Introduction of Green Building Material Essay

Materials argon the embarrass of economic biography in our industrial world. They include the resource inputs and the convergence outputs of industrial production. How we bargainle them is a study determinant of real economic efficiency, and overly has a major impact on our health and the health of the natural environment The built-environment is also a strategic realm of social, economic and environmental change.Various writers pass on stated that spatial redesign of the landscape and built-environment may be the unmarried most effective means of achieving new levels of efficiency and sustainability (Lyle, 1994 Mollison, 1983 Alexander, 1977 Van der Ryn & angstrom Cowan, 1996). Building materials are also quite important. They have been estimated that grammatical construction materials work out up forty percent of material through-put of entire economy (Milani, 2001).In the book Green Building Project Planning and Cost Estimating, Keenan and Georges (2002) determine some key characteristics of green create materials. As regards green edifice materials, they should be healthy for the internal environment, healthy for the natural environment, minimize construction efficacy use, have low corporeal naught, be reusable, recyclable and/or biodegradable, and be locally obtained. Embodied aught is a concept that takes into count several detailors to determine the force needed to produce a product and whoremonger be used as a comparison mingled with different materials.There is some controversy surrounding embodied energy as there is no internationally agreed method for astute this value and many time it is not known what has been accounted for (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). For example, cement has an embodied energy of 7. 8 MJ/kg, temporary hookup virgin steel is 32. 0, and recycled steel is 10. 1 MJ/kg (Keenan and Georges, 2002). In these values however, consideration is not given to transportation, durability, reprocess and recycling. These factors could signifi pottly alter the original values.Building materials are also the stuff of our personal environments. They are all around us, and literally part of the atmosphere we breathe. They can damage the biosphere VOCs from paints alone are responsible for perhaps 9 percent of the damage to the ozone layer. They can also damage us the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, estimates that indoor pollutioncaused by materials equivalent paints, plastics and particleboardsis responsible for more than 11,000 deaths each year from cancer, kidney failure, and respiratory collapse (Ligon, 2001).The fact that buildings are all around us means not and that they immediately impact us, but that we can potentially affect them. The building industry is a decentralized one that exists in virtually every community. Not surprisingly, the built-environment is a major venue for ecological and community festering alternatives, with materials being an increasing focus o f concern over the past decade.The for the first time is the section on Materials and Resources. This section consists of one prerequisite and octet credits. The eight credits focus on reuse and management of construction and destruction waste using refurbished or reused materials and materials with a recycled content using regional and rapidly renewing materials and lastly if new woodland moldiness be used, using products certified accordance with the Forest Stewardship Councils principles and criteria The second section which pertains to building materials is Indoor Environmental feature.The important credit is number four let out Emitting Materials. For this credit, the Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC) content of adhesives and sealants must be less(prenominal) than the VOC content limits of the State of California South Coast Air Quality Management Districts (SCAQMD) rule number 1168 from October 2003. For paints, the VOC content must be less than the VOC and chemical component limits of the Green Seals Standard GS-11 from January 1997. mixed wood and laminate adhesives must contain no added urea formaldehyde resins. cover is a strong and durable material with a lavishly oestrus storage capacity (Keenan and Georges, 2002). It is good from an indoor air quality tie-up as it is inert. The problems associated with cover are washout water at concrete plants which can have a high pH, and the use of cement as a binding agent in concrete. Cement is very energy intensive and is a major contributor of greenhouse gases. To counteract this, up to 70% of cement in concrete can be replaced with strike down ash. Fly ash is a waste product from coal pink-slipped plants.Brick, block and stone have a low embodied energy and are therefore environmentally kindly materials (Keenan and Georges, 2002). To avoid added impacts of transportation, local masonry should be used where available. STRUCTURAL FRAMING An ongoing environmental debate is wood versus steel as compon ents for framing. Both materials have been destructive to the environment and two have advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages of wood is that it is a natural insulator while steel is a conductor. Steel is 400 times more semiconducting than wood (Keenan and Georges, 2002).One of the disadvantages of wood is that it needs to be treated with preservatives which can be toxic and render the wood non-biodegradable. Steel on the another(prenominal) hand offers resistance to insects and water rot. Steel is also recyclable. The choice surrounded by steel and wood should depend on the application they are being used for. Wood may be more environmentally friendly if you can use non-treated and certified wood. The production process is less energy intensive than for steel, and creates less pollution and environmental degradation than the mining and touch on of steel (Keenan, A. , and Georges, D. , 2002). INSULATIONSome of the considerations which need to be taken in account wh en choosing an insulation material are 1) does it retard airflow, 2) which type give provide the best Rvalue within a reasonable thickness, 3) does it pose health risks, and 4) does it contain ozone depleting chemicals (Keenan and Georges, 2002). In the Green Building Handbook, the authors offered their choices for best buys. Their top triplet choices were wool, cellulose fiber, and cork. These choices are thermally as good as conventional insulators (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). Cellulose vulcanized fiber is made from processed waste paper, with added borates for fire and pest resistance.It is made into a fluff that can either be placed by hand or sprayed (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). Insulation corkboard is produced by cooking cork granules at high temperature and pressure. The granules bond themselves together with their own resins (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). ROOFING For materials used in roofing, durability is critical. One option for materials is metals, such as copper, steel and aluminium. Metal roofs are good because they can be made of recycled material and can be recycled at the end of their keep cycle. They also last longer than pave (Frej, 2005).Cool roofs are an option that can be useful in both mild and hot climates. The roof material is covered with a reflective coating. This coating prevents the building from getting hot, reduces heat island effects and prolongs the life of a roof (Keenan and Georges, 2002). A non-petroleum based coating should be used. vivification green roofs are another option. Green roofs are roofs that are partially or completely covered with soil and vegetation. These roofs provide environmental cooling, habitat, added insulation, do water management, natural beauty, cleaner air and can extend the life of a roof (Keenan and Georges, 2002).One source suggested two to three times longer than a conventional roof (Frej, 2005) while another suggested they can extend the life up to 100% (Keenan and Georges, 2002). Planted r oofs can ingest more maintenance and require a system to prevent cornerstone penetration and water seepage.