Sustainable building materials are becoming increasingly important as we try to reduce the environmental impact of construction. Using materials that are renewable, recycled, responsibly sourced, and have lower embodied emissions can provide major benefits for the health of the planet. According to the folk at Aerodine Composites, as technology develops, advanced composites and other innovative new materials may completely change how we design and erect buildings in the coming years.
Reducing Energy and Emissions During Construction and Operation
A very significant goal in sustainable building is to greatly reduce the energy required to construct buildings, as well as the emissions they generate in operation. This means using manufacturing techniques and materials that require less fossil fuel energy input, while also improving insulation, airtightness, and passive solar design features. Implementing these strategies can mean burning fewer fossil fuels overall, drastically lowering greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of the building.
Use of Renewable and Recycled Building Materials
Many of the most promising future building materials will come from renewable plant sources that can be sustainably farmed or harvested, or from recycled and upcycled waste products that give discarded materials new life in construction. For example, cross-laminated timber has emerged as an extremely versatile renewable building material that can be manufactured from sustainably harvested trees and substituted for emissions-intensive concrete and steel in buildings up to 10 stories or more. Recycled plastic shopping bags and textiles can also be given a second life by incorporating them into insulation batts, roof tiles, decking, and pavers.
Advanced Composites Poised to Transform Construction
Composites are materials made by combining two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties. They create a final product that is superior in key ways. Advanced composites feature reinforced polymer, ceramic, or natural fibers bound in a plastic or biodegradable plant-derived resin. The future looks bright for using composites that match or exceed the strength, durability and lifespan of conventional concrete and steel in construction, while greatly reducing their environmental impact.
Integration of Smart Materials and Nanotechnology
New “smart” building materials science leverages nanotechnology, microencapsulation, and advanced manufacturing techniques to create materials that can actively adapt to changing temperatures, sunlight conditions, or occupancy levels within a building. Smart glazing materials can redirect sunlight deeper into interiors to provide natural lighting and passive solar heating, reducing HVAC costs. Other emerging technologies, like thermochromic materials, dynamically adjust their opacity and transparency to better regulate the right levels of natural light and heat entering the building. Phase change materials melt and solidify to absorb and release energy.
Greener Substitutes and Alternatives to Concrete
The production of Portland cement used widely in concrete has an exceptionally high carbon footprint. As such, researchers are actively developing more sustainable greener concrete alternatives using alternate supplementary cementitious materials, substitutes like fly ash, or techniques that absorb and sequester additional carbon. For example, magnesium oxide cement emits far less CO2 compared to Portland cement. New recycling processes are also being developed that turn concrete waste into limestone, which can replace cement. These emerging material technologies will allow concrete and other conventional building staples to be used in increasingly sustainable ways going forward.
Conclusion
There are clearly many promising opportunities to make buildings vastly more sustainable through creative material science innovation. Homes and commercial buildings alike can last for a hundred years or more, meaning materials choices made today impact many future generations. Collaborative work among construction sector stakeholders can achieve a sustainable transformation of building practices, resulting in structures that are far safer, healthier, and ecologically regenerative for all inhabitants.