Improving Sustainability through Material Selection

Course: HND in Construction and the Built Environment

Introduction

It is known that sustainable construction is closely related with the structure of the building as well as the use of life cycle processes properly. Choosing the very appropriate materials is an important undertaking. How sustainable the building will be relies upon the materials used in the practical usage and the properties of these materials. In many constructions, timber, concrete and steel are used for the structural material and yet these materials have different behaviour under different loads (KATIB, 2009).

Choosing the right materials also means choosing those materials that meet the minimum health and safety regulations and legislations, and in this case they should be those that have little or no harm to those interacting with the materials and occupants of the building. There are guidelines that can be followed to help contractors and designers chose the right materials for their building.

There are several factors that forms the background of a sustainable materials. The factors including the chemical composition for the material, the mode of natural occurrence of the material such as the macrobiotic and organic systems also the manufacturing as well as the refining processes and in this processes costs also play a crucial role as they determine the costs in which the materials are subjected to before attaining any economic value. Also the internal material such as the atomic structure, the industrial applications of the material.

As indicated the three materials majorly used in construction, can be used either individually and still give the primary source of the sustainable construction for the built environment. And if they are used collectively they can provide up to 95% of all the material used in all construction industry. This therefore means that choosing the most fitting material for use in a certain construction is a very important undertaking viewing it from a sustainable viewpoint.
In any case, there are many setbacks of incorporating sustainability into material choosing practises like the costs, design requirements and the limitations as well as the behaviour of material etc., and such should be keenly addressed (LYONS, 2014).

Assignment - Science and Materials

Improving Sustainability through Material Selection

Table of contents
Introduction

Task 1:
1.1 Regulations on handling of construction materials
1.2 Health and safety regulations

Task 2:
A. The process of material environmental profiling and life cycle assessment.
B. A waste management plan.
C. Material selection for a chosen building element, the properties in relation to regulatory requirements

• 1.1 The results of relevant testing procedures to identify performance characteristics of selected construction materials.
• 1.2 Discussion of the results in terms of the material properties and regulatory requirements, highlighting any unexpected results and why these may occur.
• 1.3 Selection of construction materials for a given building based upon their performance properties in use

D. An assessment of the effects of the structural loading of materials to be used as a main column in a 10 story mixed office, retail and residential block

Task 3:
A. Regarding human comfort, evaluate the performance of selected materials using calculations to show performance of materials for human comfort.
B. How much heat is needed to maintain the temperature
C. Compare heat needed at end of flats with additional outside wall 8.5 x 20 m and 35m2 window.
D. 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

• 1.1 Defining material selection strategy with regard to human comfort requirements
• 1.2 how the selected material contribute to a balanced indoor environment

E. Illustrating how the environmental rating of a building can be improved using sustainable materials, evaluating the use of passive and active strategies to minimize resource use.

Conclusion

References

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Task 1: The health and Safety regulations and legislation associated with the storage, handling and use of material on a construction site.

It is important to consider the safety and health aspects for all construction work. This helps in keeping the workforce health and safe as well as help in complying with the law. There are many regulations and legislations that provide guidance on how every activity on the construction site should be contacted. Such activities include storing and handling of construction materials(Cather, 2013)

1.1 Regulations on handling of construction materials

Handling is present in many working places. This can be either manual or mechanical handling. The key requirement under manual handling of materials regulations is to make a clear evaluation of the risk. When manually handling the materials consider the Load, Individual, Task and environment elements. These elements helps in assessing the different considerations on the activity as well as the possible risks.

a. Load considerations
Load here means considering other factors other than the weight. For example a pile of boxes maybe light but in case one falls you could lose your balance and fall down. If the load is huge and bulky, consider breaking it to small containers.

b. Individual considerations
It is important to also think about the persons handling the load. The considerations to put in place here are such as if the person has right training, the physical capability and strength or do they have any medical conditions that can prevent them from safe handling of the material.

c. Task consideration
In many cases manual handling involves lifting, pulling or pushing of materials. Consider the task requirements and if persons selected can actually do it before picking it.

d. Environment consideration
Consider the location where the handling is taking place, is it a busy working area?, empty room or with obstacle? Is the environment safe? And also if there is enough space to move freely

1.2 Health and safety regulations

The health and safety regulations applies in many construction projects and aims in improving the safety and health of the workers at construction sites. These regulations puts a responsibility on almost everyone who is involved in the work especially the contractors etc. these regulations also puts additional requirements like welfare, emergency procedures and security and lighting as well. The idea here is everyone involved including the client, contractor and designers have a duty.

