A Study on the Impact of Different Application Ratios of Ultra-Low Emission Green Building Materials on Human Health in Indoor Environments

2012 ◽  
Vol 271-272 ◽  
pp. 126-130
Author(s):  
Cheng Chen Chen ◽  
Wen Chang Kuo ◽  
Che Ming Chiang ◽  
Kuang Sheng Liu ◽  
Chih Kao Nieh

This study is a 3-year national research project. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of formaldehyde and VOC emissions with different application ratios of ultra-low emission (ULE) green building materials(GBMs), and their impact on human health in indoor environments. The testing methods for aldehyde and ketone substances, and VOC substances used in this study are referenced from the ASTM D6670-01 regulations by full size chamber test method, and the ISO 16000-3 and ISO 16000-6 regulated aldehyde and ketone substance, and VOC sampling and analysis methods. Experiments are conducted at 0%, 30%, 50%, 80% and 100% (5 groups) ratios of ultra-low emission (ULE) green building material used, and the emissions are analyzed. The results show that the higher the utility rate of ULE green building material, the more the interior concentration of TVOC can be effectively lowered. Using at least 30% ULE green building material can achieve indoor air quality that is less than the TVOC value standard of 3 ppm set by the Environmental Protection Administration of Executive Yuan, Taiwan. However, under the standard of 300 ug/m3, set by the World Health Organization and the GreenGuard children’s standard of 220 ug/m3, our research shows that the experiment groups using 30%, and not using (0%) ULE green building material, present a health risk, based on the above standards. However using more than 50% ULE green building material can effectively lower the VOC emission level, indicating that by increasing the use of ULE green building material, the IEH can be maintained.

2013 ◽  
Vol 357-360 ◽  
pp. 1070-1073
Author(s):  
Bao Zhu Sheng

Building material is the base of civil engineering construction, in the history of thousands of years of development, building materials also gradually change and change, and is closely related to the progress of human civilization and the development of science and technology.Green building materials has the vital significance to the construction of a conservation-oriented society and sustainable development, in accordance with China's social development.This paper introduces the importance of the development of green building materials,analyzes some factors influencing the development of green building materials in China,and discusses the development tendency of green building materials in China.


2013 ◽  
Vol 689 ◽  
pp. 398-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usman Aminu Umar ◽  
Hassan Tukur ◽  
Mohd. Faris Khamidi ◽  
Adam Umar Alkali

As education and concern pertaining to environmental and sustainability issues like implications of resources destruction, decrease in bio-diversity as well as climate change multiply, so has the need for housing developments that lead to less damaging effects on the environment, whilst enabling living standard to be sustained. Builders, developers and material providers have addressed this demand by creating approaches and technologies that minimize energy, water and main material consumption, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and sustain or enhance surrounding ecological systems and services. Several administration and non-governmental institutions in addition have aimed to change the sustainability of the building industry by developing green rating systems that can be used to evaluate the environmental performance of new and existing building. This paper discusses material resources criteria and the impact as a sustainable rating tool.


2012 ◽  
Vol 193-194 ◽  
pp. 341-344
Author(s):  
Xin Ming Yan ◽  
Da Lu Tan ◽  
Hong Jia

The impact of the construction industry on the consumption of natural resource and environment cannot be ignored. There is no doubt that green building will be a trend in the international construction industry. It is crucial to choose the appropriate green building materials, because it acts as key factor to the development of green building. With the brief introduction of two mainstream assessment tools of green building materials in the world and two main evaluation tools that are used in China as well as their advantages and disadvantages, this article is expected to serve as the reference for development of green building materials and the assessment tools in China.


Author(s):  
D. P. Kothari

The green building design aims to minimize the need for the non-renewable energy of these resources, optimize their sustainability and maximize their conservation, recycling and usage. The use of effective building materials and construction techniques is maximized. Architectural bioclimatic technology will also optimize on-site usage of sources and sinks. It requires only minimum electricity to fuel itself and efficient appliances to meet its lighting, air-conditioning and other needs. Green buildings architecture optimizes the use of renewable energies and efficient waste and water management methods to create practical and hygienic working conditions for indoor environments. Materials such as chemical, physical and mechanical material properties and an appropriate specification are the fundamental elements of construction design and responsible for the mechanical strength of the design. The construction of green buildings is also the first step in choosing and utilizing eco-friendly materials with or better characteristics than traditional building materials. Based on the practical, technical and financial requirements, construction materials are usually selected. But, given that sustainable development has been a core issue in recent decades, building industry that is directly or indirectly responsible for a substantial share of annual environmental destruction, by pursuing environmentally sound constructions and buildings should take responsibility for contributing to sustainable growth. The quickest way for manufacturers to start integrating environmental design practices into buildings would be the diligent procurement of eco-friendly sustainable construction materials, including options for new material uses, recycling and reusing, organic product creation and green resource use. This paper aims to show how green building materials will help reduce the impact on the atmosphere and create a cleaner building that can be healthy for the occupant or our environment. In the sustainable progress of a nation, the choice of building materials that have reduced environmental burdens is helpful.


Author(s):  
Seyed Meysam Khoshnava ◽  
Raheleh Rostami ◽  
Rosli Mohamad Zin ◽  
Dalia Štreimikienė ◽  
Abbas Mardani ◽  
...  

