs. crushed stone, 260 lbs. water/yard.

Energy requirements for transportation of concrete are low because it is produced locally from local resources, typically manufactured within 100 kilometers of the job site. The overall embodied energy of concrete is therefore lower than for most structural materials other than wood. Pollution in production, use and demolition Pollution caused by cement production:

There are two very different sources of carbon dioxide emissions during cement production. The reaction between limestone and shale to produce clinker produces CO2. Furthermore, the fuel used in the kiln and the electricity in the grinding mills themselves produces some amount of gaseous waste, principally CO2 and CO. These gases are non toxic and are released to the atmosphere, where they contribute to global warming. Combustion of fossil fuels to operate the rotary kiln is the largest source: approximately 3 4 tons of CO 2 per ton of cement. But the chemical process of calcining limestone into lime in the cement kiln also produces CO 2: CaCO 3 CaO + CO 2 limestone lime + carbon dioxide

This chemical process is responsible for roughly 1/2 ton of CO 2 per ton of cement, according to researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Combining these two sources, for every ton of

cement produced, 1.25 tons of CO 2 is released into the atmosphere (Table 4). In the United States, cement production accounts for approximately 100 million tons of CO 2 emissions, or just under 2% of our total human-generated CO 2. Worldwide, cement production now accounts for more than 1.6 billion tons of CO 2over 8% of total CO 2 emissions from all human activities.

Suggestion: The most significant way to reduce CO 2 emissions is improving the energy efficiency of the cement kiln operation. Indeed, dramatic reductions in energy use have been realized in recent decades, as discussed above. Switching to lower-CO 2 fuels such as natural gas and agricultural waste (peanut hulls, etc.) can also reduce emissions. Another strategy, which addresses the CO 2 emissions from calcining limestone, is to use waste lime from other industries in the kiln. Substitution of fly ash for some of the cement in concrete can have a very large effect. The U.S. EPA (cited by UBC researchers) estimates total particulate (dust) emissions of 360 pounds per ton of cement produced, the majority of which is from the cement kiln. Other sources of dust from cement production are handling raw materials, grinding cement clinker, and packaging or loading finished cement, which is ground to a very fine powderparticles as small as 1 25,000 of an inch. Pollution caused by concrete manufacturing: During the concrete manufacturing, dust, unused concrete, and wash water contaminated with concrete are the principal waste, and the latter two wastes may be at least partially reclaimed and reused. Common sources of dust are sand and aggregate mining, material transfer, storage (wind erosion from piles), mixer loading, and concrete delivery (dust from unpaved roads). Dust emissions can be controlled through water sprays, enclosures, hoods, curtains, and covered chutes. Other air pollution emissions from cement and concrete production result from fossil fuel burning for process and transportation uses. Air pollutants commonly emitted from cement manufacturing plants include sulfur dioxide (SO 2) and nitrous oxides (NO X). SO 2 emissions (and to a lesser extent SO 3, sulfuric acid, and hydrogen sulfide) result from sulfur content of both the raw materials and the fuel (especially coal).

Waste during the use of precast concrete includes unused concrete, contaminated wash water, and used formwork. Formwork may be wood, which must be disposed in a landfill, but sometimes it is steel and can be reused. Water Pollution

Another environmental issue with cement and concrete production is water pollution. The concern is the greatest at the concrete production phase. Wash-out water with high pH is the number one environmental issue for the ready mix concrete industry, according to Richard Morris of the National Ready Mix Concrete Association. At the batch plant, washwater from equipment cleaning is often discharged into settling ponds where the solids can settle out. Potential for re-use/recycling At the end of its service life, a concrete structure can be demolished and disposed. The demolition process is done by brute force -- depending on the size of the structure, it may involve controlled blasting or some type of hammer. These processes use modest amounts of energy. Concrete, which must be free of trash, wood, paper and other such materials, is collected from demolition sites and put through a crushing machine, often along with asphalt, bricks and rocks. Reinforced concrete contains rebar and other metallic reinforcements, which are removed with magnets and recycled elsewhere. The remaining aggregate chunks are sorted by size. Larger chunks may go through the crusher again. Smaller pieces of concrete are used as gravel for new construction projects. Aggregate base gravel is laid down as the lowest layer in a road, with fresh concrete or asphalt placed over it. Crushed recycled concrete can sometimes be used as the dry aggregate for brand new concrete if it is free of contaminants, though the use of recycled concrete limits strength and is not allowed in many jurisdictions.

