HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN CONSTRUCTION

AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

UNIT 3: SCIENCE AND MATERIALS

Assignment title
Sustainable Materials for
Construction
LO2: Discuss the environmental and sustainability factors which impact on and influence
the material choices for a construction project?

Material Environmental profiling and lifecycle assessment:

• An environmental profile methodology developed by the BRE is used to define
and analyze the environmental impacts of building materials throughout their
lifespan. Everything from extraction through disposal is covered here, with an
emphasis on the four most important processes:
• Extraction of the substance is covered by ISO 14040 and 14044.
• ISO 14025 – processing –
• In EN 15804 – how to utilize the material
• EN 15978 – the location and method of disposal of the material
Lifecycle assessment:
•A life cycle assessment is performed on materials,
administrations, and items to decide their conceivable effect on
the climate all through the length of their expected use. The
entire life cycle appraisal (LCA) measures and evaluates the
energy, materials, waste, and toxins made by an item or
movement throughout the span of its finished life cycle. A Life
Cycle Assessment might be utilized to examinations the natural
effect of an item as well as the possible monetary reserve funds
(LCA)
Lifecycle assessment Diagram:
Environmental certification and product
labelling have several advantages:
• An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a
quantifiable representation of a product's environmental
performance that is accepted in numerous countries.
According to the European Standard EN 15804, the
preparation of product declarations for building
materials that take environmental factors into account is
governed. LCA (life cycle assessment) is used to
establish Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for
products (EPD).
When it comes to EPD, you'll learn things like:
•A product's environmental impact throughout the duration of its
whole existence, based on credible facts and information.
• Concerns about environmental safety as well as appropriate recycling
and disposal procedures should be expressed publicly. "
• Internationalstandards and related regulations must be met before
the data may be used. Materials needed for construction ISO 14025
(2006) and EN 15804 (2007) are examples of environmental product
declaration (EPD) standards (2007). (2013)
• Continuousimprovement measures may be built on this foundation.
Product authenticity in terms of the environment performance may
be shown by EPD-publishing manufacturers, who are likely to
become more motivated towards ongoing development.
• The development of PCRs may be rewarded with financial incentives.
EPD has several advantages:
• Customer needs: Suppliers that use LCA and publish EPD demonstrate their
commitment to continuous development, providing a platform for interaction
with specifiers, designers, and consumers.
• EPD suppliers must guarantee that the evidence they provide to represent their
products' environmental performance is reliable, current, and representative.
• EPD-compliant goods are becoming more widely accepted by environmental
rating systems across the globe, allowing design teams to include EPD into their
products.
• Information Modeling for the Construction Industry (BIM) Additional chances for
whole-building whole-of-life assessment present themselves if demand for faster
BIM deployment and usage increases.
Waste management stages:
• The waste hierarchy presents waste management stages
commencing with the most preferable option to the least
preferable option. Waste prevention is the most preferred
option, followed by reuse, recycling, recovery including energy
recovery and as the last option is safe disposal.
Source Typical waste generators Solid waste content
   
Construction New construction sites, road repair, renovation Wood, steel, concrete, rubble,
and sites, demolition of buildings dirt etc.
demolition    
 

Entity Responsibilities
   
Contractors  
Provide a minimum of two garbage receptacles to allow for
  wet and dry waste segregation. An additional bin for
hazardous waste is highly recommended.
- Develop a site specific Waste Management Plan for the
activities the Contractor is undertaking.
- Site specific Waste Management Plan must be aligned
with the full site WMP and must be approved by the IPDC
HSE prior to work commencing.
- Educate all members of staff on the waste hierarchy.
 