Conventional building materials (CBMs) made from non-renewable resources are the main source of indoor air contaminants, whose impact can extend from indoors to outdoors. Given their sustainable development (SD) prospect, green building materials (GBMs) with non-toxic, natural, and organic compounds have the potential to reduce their overall impacts on environmental and human health. In this regard, biocomposites as GBMs are environmentally friendly, safe, and recyclable materials and their replacement of CBMs reduces environmental impacts and human health concerns. This study aims to develop a model of fully hybrid bio-based biocomposite as non-structural GBMs and compare it with fully petroleum-based composite in terms of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and human health impacts. Using a small chamber test (American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)-D5116) for VOC investigation and SimaPro software modeling with the ReCiPe method for evaluating human health impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is used, and the results indicate that switching the fully hybrid bio-based biocomposite with the fully petroleum-based composite could reduce more than 50% impacts on human health in terms of indoor and outdoor. Our results indicate that the usage of biocomposite as GBMs can be an environmentally friendly solution for reducing the total indoor and outdoor impacts on human health.


2012 ◽  
Vol 608-609 ◽  
pp. 1773-1777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Ting Hsieh ◽  
Che Ming Chiang ◽  
Ming Chin Ho ◽  
Kwang Pang Lai

Due to global climate changes, Earth sustainability issues have become topics of international attention. The frequency of abnormal weather occurrences and disasters around the world has doubled and the health of the environment has been deteriorating, causing catastrophes around the world. All countries must have a prudent response to this situation. The environmental topics debated globally have changed from passive discussions about environmental protection and energy consumption to more proactive dialogues on sustainable cycles and LOHAS. Taiwan has actively proposed relevant environmental responsive measures, including plans for ecological cities, green buildings, and green building materials (GBMs). GBMs are the basic factor of environmental building projects and they have the most extensive scope of applications, as they have a direct effect on human health and are the key to the Earth’s sustainability. This research summarized international sustainability assessment systems, international green building material labels, and relevant building material assessment mechanisms, in order to summarize and integrate a variety of factors with the life cyclic assessment (LCA) of the ISO14040 series as the axis for establishing a preliminary green building material assessment system. In addition, the Fuzzy Delphi Methods was employed for analysis to discuss the green building material environmental load (Ln) factor and the green building material quality (Qn) factor. According to the research and analysis results, this research established the GBM Eco-Efficiency Assessment System in the context of climate change, to be used as the basis for subsequent research on GBM eco-efficiency standards. Using efficiency as a starting point, this research hoped to achieve a win-win strategy of balancing human health with the Earth’s sustainable development.


2011 ◽  
Vol 343-344 ◽  
pp. 267-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Ting Hsieh ◽  
Che Ming Chiang ◽  
Ming Chin Ho ◽  
Kwang Pang Lai

"Sustainable development "is a necessary condition for continuation of the Earth, "Healthy and Comfortable" is a necessary condition for the continuation of life. The serious energy and natural resource shortage that our living environment is currently facing, however global climate change is the problem can not be ignored. This paper shows the application of green building materials to sustainable building for environmental protection. Since July 2006, the mandatory green building material utilization has been involved into Taiwan’s building code. For indoor decoration and floor materials in buildings, green building materials shall cover at least 30% of the total indoor decoration and floor material uses. Fulfilling the requirements of ecological, recycling, healthy, and high-performance attributes, the green building material regulation may effectively reduce environmental impacts and improve the indoor environmental quality (IEQ), so as to gradually achieve “human health and global sustainability.”Taiwan Green Building Material (GBM) evaluation system incorporates low toxicity, minimal emissions, low-VOC, recycled content, resource efficiency, recyclable and reusable materials, energy efficiency, water conservation, IAQ improvement, and use of locally products, among others (Froeschle, 1999). The criteria are systematically comprised of four categories, including Ecology, Health, High-Performance and Recycling. With respect to the relationship between the GBM labeling system and the current EEWH green building evaluation system in Taiwan, the GBM system can typically contribute to a sustainable environment. Starting from energy saving and resource efficiency by combining an ecological circulatory system, corresponding local environment, community civilization, as well as historic and regional features, the GBM system creates a core concept of sustainable built environment in Taiwan.


Author(s):  
Emmanuel Chidiebere Eze ◽  
◽  
Rex Asibuodu Ugulu ◽  
Onyealilam Peter Onyeagam ◽  
Desoji Anthony Adegboyega ◽  
...  

The complexity and fragmented nature and the multiple stakeholders in the construction industry often make it difficult to come up with a firm decision regarding sustainable building materials selection. The wrong choice could negatively impact the project objective and performance outcome. This study assessed the critical factor influencing the choice of sustainable building materials (SBM) selection on construction projects in the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire, non-probability (purposive and snowball) sampling techniques, and an internet-mediated survey. Data analyses were carried out using the appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical tools and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The study revealed recycled plastic, natural clay and mud, stone, bricks and tile, cellulose, stray bales, grasses, limestone, and wood timber, are the commonly used sustainable building materials. Also, their level of awareness is high while their adoption is moderate. EFA revealed that the major clusters of determinants of the choice of green building materials are: emissions minimisation, low running cost and reusability, low thermal and energy consumption efficiency, low cost and high health and safety consideration and waste minimisation. The key factors influencing the choice of sustainable building materials selection in construction are: reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, materially embodied energy cost, operating and maintenance costs, non-toxic or low toxic emissions generated by the products/materials, recyclability of the building materials, availability of the technical skills, renewable (reusable) properties, inhibiting the impact of buildings on the environment, safety and health of the occupants, and appearance and aesthetic. It is recommended that consideration be given to these factors in selecting sustainable/green building materials in the designs and specifications of construction projects.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Rae Roth ◽  
Meghan Lewis ◽  
Liane Hancock

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