Recycled crushed concrete being loaded into a semi-dump truck to be used as granular fill. The waste produced by demolition of a concrete structure includes dust, powder, and fragments of concrete. These are typically land filled.

Renewable or non renewable sources Use of water in concrete is only an environmental issue in locations where the water is already not sufficient for basic needs. conclusion Cement and concrete are vital components in building construction today. Concrete has many environmental advantages, including durability, longevity, heat storage capability, and (in general) chemical inertness. For passive solar applications, concretes ability to function as a structural element while also providing thermal mass makes it a valuable material. In many situations concrete is superior to other materials such as wood and steel. But cement production is very energy intensivecement is among the most energy-intensive materials used in the construction industry and a major contributor to CO 2 in the atmosphere. To minimize environmental impact, therefore, we should try to reduce the quantity of concrete used in buildings, use alternative types of concrete (with fly ash, for example), and use that concrete wisely.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/1993/3/1/Cement-and-ConcreteEnvironmental-Considerations/

Health Concerns in production and use

Working with wet concrete requires a number of precautions, primarily to protect your skin from the high alkalinity. Rubber gloves and boots are typically all that is required to provide protection. Cement dermatitis, though relatively uncommon, occasionally occurs among workers in the concrete industry who fail to wear the proper protective clothing. Once it has hardened, concrete is generally very safe. Traditionally, it has been one of the most inert of our building materials and, thus, very appropriate for chemically sensitive individuals.

As concrete production has become higher-tech, however, that is changing. A number of chemicals are now commonly added to concrete to control setting time, plasticity, pumpability, water content, freeze-thaw resistance, strength, and color. Most concrete retarders are relatively innocuous sucrose- (sugar-) based chemicals, added in proportions of .03% to .15%. Workability agents or superplasticizers can include such chemicals as sulfonated melamine-formaldehyde and sulphonated napthalene formaldehyde condensates. Air-entraining admixtures function by incorporating air into the concrete to provide resistance to damage from freeze-thaw cycles and to improve workability. These are usually added to the cement and identified with the letter A after the type (Type IA). These materials can include various types of inorganic salts (salts of wood resins and salts of sulphonated lignin, for example), along with more questionable chemicals such as alkyl benzene sulphonates and methyl-ester-derived cocamide diethanolamine. Fungicides, germicides, and insecticides are also added to some concrete. Because of these chemical admixtures, todays concrete could conceivably offgas small quantities of formaldehydes and other chemicals into the indoor air. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find out from the manufacturers the actual chemicals in these admixtures. For chemically sensitive clients, it may be advisable to specify concrete with a bare minimum of admixtures, or use a sealer on the finished concrete to minimize offgassing. Asphalt-impregnated expansion joint filler, curing agents that are sometimes applied to the surface of concrete slabs to reduce water evaporation, special oils used on concrete forms, and certain sealants used for treating finished concrete slabs and walls can also cause health problems with some chemically sensitive individuals. Finally, concrete floors and walls can cause moisture problems and lead to mold and mildew growth, which cause significant health problems in certain individuals. There are two common sources of moisture: moisture wicking through concrete from the surrounding soil; and moisture from the house that may condense on the cold surface of concrete. Cost of maintenance

SUGGESTIONS Cement Substitutes Replacing energy-consuming Portland cement with recyclable materials and minerals offers two distinct benefits to the environmentit significantly reduces the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere and it minimizes massive landfill disposal. A promising green concrete being heralded for sustainability is high-volume fly ash concrete. Fly ash is a by-product of coal-burning power plants, and in the past, almost 75% of fly ash produced made its way to landfills.

Recycled fly ash, when mixed with lime and water, forms a compound similar to Portland cement and is extremely strong and durable. High-volume fly ash concrete displaces more than 25% of the cement used in traditional concrete, reducing the amount of emissions needed to make the concrete mix. Fly ash concrete was somewhat difficult to source in the past. Due to a significant increase in demand, there are more producers and distributors working to steadily increase the fly ash supply.