 lO3: Present material choices for a given building using performance properties, experimental
data, sustainability and environmental consideration?
• Concrete Slump Test:
• Using the concrete slump test, new concrete properties may be determined The test
examines the new concrete's workability empirically. In this case, it focuses on measuring
the uniformity of concrete mixes. The ease with which the test can be administered and
the ease with which the equipment used to administer it can be understood explain
• Principle of Slump Test:
• An inverted cone of compacted concrete is subjected to gravity and the outcome of a
slump test is used to gauge how it will behave. In order to get a better sense of how
workable a concrete mix is, it evaluates its consistency.
• Slump Test Apparatus:
• Cone of slumber,
• Metric system, "
• Testing rod for temperature (steel)
• Types of Concrete Slump:
• The slumped concrete varies depending on the profile of the slumped concrete.
• Collapse Slump
• Shear Slump
• True Slump
Collapse Slump:
• In a collapsing slump, the concrete crumbles to the point of destruction. In general, a collapsing slump indicates that
the mix is overly moist or has a high workability. Because of this, the concrete mix is either too moist or an overly
workable blend for which slump testing would be inappropriate..
Shear Slump:
• Shear slumps occur when the top layer of concrete shears away and slides to one side. OR
• Shear slumps occur when a cone falls down an inclined plane by just one-half of its circumference. For a valid result,
concrete must be retested once the shear slump is taken into account..
• Fresh samples are gathered and tested if a shear or collapsing slump is seen.
• Lack of cohesiveness in the mix is evident if the shear slump lingers, as it often does with severe mixes.
True Slump:
• Concreting merely slows down and flattens out while in a slump.
• For a variety of experiments, this is the only slump that can be utilized.
• No difference can be seen in the somewhat dry range between mixes of
differing workability when the mixtures are of stiff consistency

Precautions in Slump Test:

Every test should begin with a wet mould and base and a clean immediate area around the base of
the cone to minimize the impact of variations in surface friction on the drop of the concrete..
Applications of Slump Test
• This test is used to check that the same batch of concrete is consistent under field
circumstances and to determine the impacts of plasticizers.
• This test is very beneficial on the job site for checking the variance in the ingredients
supplied into the mixer from day to day or hour to hour. If slump increases, it might
be a sign that aggregate moisture content has increased unexpectedly.
• Another possibility is that the grade of the aggregate has changed, such as a lack of
sand.
• A droop that is too high or too low offers the mixer operator an early notice and
allows them to correct the problem.
• The extensive usage of the slump test may be attributed to its broad range of
applications and ease of use.
Results of test:
Degree of workability Slump Compacting To what use concrete is best suited.

(mm) Factor

 
Very Low O-25 O.78 Road construction uses very dry mixtures. Powered machines vibrate
roads.
Low 25-50 0.85
Use for foundations with just minor reinforcing of low workability
mixtures Motorized machines shake roads manually.
 

Medium 50-100 0.92

Crushed aggregate flat slabs compacted by hand using medium-
workability mixtures. Vibrations are used to compress and reinforce
areas of normal reinforced concrete.
 

High 100-175 0.95

Concrete with high workability; for sections with crowded
reinforcing rods. For the most part, vibration is not a good fit.
 
Materials used in the construction of a
building's structure:
• Plastics:
• Plastic is made up of synthetic polymer-based materials, which are produced in large
quantities. Because of its versatility, strength-to-weight ratio, durability, corrosion
resistance, and other characteristics, it can be used to carry out a wide range of jobs in the
construction industry. In order to produce low-density components, plastic may be
mounded or expanded, and it can also be dissolved in solvents or spread as emulsions. It
may also be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, including pipes, cables,
coverings, and sheets.
• The fact that plastic is both lightweight and strong makes it a good building material for
construction sites since it is simple to transport and move about. Because it has the ability
to seal firmly, it is also resistant to corrosion and the effects of the weather. Because
plastic is flexible, it can be easily extruded, bent, and shaped into many shapes and forms.
It is also possible to just take plastics from the environment and reuse them.
Concrete:
• Concrete is often cited as one of the most plentiful building materials on the
planet. Because it produces a product that resembles stone, it may be employed in
a number of applications. While concrete is really a combination of numerous
components including cement, it is commonly misunderstood for cement by the
general public. Concrete is a popular building material because of its durability and
versatility, which is especially advantageous owing to the minimal maintenance
and repair expenses associated with it. Concrete is a widely used construction
material that can be found in a variety of structures ranging from office buildings
and condominiums to bridges and highways.
Steel:
• A strong and durable material, steel is commonly used in the construction industry
because of its proven strength and longevity. Commercial carbon steels do not
corrode when exposed to room temperature and dry air, but they do corrode when
exposed to moist and contaminated environments. This might result in structural
issues that are potentially dangerous to the general population. They do not rust on
their surfaces under normal weather conditions because of the high concentration of
alloy components such as chromium found in the more recently created stainless
steels. If you're making anything, stainless steel is a popular material to use since its
advantages exceed its disadvantages in most cases
• Another benefit of steel's usage is that it is resistant to fracture when minute defects
are discovered. Steels, on the other hand, are just slightly more susceptible to fatigue
failure. To avoid failure, it is possible to identify early symptoms of fatigue and treat
the damaged region with a surface treatment.
LO4 Evaluate the performance of a given building in
respect of its human comfort requirements.
• With regard to human comfort, evaluate the performance of selected
materials; use calculations to show performance of materials for human
comfort.
• Based on a person's level of comfort, the performance of various materials is
evaluated.
• U – Value: We can determine a material's level of comfort for humans based on its
U value.
Thickness U value = a/b
material (a) Resistance (b) k m^2/W