The designers have overall control of health and safety at the preconstruction phase. This means collecting key health and safety information from the client and pass it to relevant persons. Making sure the designs comply with safety and health regulations. The contractor is to ensure these safety measures are implemented.

The regulations also requires the documentations be produced so as to keep records of the steps undertaken to reduce risks as well as communicating safety and health information to the personnel involved.

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Task 2:

A. The process of material environmental profiling and life cycle assessment.

The processes for environmental profiling are methods used in identification and assessing the environmental effects for the buildings during the life cycle which is the extraction, processing, usage, maintenance and disposing (PACHECO-TORGA, F. et al. 2013) The profiling in this case helps in assessing reliability and compare the environmental information on the building materials.

Also profiling helps the suppliers to provide verifiable environmental information on their products. A lot of manufacturers would like to show how their own products performs in the industry and this helps them to look for methods of improving the environmental performances. This can be attained by developing the products that are specific certified environmental profiles. The certified environmental profiles relies upon data from extensive verified and audit processes of the facility.

Benefits of product declaration and environmental certification.

The benefits of undertaking product environmental profile certification includes;
• Market and product differentiation
• Increase in product sales
• Improves product efficiency
• Helps to understand environmental effects

B. A waste management plan.

C. Material selection for a chosen building element, the properties in relation to regulatory requirements

The selection of material for a construction project demands checking of aesthetic appeal, the costs, its ability for recycling and the life cycle evaluation such as the performance of material, effect on the environment and availability. Aim here is that the material must be
- Materials from renewable sources
- Materials in plenty supply
- Materials with low effect on the environment

The life cycle consideration include
- Sourcing - to maintain low transport and eventual emissions it is important to consider the source of material. The heavier and bulky the material the more the costs.
- Performances - the safety and health during life of a building, where some materials emit chemicals which could be harmful to the building occupants. Enough ventilations are needed to reduce the effects of such chemical emissions. In general materials should be chosen wisely to reduce negative effects on the occupants.
- Disposal of wastes - considering materials that can be reused will ultimately reduce the need for new material in future. Also materials that can be recycled will decrease the need for new material in future and energy needed to reconstruct will be much less. The building site managers and designers must aim at reducing the wastes hence decreasing the waste disposal and pollutants release.
- Manufacturing and extraction - the environmental effect of extraction such as the mining of scarce resources that are non-renewable on large scale including noise, air pollution, release of c02, chemical emissions etc.

From this provided data and information, concrete is the most suitable material for use in this project, even though it is used together with other materials. In many cases for a long time concrete has been used in constructing floor slabs, foundation walls as well as paving. Considering all the safety and health regulations, concrete is the most recommended material here. It is nontoxic which means it does not emit harmful chemicals to the building occupants. Also it meets the material sourcing requirements which is easily available and transported to site using minima costs compared to steel which in some cases may need to be imported from other countries. Concrete is also highly durable and therefore does not waste or rot away easily compared to timber.

1.1 The results of relevant testing procedures to identify performance characteristics of selected construction materials.

a. Timber testing

It is possible to test timber to check for the extent of moisture content. This content is expressed as percentage and usually found by calculating the difference between weight of timber that is wet and the weight of similar sample after it is dry. The formula to calculate the moisture content is expressed as; (weight of wet timber - weight of dry timber)/dry weight x 100%.
Moisture meter can be used to measure the moisture content in the timber and can be done using;

i. Pin-type meters - the meters use two or more electrodes for measuring the content with use of electrical resistance. The more resistance to electrical current the drier the timber because water is a good conductor and timber is an insulator.

ii. Pin-less meters - they pass electromagnetic wave through a sample of timber using special scanning plates. This provides an average reading of the moisture content in the scanned area.