AshCrete is a concrete substitute that relies heavily on the use of recycled fly ash. Made up of 97% recycled materials, AshCrete is made from fly ash, bottom ash, borate, and a chemical from the chlorine family. (Note: The use of such a chemical is not environmentally friendly because chlorine, used in this way, is suspected to cause a number of environmental and human health problems. The inventor of AshCrete is currently seeking a natural substitute for this chemical.) As a building product AshCrete is known for its extreme strength, approximately twice the strength of Portland cement. Similar to fly ash, blast furnace slag is another by-product that can be recycled and used as a cement substitute for concrete. It is produced from blast furnaces used to make iron and, like fly ash, creates a very strong cement when mixed with lime and water. Commonly referred to as slag, it can be easier to find than fly ash. The newest cement substitute being introduced into green building is carbon concrete, a thermoplastic. To make this material, an oil refinery by-product (a heavy residual substance that is typically very difficult to dispose of) is turned into a binder material to replace the use of cement.

Unlike fly ash and slag, carbon concrete cannot be used for tall buildings or towers because there is some degree of creep over time. This material is recommended primarily for use in flooring and paved roads because of its tendency to settle. Shell and The University of Delft have developed this technology and it is being promoted and distributed by a company called C-Fix. At this time it only is used in Europe, but C-Fix is looking to expand their operations very soon

Concrete Alternatives In addition to cement substitutes, there are other ways of making concrete more sustainable, based on two core environmental principlesrecycle and reduce. These alternatives include:

The use of recycled aggregate materials and preparations that results in reduced amounts of concrete needed to complete the job. Conventionally, cement was mixed with virgin materials, such as sand or gravel, to make durable, workable concrete. The use of recycled materials has gained credibility and momentum in the concrete industry

and aggregate is now mined from various solid wastes, including: fiberglass waste materials, discarded glass, granulated plastics, wood products, old tires, and more.

Papercrete or fibercrete/fibrous concrete that is made by using waste paper as an aggregate material. These concrete mixtures still rely on the use of cement, but the amount of cement used represents a fairly small percentage of the cured material by volume, so one can argue that it is a greener alternative than traditional concrete. Other alternatives, such as foam crete, ceramicrete, glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC), and grasscrete, which reduce the overall amount of concrete in use, resulting in decreased emissions and energy expenditures. o Foam crete is a lighter, aerated, foam-based concrete that requires less energy to produce. o Ceramicrete and glass fiber reinforced concrete are twice as strong as traditional concrete, so builders use less of it. o Grasscrete is a method of laying concrete in a checkered, cellular pattern that allows grass to grow between the concrete blocks. The result? Less concrete used and improved drainage and storm run-off. Another green alternative is concrete produced in a dry-process kiln. These kilns are much more thermally efficient than wet-process kilns and drastically reduce energy consumption.

2. CLAY BRICK
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar.[1] It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.

PRODUCTION PROCESS After extraction from quarries, the clay raw material is laid out in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Several stages are involved in preparing the clay. It is stockpiled, then crushed to attain the required grain size and then stockpiled again for several days or even months. Before processing, the moisture content is controlled and it may be necessary to add water to obtain the right consistency for forming. Materials such as sawdust or residue of paper industry can be added to increase the porosity of the final product. For bricks, the clay is extruded or molded to obtain the shape required and then cut to size. In roof tile making, the clay can undergo a two-stage process, the second of which may occur after extrusion, depending on the roof tile being manufactured. For example, for interlocking tiles, the extruded clay is pressed between two moulds.

The formed clay is dried in order to reduce its moisture content and then loaded into kilns for firing. When this is completed and the products have cooled, they are packed ready for dispatch. Throughout all stages of production, the process is subject to rigorous quality control. ENERGY CONSUMPTION The energy consumed during the manufacture of clay products is primarily that used in forming, drying and firing.
As in the cement and lime industry, most of the energy used in brick manufacture is required to fire the bricks - typically more than 95 per cent of all energy use. There are considerable differences between the energy requirements for different types of brick kilns, depending on whether the firing is continuous or intermittent, on the size and heat-transfer efficiency of the kiln and on whether the brick-earth used contains combustible materials.

