Green Architecture Review and the Responsive Building Materials Towards a Sustainable Built Environment in Nigeria

Building materials and construction technology are strongly interrelated with the pillars for sustainable development (e.g. environment, society economy, culture and politics). Earth Building, an 11,000-year-old practice of building using sustainable and earth materials, is practiced worldwide. Earth has been used to construct walls, floors, roofs, and even furniture. Today it is estimated that between 33-50%of the world's population is housed in earth homes. This chapter reviews the two-year process of earth buildings and earth architecture carried out by the Department of Architecture Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering at National University of Malaysia (UKM). The current research emphasis is on the types, construction methods, and architectural aspects of earth buildings and earth architecture. The current manuscript compares type of earth buildings and their properties and applications based on building materials and architectural aspects in construction.

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Guidance on Design and Construction of the Built Environment Against Wildland Urban Interface Fire Hazard: A Review

Fire Technology ◽

10.1007/s10694-019-00902-z ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 56 (5) ◽

pp. 1853-1883 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paolo Intini ◽

Enrico Ronchi ◽

Steven Gwynne ◽

Noureddine Bénichou

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Built Environment ◽

Fire Protection ◽

Building Materials ◽

Fire Hazard ◽

Future Research ◽

Wildland Urban Interface ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Risk Areas ◽

Design And Construction

Abstract Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires, a worldwide problem, are gaining more importance over time due to climate change and increased urbanization in WUI areas. Some jurisdictions have provided standards, codes and guidelines, which may greatly help planning, prevention and protection against wildfires. This work presents a wide systematic review of standards, codes and guidelines for the design and construction of the built environment against WUI fire hazard from North American, European, Oceanic countries, alongside with trans-national codes. The main information reviewed includes: the definition of WUI hazards, risk areas and related severity classes, the influence of land and environmental factors, the requirements for building materials, constructions, utilities, fire protection measures and road access. Some common threads among the documents reviewed have been highlighted. They include similar attempts at: (a) defining WUI risk areas and severity classes, (b) considering land factors including the defensible space (also known as ignition zones), (c) prescribing requirements for buildings and access. The main gaps highlighted in the existing standards/guidelines include lacks of detailed and widespread requirements for resources, fire protection measures, and lacks of taking into account environmental factors in detail. The main design and construction principles contained in the reviewed documents are largely based on previous research and/or good practices. Hence, the main contributions of this paper consist in: (a) systematically disseminate these guidance concepts, (b) setting a potential basis for the development of standards/guidelines in other jurisdictions lacking dedicated WUI fire design guidance, (c) highlighting gaps in existing standards/guidelines to be addressed by current and future research.

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Ceramic facade cladding as an element of sustainable development

Facta universitatis - series Architecture and Civil Engineering ◽

10.2298/fuace1503219t ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 219-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gordana Toplicic-Curcic ◽

Dusan Grdic ◽

Nenad Ristic ◽

Zoran Grdic

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Building Materials ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Green Building ◽

Visual Quality ◽

Social Needs ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Green Architecture ◽

Ceramic Facade ◽

Materials Used

Building in harmony with nature has a small impact on the environment, while meeting the basic needs of the population. Green architecture is a branch of architecture including planning, designing and building of various kinds of buildings, with a low impact on the environment. Construction of the so-called ?green structures? is in accord with the concept of sustainability and it attempts to balance environmental, economical and social needs. Environmentally appropriate materials are used in construction of this type of structures, which during their production, application and distribution pollute as little as possible the water, soil and air in the environment. The more sustainable the building materials used for construction are, the more sustainable is the structure and its operation with renewable energy sources. The paper considers ceramic facade elements, i.e. cladding. By using ceramic facade cladding, one achieves a better preception of an urban environment, which enriches our lives for new sensual and visual quality, while observing the green building requirements.

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Thermal performance in the built environment. Determination of air permeance of building materials

10.3403/30240142u ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Thermal Performance ◽

Building Materials

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Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

Infrastructures ◽

10.3390/infrastructures6040049 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 49

Author(s):

Kamel Mohamed Rahla ◽

Ricardo Mateus ◽

Luís Bragança

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Value Chain ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Selection Criteria ◽

Building Materials ◽

Technical Aspect ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Industry Waste ◽

Current Trends

A growing concern is given to the environmental impacts caused by the construction industry. Waste generation, resource consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions are the main drawbacks of the rapid urbanization that the world is witnessing. As a response to these pressing issues, policymakers and academia are exploring the concept of Circular Economy (CE) to manage resources better and achieve resource efficiency while eliminating waste. One of the strategies to implement CE in the built environment is to select the appropriate building materials and components from the early stages to carry out the concept's principles along the value chain and create a closed-loop system. Therefore, this study aims at identifying selection criteria for building elements according to CE principles through a review of the latest research. Results have shown that little has been concretely achieved in terms of a paradigm shift to CE since the main focus of the literature is still the use of recycled products and the recyclability of building materials and components at their end-of-life. Although the present study is solely focused on the technical aspect of building materials and components, it outlines current adopted criteria to bring about a circular built environment and highlights the need for a more innovative approach to attain higher circularity levels.