Results
The recommended moisture contents for timber at the time of installation by the national products standards should be;
- 20% or more used for external timber
- 12% for internal conditions and in continuously heated structures
- 15% for covered and heated spaces
- 18% for covered and unheated spaces

For example for a piece of timber that has weight of 500g and has 250g of water, its moisture content can be found as
(500 - 250)/250 x 100
= 100%
The moisture content will be 100%.

b. Testing concrete

Concrete can be tested using the following method

Slump Test - the slump test is used to ensure the resulting mixes of concrete are of same consistency.
This test is achieved by using a steel slump cone shaped that is filled to quarter depth and then tamped 25 times using a tamping rod. The filling and tamping is repeated three times until the cone is full and then leveling off the top. The cone is removed and resulting slump is measured. If the mix content is consistent the slump stays the same for the rest of samples tested.

Results
The recommended slump measurements should be 50 to 75 mm.

For example a concrete slump measuring 65mm fall within the recommended measurements and is used.

1.2 Discussion of the results in terms of the material properties and regulatory requirements, highlighting any unexpected results and why these may occur.

a. Timber
Timber is a bad conductor of electricity. This fact can help in determining the moisture content if it, by using the pin-type meters measuring tools. The regulatory requirements are as follows
- 20% or more used for external timber
- 12% for internal conditions and in continuously heated structures
- 15% for covered and heated spaces
- 18% for covered and unheated spaces

This means after finding the moisture content of timber, the contractors can know exactly where the timber should be used and how it should be used.

While this is the case, we can find some unexpected results from testing methods for example timber can be deformed and become unusable during the process of drying. This may occur due to poor ventilation in oven used for drying the timber.

b. Concrete
Slump testing method provides accurate measurements for a well-mixed concrete. The recommended regulatory requirements for a concrete slump is 50 - 70 mm. any other value from this means the concrete was not well mixed and should be re-done.

The unexpected results falling out of this recommended measurements can be due to wrong mixing ratios of cement and water etc.

1.3 Selection of construction materials for a given building based upon their performance properties in use

The selected material samples were randomly taken from the structure and measured the key properties that determine the quality and performance of the structure. From the samples measured and the results collected they all fall into the recommended regulatory requirements as shown in the table above.

D. An assessment of the effects of the structural loading of materials to be used as a main column in a 10 story mixed office, retail and residential block

For residential blocks constructed above retail shops the column on upper levels should be taken into consideration for effective use of the retailing space below. This means the column positions as many retailing spaces usually 5 to 5.4m and 7.5 to 8m space dimensions. This can achieved using square hollow sections as columns which can be designed to fit in the width of light steels that separates the wall in the upper offices and residential spaces above.

In a mixed story building, a shallow floor system can be used. The main system has columns that are arranged spacing of 7.5m at the facades and spaced internally to fit usage of retailing.The shallow floor systems have benefits like reduced overall height of a building for a certain number of floors or maximizing number of floors for any provided height of the building. In this case a soffit is attained and there are no disturbances on the down stand beams that provides total freedom for service distribution below the floor.

Shallowness of a floor can be achieved through pacing of the slabs and beams in same zone. It can be attained by use of asymmetric steel beams that have a wide bottom compared to top flange that helps the slab to settle on upper surface of the bottom flange with enough bearing. The slab for the floor can be in form of precast concrete slab. Another advantage is that the shallow floor construction can attain composite interaction within the beams and slab which improves efficiency of the structure.

The composite slabs that have decking, the reinforcement is put within the troughs of the decking and the hollow core slabs it is placed at the cores of precast units.

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Task 3: Evaluating the performance of a given building in respect of its human comfort requirements

The most important aspect of designing a building is considering the aspect of the extent to which it provides comfort to its occupants. There are factors that affect the comfort within a building and if not well managed can lead to poor levels of comfort and can lead to harm or illness.

A. Regarding human comfort, evaluate the performance of selected materials using calculations to show performance of materials for human comfort.

The analysis of the changing thermal behavior is important, although studies indicate that it is not enough to only consider the basic properties of the material such as the thermal conductivity. Its density and the heat capacity. Other features should be considered also. The thermal diffusivity given by ? = ?/(p.cp)[m2/s] that shows the time a material requires to attain thermal equilibrium with the surroundings. In this case a material of low thermal diffusivity is able to slowly return its stored energy to the environment not depending on the amount of energy it stores. The ultra-Light weight concrete(ULWC) has a lower diffusivity compared to the normal concrete.