Energy consumption in brick-making technologies Technology Scale of Labour required production (man-hr for 1000 (No. of bricks) solid bricks) 2,000 2,000 20 to 30 30 to 40 Over-all energy consumption (MJ/1000 solid bricks) 7,000 to 10,000 10,000 to 15,000

Small-scale production, all manual methods, clamps, stoves, scotch kilns Small-scale production, all manual methods, up draught and down draught kilns Medium-scale production, all manual methods, Bulls kilns Medium-scale production, semimechanized method, Hoftmann on zigzag kiln Large-scale production, full mechanized tunnel kiln

20,000 30,000

30 to 40 30 to 35

4,000 3,000 to 3,500

150,000

10 to 15

3000 to 4000

In addition to the size of kilns, the actual amount of fuel required to burn a given amount of bricks would depend, among others, on the following factors: (a) characteristics of raw material (clay); (b) porosity of bricks; (c) volume of water (moisture) to be evaporated; (d) quality of the carbonaceous matters in the bricks; (e) temperature to be attained; (f) reuse of hot air generated in the kiln; (g) quality of fuel

Typical fuel requirements of kilns Type of Kiln Heat Requirement Quantity of Fuel Requirement (MJ/1000 Bricks) (Tons/1000 Bricks) Wood Coal Oil Intermittent 7,000 to 15.000 0.50-1.0 0.25-0.6 0.15-0.35 Continuous 2,000 to 5,000 0.15-0.3 0.10-0.2 0.05-0.1

POLLTUION Atmospheric emissions are associated with all phases of the manufacturing process. Three main kinds of gaseous emission occur: Emissions coming from ceramic conversion of the raw material in the kiln. The emissions are HCl (hydrochloric acid), HF (hydrofluoric acid), SOx (sulphuric acid) and C02. Exhaust gas emissions from combustion processes (from drying and firing plants). The emissions are CO (carbon monoxide), CO2 (carbon dioxide), NOx (nitrogen oxides) and particles. Emissions due to the use of organic substances (additives). The emissions are VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

Fired clay bricks are responsible for the greater of environmental impacts amongst bricks. The firing of clay consumes large amounts of energy produced largely from fossil fuels causing release of CO2. The primary source of air pollution is the firing kiln. Emissions are from the combustion of fuel and gaseous emissions driven off as the clay is fired, including sulfur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride. Factors that may affect emissions include raw material composition and moisture content, kiln fuel type, kiln operating parameters, and plant design.

Reusable if used with lime mortar Downcyclable into low-grade fill / aggregate Durable Large reserves Un-reclaimable if used with Portland cement mortar

High embodied energy High output of CO2 The firing of bricks can produce a bag of pollutants including fluorides, chlorides and oxides of nitrogen and sulphur. Strict limits are placed on emissions in the UK. Clay extraction has a long-term environmental impact on the landscape Transportation can add considerably to the embodied energy Transp[oprtation cost In normal brickwork,brick represents approxiamately 70 percent of the volume-the rest is mortar.brick is heavy material manufactured at one factory. brick is normally used in large quantities,meaning that transport over large distances can have enviroenmntal impact. The production of brick seriously pollutes the environment and is very energy consuming but bricks have low maintenance leveland are very durable,in the majority of cases outlasting all other materials in buildings In comleted buildings,brick is considered a healthy material.the potential of problem can arise when radioactive byproducts are used in the manufacture of the bricks e.g slag from the blast furnaces.other wise brick has positive effect on the indoor climate,especially birkcs have many pores which will regulate humidity. Recycling

Cleaning bricks is time consuming, difficult and dusty work that, if mechanised, is rarely successful. New techniques should be applied to tackle such problems. Cement rich mortars are difficult to remove. In countries like Greece, where mortar from ancient constructions is a full ceramic material, it does not need to be removed. Excess mortar dust can inhibit the adhesion between mortar and bricks and lead to weaker masonry, depending on the mortar composition. Bricks from demolished buildings may vary in quality. It is therefore difficult to assess the strength and load-bearing capacity of masonry made from recycled bricks. European and national standards are very strict and it is extremely difficult to be sure that recycled bricks used in new structures will be durable. Due to the difficult nature and high labour costs associated with the process, the use of recycled bricks may be more expensive than the use of new bricks.

The stability and porosity of recycled brick renders it suitable for use as a fill or surfacing material in roads and trenches.recycled bricks are maily usable in smaller structure such as party walls and external walls where there is no heavy horizontal loading. Bricks that cannot be dismantled can be gound and in certain cases used as an equivalent to pozzolana in cemnt.larger pices can be used as aggregate in concrete.

Sugeestions
The ideal building material would be borrowed from the environment and replaced after use. There would be little or no processing of the raw material and all the energy inputs would be directly, or indirectly, from the sun. This ideal material would also be cheap. Mud bricks can come close to this ideal.