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Textile as Material in Human Built Environment Interaction

Future City - Rethinking Sustainability Towards a Regenerative Economy ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-71819-0_11 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 215-225

Author(s):

Preben Hansen ◽

Vesna Grujoska ◽

Milica Jovanoska

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Interaction Design ◽

Human Population ◽

Building Materials ◽

Point Of View ◽

Built Environments ◽

Environment Interaction ◽

Significant Issue ◽

Renewable Materials ◽

Critical Literature

AbstractAs human population grows in number, the amount of (organic and non-organic) waste materials has grown rapidly year by year.Changes of consumption and lifestyle have generated a higher waste amount. Waste management has become a significant issue in today’s society. In 2014, the EU countries registered 2.494 million tons of generated waste, which was an increase in growth of 2.8% compared with data from 2008. Different renewable materials are ending up as waste, such as glass, paper, plastic, textile, which may be used in a recycling process. This chapter will discuss these challenges with the focus on one of these materials, textiles, as building materials.We also introduce the perspective of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) aspects, and especially Human-Built Environment Interaction which will give some specific focus on textiles used as recycled materials. The result of the critical literature review in the area of textiles as building material from an HCI point of view suggest a set of interaction design dimensions that can be considered and applied on the usage of textiles for built environments.

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Circular economy in built environment and real estate industry

The proceedings of the 13th international conference "Modern Building Materials, Structures and Techniques" (MBMST 2019) ◽

10.3846/mbmst.2019.046 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Janis Zvirgzdins ◽

Kaspars Plotka ◽

Sanda Geipele

Keyword(s):

Real Estate ◽

Built Environment ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Building Materials ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Real Estate Industry ◽

Global Issues ◽

Materials Research ◽

Whole Life Cycle

The concept of circular economy have gained a popularity in the scientific areas for the past decades due to raising influence of climate change, overpopulation, deforestation, resource depletion, urbanization, pollution and other global issues. Real estate is crucial aspect for every human being, because majority of people spend majority of their lifetime in buildings which are mainly located in cities. Purpose of the study is to reflect how built environment and real estate industry can benefit from the features of circular economy concept while promoting the practices of sustainable development. Authors have carried out a study based on the methodology of literature review and state of the art review to show how features of circular economy can support practices of sustainable construction. Results show that the construction processes can be supported by features of circular economy throughout the whole life cycle of construction project including logistics, supply chains, design, manufacturing process, exploitation and maintenance of real estate and reusing the building materials. Research indicates that urban circular economy contributes to the development of sustainable societies. Additionally, efficient implementation of circular construction requires profitability for majority of stakeholders.

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Growth in floor area: the blind spot in cutting carbon

Emerald Open Research ◽

10.35241/emeraldopenres.13420.2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

David Ness

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Asset Management ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Building Materials ◽

Blind Spot ◽

Commercial Real Estate ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Building Stock ◽

The Future ◽

Combat Climate Change

While most efforts to combat climate change are focussed on energy efficiency and substitution of fossil fuels, growth in the built environment remains largely unquestioned. Given the current climate emergency and increasing scarcity of global resources, it is imperative that we address this ‘blind spot’ by finding ways to support required services with less resource consumption. There is now long overdue recognition to greenhouse gas emissions ‘embodied’ in the production of building materials and construction, and its importance in reaching targets of net zero carbon by 2050. However, there is a widespread belief that we can continue to ‘build big’, provided we incorporate energy saving measures and select ‘low carbon materials’ − ignoring the fact that excessive volume and area of buildings may outweigh any carbon savings. This is especially the case with commercial real estate. As the inception and planning phases of projects offer most potential for reduction in both operational and embodied carbon, we must turn our attention to previously overlooked options such as ‘build nothing’ or ‘build less’. This involves challenging the root cause of the need, exploring alternative approaches to meet desired outcomes, and maximising the use of existing assets. If new build is required, this should be designed for adaptability, with increased stewardship, so the building stock of the future will be a more valuable and useable resource. This points to the need for increased understanding and application of the principles of strategic asset management, hitherto largely ignored in sustainability circles, which emphasize a close alignment of assets with the services they support. Arguably, as the built environment consumes more material resources and energy than any other sector, its future configuration may be critical to the future of people and the planet. In this regard, this paper seeks to break new ground for deeper exploration.

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New Frontiers in Cementitious and Lime-Based Materials and Composites

Crystals ◽

10.3390/cryst12010061 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 61

Author(s):

Cesare Signorini ◽

Antonella Sola ◽

Sumit Chakraborty ◽

Valentina Volpini

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Structural Engineering ◽

Building Materials ◽

Materials Science ◽

Functional Limitations ◽

Environmental Footprint ◽

Special Issue ◽

Alternative Materials ◽

The World ◽

Recent Trends

Cement and lime currently are the most common binders in building materials. However, alternative materials and methods are needed to overcome the functional limitations and environmental footprint of conventional products. This Special Issue is entirely dedicated to “New frontiers in cementitious and lime-based materials and composites” and gathers selected reviews and experimental articles that showcase the most recent trends in this multidisciplinary field. Authoritative contributions from all around the world provide important insights into all areas of research related to cementitious and lime-based materials and composites, spanning from structural engineering to geotechnics, including materials science and processing technology. This topical cross-disciplinary collection is intended to foster innovation and help researchers and developers to identify new solutions for a more sustainable and functional built environment.

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