Thermal effusivity given by ? = (√?.p.cp[J/(K.m2.s0.5)]) which is often known as the heat penetration coefficient. It describes the rate at which any material absorbs heat. The high value for effusivity shows that there is high heat flux across surface during process of establishing equilibrium with the surroundings. In this case a heavy weight concrete has a high thermal effusivity compared to ULWC, but the values for metals are higher. This effusivity also indicates the contact temperature and in this case it is much smaller in materials that have higher thermal conductivity, and this explains why ULWC feels warmer when you touch it, unlike normal concrete.
The indoor conform is evaluated using the new adaptive temperature limits for various building spaces and indoor environmental quality.

B. How much heat is needed to maintain the temperature

The processes of convention, conduction and radiation plays a crucial role in the heat loss process through roofs, windows and walls. The U-value usually indicates the thermal performance of a building materials. It is defined as heat flow in one meter square = U-vale x temperature difference. Therefore is the heat flow per square meter divided by difference in temperature.
Therefore from provided information

Flat dimensions = 9m x 20m x 8.5m
Area of six floor flats = 25m2.
U-value of walls = 0.25watts/0Cm2
Double glazed windows U -value = 1.2watts/0Cm2
Outside temperature is 50C
Indoor temperature = 200C.

SOLUTION

For temperature to maintain at 200C, Heat gain through the wall = heat loss through the window
Therefore heat flow through the wall = 76.5 x 0.25 x (20-5) = 286.875 watts

Heat flow through the window = 25 x 1.2 x 15 = 450watts
Therefore heat needed to keep flat at 200 C is (286.875 - 450) = -163.125 watts

C. Compare heat needed at end of flats with additional outside wall 8.5 x 20 m and 35m2 window.

Solution

Heat flow through the window = 35 x 1.2 x 15 = 630watts

Heat flow through the walls = (20 x 8.5) x 0.25 x 15 = 637.5 watts

Heat needed at end of flats = 637.5 - 630 = 7.5 watts.

Therefore in comparison the heat needed at the end of flats with that at the ground and first floor it shows there is more heat retained at the end of the flats as compared to very little heat retained at the ground and first floor for the building where more heat is easily lost to the surrounding.

D. 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

Heat lost = 1kj/m3C0 x 5 x (8.5 x 20) x 0.5
= 425 watts

1.1 Defining material selection strategy with regard to human comfort requirements

The most important aspect of designing a building is considering the aspect of the extent to which it provides comfort to its occupants. There are factors that affect the comfort within a building and if not well managed can lead to poor levels of comfort and can lead to harm to its occupants

The best strategies of attaining sustainable constructions is by selecting materials that can reduce any environmental footprint. Therefore this must be observed at the earliest stages of designing the structures. To achieve this therefore a life cycle assessment is used for perceiving a holistic effects of materials on the environment that looks at all the phases of the material's life. Having known the human comfort requirements, such as the thermal requirements, humans require building temperatures to be sustained at a certain level and this means if the temperatures are too low or too high will lead to discomfort. Apart from looking at the material life cycle for analysis it's good also to look at the following;

i. The thermal diffusivity given by ? = ?/(p.cp)[m2/s] that shows the time a material requires to attain thermal equilibrium with the surroundings. In this case a material of low thermal diffusivity is able to slowly return its stored energy to the environment not depending on the amount of energy it stores. The ultra-Light weight concrete (ULWC) has a lower diffusivity compared to the normal concrete.

ii. Thermal effusivity is given by ? = (√?.p.cp[J/(K.m2.s0.5)]) which is often known as the heat penetration coefficient. It describes the rate at which any material absorbs heat. The high value for effusivity shows that there is high heat flux across surface during process of establishing equilibrium with the surroundings. In this case a heavy weight concrete has a high thermal effusivity compared to ULWC, but the values for metals are higher. This effusivity also indicates the contact temperature and in this case it is much smaller in materials that have higher thermal conductivity, and this explains why ULWC feels warmer when you touch it, unlike normal concrete.