Steel
Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, and is the usual choice for metal structural building materials. It is strong, flexible, and if refined well and/or treated lasts a long time. Steel buildings are primarily known for their strength and functionality. These steel buildings can be employed as functional offices, host households, while some serve as storage areas. They provide shelter to people and have evolved according to the specific requirements of men and women. Steel frames are lightweight, less difficult to work with and less expensive to ship and store. It is also easier to carry and move around a jobsite, so they have much less strain to put on construction workers who are putting together steel buildings. Steel, which is an alloy of iron and carbon, is the most versatile and important engineering and construction material in the world. Its use influences every aspect of our lives and the built environment, from automotive manufacture to construction products, from steel toecaps for protective footwear to refrigerators and washing machines and from cargo ships to the finest scalpel for hospital surgery. Created of high quality and aesthetic Demands a lower maintenance priceNoncombustible to fire Steel is environmentally friendly Components can be employed again and once more. Steel frame construction is rigid in structure and is dimensionally stable.

RECYCCLING 11. Steel can be re-used and recycled without having effecting the environment. ENERGY COMSUMPTION 12. Construction with steel components is really quick when compared to other materials. COST OF MAINTEENCE 13. Steel construction with steel components is resistant to termites and other destructive insects. 14. Steel construction is cheaper than any other construction techniques.

You can also get the old steel buildings recycled that are no longer in use into new

constructing materials. If you are thinking to get building supplies that do not harm the environment whilst offering a safe and secure place for your company or loved ones then steel building is one of the best alternatives to opt for. Steel is one of the most sustainable building materials in the world. The industry has embraced the common sense approach that reducing its impact on the environment is not only the right thing to do, but it makes economic sense.

Since the early 1990s, the steel industry has reduced its energy use to produce a ton of steel by approximately 1/3. More than 95% of the water used in the steel making process is recycled and returned often cleaner than when it was taken from the source. Every piece of steel used in construction contains recycled content. Further, all steel can be recovered and recycled again and again into new high quality products. Steel is durable, safe, and strong. It is not susceptible to rot, termites, or mold. Steel used for framing will last from hundreds to over a thousand years due to its zinc coating, a natural element. Steel structures require less material (both reduced weight and reduced volume) to carry the same loads as concrete or masonry or wood structures. Steel is dimensionally stable: it will not warp, split, or creep - making it durable and built to last. Dont waste time and dollars on costly call backs. Minimize cracking and pops in drywall and other finishes with CFS framing.

Steel to build faster

The speed and accuracy of construction is critical to the creation of building and stakeholder value. Earlier occupancy means an office owner can begin renting space sooner, a factory owner can start producing products faster and the store operator can bring in sales pounds quicker. Fast construction also lowers financing costs and overhead expenses for construction management services. Because structural steel is lighter than other framing materials, it needs a smaller and simpler foundation. This reduces both cost and the time spent on construction. Easily disassembled for repairs/alterations/relocation Vandal resistant. Produces less scrap and waste (2% for steel vs. 15-20% for wood). Scrap is 100% recyclable. Slower aging process with less maintenance.

Enhanced resale value. Every ton of steel recycled saves 2,500 pound of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of steel, and 120 pounds of limestone. All steel framing contains a minimum of 25% recycled steel.

As far as the environmental issues are concerned; whenever we can reuse a material instead of producing a new one by using raw materials, even these raw material are also recycled; we can save on resources and energy which are the real gains for the conservation of nature. When we consider the importance of this fact, it is quite obvious that constructional use of steel offers great advantages concerning the refurbishment and reusability properties. Refurbishment projects which are used in many applications in many countries are especially preferred for being a dry construction creating a clean and waste free working environment. In most of the cases, this type of construction also allows refurbished buildings to be operational during the construction work which is also a very big advantage. Steel is % 100 recyclable material without degradation and its recycling rate can go up to beyond % 60 for the constructional steel in some countries. Magnetic separation utility gives an advantage to steel for the removal of material from the other surrounding solid wastes. It is also very important to note that, promoting steel as the alternative way of building system against wood is a very positive and effective environmental approach in considering the destruction of trees and thus the scarcity of our forests. While it is predicted that the iron ore resources will last 7 million years with todays mining activities; it is not easy to renew the diminished forests especially within a short period of time. It is also important for our environmental values to note that; the energy need to produce 1 ton of scrap- based steel is about one fifth of the ore-based steel. From life-cycle perspective, materials may have down-cycling property which produces lower grade materials. Actually steel is the only material with a closed material loop which is an important advantage when compared to many down-cycled materials. It can be % 100 recycled to the same product, function and quality as before. It is also possible to convert the recycled steel into another metal product easily depending upon the industrial needs and market demands. More than 435 million tonnes of steel are recycled each year. On the other hand, steel industry is spending a great effort to bring the emission levels much more down the upper limits. Almost all the constructional steel products contain recycled steel. In general a new steel framing material contains % 28 minimum recycled steel.[4] So, it must be realised that the constructional steel which becomes a post-consumer recycled material in the future also supply us an important advantage in saving landfill spaces and contributing to the conservation of our nature. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:b3JAWm6iQToJ:www.arch1design.com/advste elgreenbuilding.pdf+&hl=en&gl=pk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjZkD2WL5zMZuSCm3wZ7e4 0JCfEbH1XsJH0UruipxHpBg8Qj-FVfmXYdiKOwBfrss9reGz5O2KklUYOvC6qpiYo_vC_SsYqIR-caoiWpR4JIvFoe26DIonsAReu67qY8otFG5&sig=AHIEtbT95TK7Pnl41IaizjpcqJwVsR3REw