Clay bricks .100m 0.77 W/m⋅K 0.12987013

Glass wool .100m 0.04 W/m⋅K 2.5

Concrete blocks .100m 1.13 W/m⋅K 0.088495575

Plaster .100m 0.50 W/m⋅K 0.2

• In the table, there is a clear relationship between the different materials
and their U values, allowing us to make an informed choice about how to
best use them.
• The same principles apply to altering the sound of the building so that no
echoes can be heard, hence increasing the degree of comfort in the space.
It is possible to realise the higher degree of comfort that may be reached
via the use of lighting systems with lower levels of intensity and brightness.
As a result of the considerable influence light has on human behaviour.
• The bigger the U-value, the greater the amount of heat that may escape.
• For example, a concrete wall with a thickness of 30 cm and a resistance of
1.13W/m.k has a U value of 0.26, but a brick wall with the same thickness
but a resistance of 1 W/M.K has a U value of 0.30.
• The U-value of single-glazed windows is lower than the U-value of double-
glazed windows.
 Solution
Q = (ΣUxAx) × ΔT 
Area of wall = (w x h) m2 – area of window
= (9 x 8.5) – 25
= 51.5 m2
Now putting values in formula
Q = ((0.25 watts/OCm2 x 51.5 m2) + (1.2 watts/OCm2 x 25 m2)) * 15
O
C
=643.12 watt heat is required to maintain 20 OC temperature
inside the flat.
Heat requirements for end flats (not top end flats) with an extra 8.5 x 20
m wall and 35m2 of windows are much higher. We assume that both walls
and windows retain their U-values.
 
 

Solution
Formula Q = (ΣUxAx) × ΔT 
Here additional wall of area = 170 m2 and additional window area = 35 m2
 
Q = ((0.25 watts/OCm2 x 51.5 m2) + (1.2 watts/OCm2 x 25 m2) + (0.25 watts/OCm2 x 135 m2) +
 
(1.2 watts/OCm2 x 35 m2)) x 15 OC

= 1779.3 watt is needed for end flats

Each of the flats has forced ventilation which changes the air once every
30 minutes. If the specific heat of air is 1kj/m3C0 calculate how much heat
is lost when the outside air is at 50C.
Solution
Formula H loss = C * m * ΔT
C= specific heat of air
m = mass of air that is removed per second from the flat.
Mass= volume * density
Density of air at 2O OC 1.2O41 kg/m³
Mass = (1/3O*6O) * (9 * 2O * 8.5) * 1.2O41
= 1.O2 kg/sec
 
Now heat loss = 1kj/m3C0 * 1.O2 kg/sec * 15 OC
15.3 kj/ m3 sec
In order to demonstrate how sustainable materials might enhance a
building's environmental rating, evaluate the employment of passive and
active measures to decrease resource consumption.
 
• A higher environmental score is achieved through the use of ecologically friendly materials
in the construction of the structure. As a consequence of the high level of market demand
for the building, people flock to it, increasing its popularity index. As a consequence of
climate change, people are no longer ready to make concessions on products that are
hazardous to the environment. It is possible, for example, to increase the energy efficiency
of our building by installing thermal insulation sheets. Construction materials that are
environmentally friendly and do not harm the environment are becoming increasingly
popular in industrialised countries as a result of people's desire to reduce their impact on the
environment while using air conditioners and heaters. Sustainable construction materials,
which are environmentally benign and do not harm the environment, are becoming more
popular in industrialised countries as a result of people's desire to reduce their impact on the
environment while using air conditioners and heaters. Water purification systems are in
place throughout the facility, which improves its overall grade.
• It is possible to lower the quantity of resources required by using
both active and passive strategies. Waste water from a
community of buildings may be reused and recycled to help
avoid the decrease of the groundwater table, as well as to
minimise the effect of groundwater levels on the surrounding
environment and to reduce groundwater consumption. Cement
concrete with excellent insulating properties may be used to
minimise the amount of resources required to construct a
building, so making it more ecologically friendly in the process.
These techniques will assist us in saving money and resources. If
the temperature is constantly high throughout the year, making
a structure windy or breezy may be a cost-effective way to save
resources. By putting these principles in place, we can save
money on resources.