1.2 how the selected material contribute to a balanced indoor environment

A well-balanced indoor environment is one that meets the comfort requirements of its occupants such as temperatures and even ventilations. The materials that contribute to this aspects are important because choosing the right materials will help to achieve this goal.

To achieve this balanced indoor environment, materials selected must exhibit the internal properties of low energy consumption, recyclability and durability. Also must aim to have material with low susceptibility to contamination, low chemical emissions, fungal resistance and dampness.

Therefore to ensure this, certification of material building as low emitting products must be a priority to ensure a balanced indoor environment.

E. Illustrating how the environmental rating of a building can be improved using sustainable materials, evaluating the use of passive and active strategies to minimize resource use.

Environmental ratings of a building depends on the sustainability of the materials used during building, and therefore this means that the ratings can be improved through use of recommended materials during constructions. The recommended materials are one that adhere to all the safety and health regulations and meeting the comfort requirements for the occupants in that building. This means selecting the right materials for the building is key to meeting these requirements (THOMAS, 2006). Any materials used should adhere to the following

- Performances - the safety and health during life of a building, where some materials emit chemicals which could be harmful to the building occupants. Enough ventilations are needed to reduce the effects of such chemical emissions. In general materials should be chosen wisely to reduce negative effects on the occupants. Materials with low chemical emissions should be used to improve the environmental rating for the building.

- Manufacturing and extraction - the environmental effect of extraction such as the mining of scarce resources that are non-renewable on large scale including noise, air pollution, release of c02, chemical emissions etc. Materials that are scarce and are non-renewable should not be used instead consider using alternative that can be recycled in buildings so as to help minimize usage of resources.

- Disposal of wastes - considering materials that can be reused will ultimately reduce the need for new material in future. Also materials that can be recycled will decrease the need for new material in future and energy needed to reconstruct will be much less. The building site managers and designers must aim at reducing the wastes hence decreasing the waste disposal and pollutants release and this helps to improve the environmental rating of the building and also ensures minimal resource usage.
- Sourcing - to maintain low transport and eventual emissions it is important to consider the source of material. The heavier and bulky the material the more the costs. It is important to consider the distance from which the material is to be sourced and this will help to evaluate costs and other expenses. Materials that can be readily available are advised to be used to reduce on costs and resource usages.

Conclusion

In the building and construction industry, materials are very important because they determine the type of structure that will be erected. If this is the case, both the client, the senior designers and senior contractors must always pay an extra attention to the type of materials they chose to use. Choosing the right constructions will mean a lot not only determining the type of structure that is being constructed but will also have an impact of the occupants of the building as well.

Choosing the right materials also means choosing those materials that meet the minimum health and safety regulations and legislations, and in this case they should be those that have little or no harm to those interacting with the materials and occupants of the building. There are guidelines that can be followed to help contractors and designers chose the right materials for their building.

Health and safety regulations are important in any work place, and most importantly in construction. It is the responsibility of the contractor to provide safety measures at work place and ensure the personnel at site all adhere to the guidelines. Also the contractors must provide the necessary training to their workers on how handle construction materials and general health and safety regulations at construction sites. This is important because it will help reduce unnecessary accidents and injuries, and in cases of such accidents and injuries there are regulations on how to report such cases.

It's also important to carry out material environmental profiling and life cycle assessment.The processes for environmental profiling are methods used in identification and assessing the environmental effects for the buildings during the life cycle which is the extraction, processing, usage, maintenance and disposing. The profiling in this case helps in assessing reliability and compare the environmental information on the building materials.

Construction Site Safety, Materials, and Sustainability FAQs

1. Reviewing Health & Safety Regulations for Construction Materials

• Q: What are the key health and safety regulations for construction materials?
• Q: Where can I find more information on these regulations?

2. Environmental Impact and Sustainable Material Choices

• Q: How do environmental factors impact construction material selection?
• Q: What are some sustainable material options?

3. Selecting Materials for a Building Project

• Q: What factors should be considered when choosing materials for a building?
• Q: How can I find data on material performance?

4. Evaluating Building Performance for Human Comfort

• Q: What aspects of a building affect human comfort?
• Q: How can I assess a building's performance for these factors?

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