GLASS
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.

Glassmaking is considered an art form as well as an industrial process or material. Clear windows have been used since the invention of glass to cover small openings in a building. They provided humans with the ability to both let light into rooms while at the same time keeping inclement weather outside. Glass is generally made from mixtures of sand and silicates, in a very hot fire stove called a kiln and is very brittle. Very often additives are added to the mixture when making to produce glass with shades of colors or various characteristics (such as bulletproof glass, or light emittance). The use of glass in architectural buildings has become very popular in the modern culture. Glass "curtain walls" can be used to cover the entire facade of a building, or it can be used to span over a wide roof structure in a "space frame". These uses though require some sort of frame to hold sections of glass together, as glass by itself is too brittle and would require an oveGlass is made out sand rich in silica and could be reused indefinitely. The process of making glass is energy intensive. One ton of virgin glass requires four GigaJoule of energy. rly large kiln to be used to span such large areas by itself. Glass is the dominating material in modern day architecture which places optical emphases and provides for numerous technical functions. The glass industry primarily uses energy to supply heat to the glass melting furnaces in which the raw materials are melted and refined, with downstream processing used to ultimately form and finish glass.
This guideline describes the manufacture of flat glass, and pressed and blown glass. Flat glass includes plate and architectural glass, automotive windscreens and mirrors. Pressed and blown glass includes containers, machine and hand-blown glassware, lamps and television tubing. In both categories a glass melt is prepared from silica sand, other raw materials such as lime, dolomite, and soda, and cullet (broken glass). The use of recycled glass is increasing and this requires extensive sorting and cleaning prior to batch treatment to remove impurities. The use of recycled glass reduces the consumption of both raw materials and energy. For the manufacture of special and technical glass, lead oxide (up to 32 wt. %), potash, zinc oxide, and other metal oxides are added. Refining agents include arsenic trioxide, antimony oxide, nitrates, and sulfates. Metal oxides and sulfides are used as (de-) coloring agents. The most common furnace used to manufacture glass melt is the continuous regenerative type with either side or end ports connecting brick checkers to the inside of the melter. Checkers conserve fuel by acting as a heat exchanger--the fuel combustion products heat incoming combustion air. The molten glass is refined (heat conditioning) and then is either pressed, blown, drawn, rolled or floated, depending on the final product. Damaged/broken product (cullet) is returned to the process. The most important fuels for glass melting furnaces are natural gas, light and heavy fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas. Electricity is also used (frequently installed as supplementary heating). Energy requirements range 3.7-6.0 kiloJoules per metric ton (kJ/t) glass produced.

Waste Characteristics
Two types of air emissions are generated, those from the combustion of fuel to operate the glass melting furnaces and fine particulates from the vaporization and recrystallization of materials in the

melt. The major emissions are sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates which can contain heavy metals such as arsenic and lead. Note: particulates from lead crystal manufacture can have a lead content of 20-60 percent and an arsenic content of 0.5-2 percent. Certain specialty glasses can produce releases of hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), arsenic, boron and lead from raw materials. Container, press and blow making operations produce a periodic mist when the hot gob comes into contact with the release agent used on the molds. Cold top electric furnaces that operate with coverage of the melt surface by raw material feed release very little particulate matter as the blanket acts as a filter to prevent the release of particulate matter. Some releases of particulates will take place when tapping but furnace releases should be in the order of 0.1 kg/t when operated this way. Lead glass manufacture may result in lead emissions of the order of 2-5 kg/t. In all cases, the concentration of heavy metals and other pollutants in the raw flue gas mainly depends on the type of fuel used, the composition of the feed material, and the portion of recycled glass. High input of sulfates or potassium nitrate may increase emissions of SO2 and NOx respectively. Where nitrate is used, in excess of two-thirds of the introduced nitrogen may be emitted as NOx. Heavy metals used as (de)colorizing agents will increase emissions of these metals. The grinding and polishing of flat glass to produce plate glass has become obsolete since the development of the float glass process. The chemical make-up of detergents that may be used by float glass manufacturing could vary significantlysome could contain phosphorous in hand blown and pressed glass, pollutants in effluents are generated by finishing processes such as cutting, grinding, polishing and etching and include suspended solids, fluorides, lead, and variations in pH. Liquid effluents also result from forming, finishing, coating, and electroplating operations. Heavy metal concentrations in effluents occur where silvering and copper plating processes are in use.

http://www.miga.org/documents/GlassManufacturing.pdf
Local impacts

As with all highly concentrated industries, glassworks suffer from moderately high local environmental impacts. Compounding this is that because they are mature market businesses they often have been located on the same site for a long time and this has resulted in residential encroachment. The main impacts on residential housing and cities are noise, fresh water use, water pollution, NOx and SOx air pollution, and dust. Noise is created by the forming machines. Operated by compressed air, they can produce noise levels of up to 106dBA. How this noise is carried into the local neighborhood depends heavily on the layout of the factory. Another factor in noise production is truck movements. A typical factory will process 600T of material a day. This means that some 600T of raw material has to come onto the site and the same off the site again as finished product. Water is used to cool the furnace, compressor and unused molten glass. Water use in factories varies widely, it can be as little as one tonne water used per melted tonne of glass. Of the one tonne roughly half is evaporated to provide cooling, the rest forms a wastewater stream. Most factories use water containing an emulsified oil to cool and lubricate the gob cutting shear blades. This oil laden water mixes with the water outflow stream thus polluting it. Factories usually have some kind of water processing equipment that removes this emulsified

oil to various degrees of effectiveness. The oxides of nitrogen are a natural product of the burning of gas in air and are produced in large quantities by gas fired furnaces. Some factories in cities with particular air pollution problems will mitigate this by using liquid oxygen, however the logic of this given the cost in carbon of (1) not using regenerators and (2) having to liquefy and transport oxygen is highly questionable. The oxides of sulfur are produced as a result of the glass melting process. Manipulating the batch formula can effect some limited mitigation of this; alternatively exhaust plume scrubbing can be used. The raw materials for glass making are all dusty material and are delivered either as a powder or as a fine-grained material. Systems for controlling dusty materials tend to be difficult to maintain, and given the large amounts of material moved each day, only a small amount has to escape for there to be a dust problem. Cullet is also moved about in a glass factory and tends to produce fine glass particles when shovelled or broken.
[edit] Global environmental impact

The main global impact factor is the production of CO2 due to the burning of fossil fuels in the heating of the furnace and production of electricity to supply the compressors. Typically a ton of glass packed will liberate between 500 and 900 kg of CO2, assuming a gas-fired furnace and coal-fired electricity usage. In areas with predominantly renewable or nuclear energy, the CO2 released comes only from the conversion of carbonates to oxides in the ingredients of the glass itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_production recycling of glass Glass is made from quartzite (or quartz) sand. Quartz is a mineral that the earth is not making more of, so in that sense, sand can be considered non-renewable mineral. But, the supply of quartz sand is plentiful and glass can be recycled
Glass and aluminum are examples of recyclable resources. The bottles and cans made from them can be re-processed into new products. There is no limit to the number of times these products can be recycled.

Read more: Difference Between a Renewable & Recyclable Resource | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5904510_difference-between-renewable-recyclableresource.html#ixzz1rGajBevQ

TIMBER
Wood is the only building material on the planet which is naturally renewable, recyclable and leaves a lighter footprint than any other. In its production the embodied energy in wood is a fraction of the energy required to produce almost any other building material. Wood is carbon negative, as a result of carbon sequestration, or in other words storage. To grow a kilo of it takes 1.47 Kg of carbon dioxide on average and gives off 1.07 Kg of oxygen. So, using wood from sustainably managed forests minimises CO2 omissions. The thermal insulation properties of wood save energy and therefore save emissions throughout the life of a building.
http://www.apptimber.com/environment/WhyUsingTimber.pdf

When comparing the embodied energy of timber to that of other building materials one also needs to take into consideration the comparative embodied energy in the differing types of timber product, and assess this along with other environmental impacts. Timber products range from air dried sawn hardwood, with the lowest embodied energy (of around 0.5 MJ/kg), to kiln dried softwood (at around 3.4 MJ/kg), to engineered timber products such as plywood (at around 10.4 MJ/kg) and Glulam (for example laminated beams, at 11 MJ/kg). By way of comparison to other types of building material, clay bricks have an embodied energy of approx. 2.5 MJ/kg, cement 5.6, mild steel 34 and aluminium 170 MJ/kg. A large component of embodied energy is transport, and timber performs favourably when comparing the environmental cost of transport to other materials due to timber products generally being light and easy to handle with high strength to weight ratios. The Embodied Energy of a material needs to be considered along with factors such as the effect on the carbon cycle and other environmental impacts. In terms of renewability, plantation timber is renewable and can be regrown in a relatively short time (15-25years). Other environmental impacts that need to be considered are those of pollution impacts during the manufacturing process and solid waste generation. The waste produced during the processing of a raw material into a product, while not necessarily having an economic cost, has an environmental cost, and as such must be considered when comparing materials in terms of sustainability. In comparing a timber frame wall to a steel frame wall in terms of total pollutants emitted, it is estimated that the environmental cost of a timber wall is 30% of that of a steel frame wall. While the manufacture of timber products is associated with low levels of emissions, and the forests where the timber is grown act as a store of CO2, the manufacture of cement, for example, involves emissions of sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The carbon cycle of timber as a building material is very different to that of other building materials. As part of the process of photosynthesis, trees give off oxygen and absorb carbon from the air, which is stored in the tissue of the tree. When a tree is burnt as fuel or left to decay the same amount of carbon is again released into the atmosphere. In this cycle a tree can be said to be carbon neutral, or a temporary store of carbon. If, however, the tree is harvested for use as a building material, the timber utilised remains a store of carbon for the duration of the life of the building, therefore reducing the amount returned to the atmosphere.

The specification of locally grown plantation timber further reduces energy costs when compared to the environmental impact of transporting important timber. Timber is a truly renewable building material, it is easy to work with and provides endless alternatives in design. It is a store of carbon and has a low embodied energy. Timber Frame is a time honoured, energy-efficient, environmentally sound, versatile, structurally safe and above all aesthetically pleasing method of building. Given a increasing global trend of sustainable forest management, an increasing desire to make the correct environmental choices, and the re-discovery of the comfort of living in a timber home and the natural beauty of timber as a material, the growing trend of building timber homes could be just the startand the right thing to do.
http://jacquescronje.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/timber-a-sustainable-building-material-14-october-2008/

http://makeitwood.org/documents/doc-692-timber-as-a-sustainable-material.pdf

Adobe Basic mud bricks are made by mixing earth with water, placing the mixture into moulds and drying the bricks in the open air. Straw or other fibres that are strong in tension are often added to the bricks to help reduce cracking. Mud bricks are joined with a mud mortar and can be used to build walls, vaults and domes. Mud bricks have the potential to provide the lowest impact of all construction materials. Adobe should not contain any organic matter the bricks should be made from clays and sands and not include living soil. They require very little generated energy to manufacture, but large amounts of water. The embodied energy content of mud bricks is potentially the lowest of all building materials but additives, excessive transport and other mechanical energy use can increase the delivered embodied energy of all earth construction. [See: 5.2 Embodied Energy] In a similar way, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with unfired mud bricks can (and should) be very low. To keep emissions to an absolute minimum, the consumption of fossil fuel and other combustion processes have to be avoided. [See: 5.1 Material Use
Introduction]

The materials for making mud bricks are readily available in most areas and may be sourced directly from the site of the building in some cases.

DATA ANALYSIS WITH STATISTICS AND GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATAIONS

CONCLUSIONS/SUGGESTIONS BIBLOGRAPHY AND APPENDICS

REFRENCE http://www.rsc.org/images/Construction_tcm18-114530.pdf