This article aims to provide a comprehensive comparison between traditional building materials and sustainable building materials. Before a discussion of the comparison can occur, the definition of a traditional material and a sustainable material must be made clear. Traditional building materials tend to have more industrial connotations towards the design and construction industry, and some examples of these include concrete, steel and timber (Bartolome, 2024). Examples of sustainable building materials include bamboo, recycled plastic and rammed earth (UCEM, 2024).
Analysing The Positive Environmental Impact of Traditional Building Materials:
Sourcing raw materials results in buildings contributing to 50% of the world’s carbon emissions (Artemis, 2024), however, there are ways in which some sustainable potential can be extracted from these traditional building materials. For example, when observing the components of brick (clay formed from soil and water), one aspect that contributes to its sustainability potential is its durability and extraction method, which results in less destruction compared to raw materials that are mined (Artemis, 2024). Furthermore, the durable nature of such materials can offer many flexible options for designers to ‘adapt to site-specific conditions’ (BES, 2024).
More examples include creating a circular process within the composition of concrete, for example, using upcycled concrete or replacing limestone in concrete with waste products from industrial projects, such as fly ash and silica fume (Artemis, 2024.)
Analysing The Negative Environmental Impact of Traditional Building Materials:
The majority of the negative environmental impacts created by using traditional building materials are by sourcing and extracting them. For example, when analysing timber sourcing, its appealing carbon sequestration properties overshadow the destructive extraction methods, caused by timber logging. Ways in which damage to the environment can occur include: habitat loss, soil erosion and water cycle disruption (UKGBC Team, 2024).
Furthermore, the manufacturing process of traditional building materials, such as brick, involves a method that contributes heavily to CO2 emissions, due to the firing process in kilns and the energy consumption from moulding, cutting and drying brick (Ukpanah, 2024). An additional aspect to note is how the use of the material impacts the construction process. In this particular example, using brick often leads to building on-site, which has the potential to create more environmental damage, in addition to the negative impacts of the sourcing and manufacturing process.
Analysing The Positive Environmental Impact of Sustainable Building Materials:
As climate change becomes increasingly prominent, the need for designs to meet a net-zero target has heightened, and a way in which this can be achieved is by using sustainable building materials, such as bamboo, reclaimed wood and rammed earth. In support of this goal, data claims that the EIV (Environmental Impact Value) of materials such as bamboo is 0.098, which is significantly less than other building materials (Xu et al., 2022, p.14).
Additionally, the use of rammed earth in construction projects impacts the environment positively, due to the fact that it’s biodegradable, allowing for the implementation of a circular economical process in its extraction. Furthermore, due to its high thermal mass, the material can store large amounts of heat, thus requiring less insulation. Although not classified as a purely sustainable material like the aforementioned materials, using recycled variants of traditional building materials, such as recycled concrete and steel is beneficial, as it doesn’t require ‘energy-intensive mining’ (Franks, n.d), and still achieves structural support when constructing foundations and columns.
Analysing The Negative Environmental Impact of Sustainable Building Materials:
Assessing the negative environmental impacts for sustainable building materials can appear to be quite challenging, since the nature of the materials is to offset carbon emissions and reduce the overall environmental impact. Interestingly, the challenges caused by sustainable building materials pertain to issues such as cost, knowledge about the materials, and their availability. However, in analysing how certain sustainable materials are sourced, we can observe that materials, such as bamboo, are grown in climates that are appropriate for their condition (Bartolome, 2024). Thus, using means of transportation to procure materials that are best grown in international climates can perhaps be seen as a slight negative in using sustainable building materials. This is due to the fact that transporting locally sourced materials to the fabrication or construction site would significantly emit less carbon emissions than if the sustainable materials were sourced internationally.
Comparatively, the negative environmental impact caused by traditional building materials appears to be much more significant than negative environmental impact from sustainable building materials. As the built environment continues to become more urbanised, the need to use more sustainable materials, although linked to a certain vernacularity or domesticity, has become increasingly pertinent. Proven data supports this, as a study that assessed two cases in the use of traditional and low-carbon materials claims that using low-carbon materials results in a ‘40% decrease in material embodied carbon and a 39% decrease in transportation carbon footprint’ (Myint & Shafique, 2024, p.1) comparatively less than traditional materials.
References:
- Artemis. (2024.) Exploring the Unexpected Green Side of Traditional Building Materials [online] Available at: https://happyeconews.com/exploring-the-unexpected-green-side-of-traditional-building-materials/ [Accessed: 07/12/24]
- Bartolome, R. (2024.) The Environmental Impact of Traditional Vs. Sustainable Building Materials: What You Need to Know [online] Available at: https://coastalcustomproducts.com/the-environmental-impact-of-traditional-vs-sustainable-building-materials-what-you-need-to-know/ [Accessed: 07/12/24]
- BES. (2024.) Comparative Analysis: Modular VS Traditional Construction [online] Available at: https://www.besltd.org/media-centre/modern-methods-of-construction-modular-vs-traditional/ [Accessed : 07/12/24]
- Franks, N. (n.d) Why Use Sustainable Materials In Construction? The Benefits of Environmentally Friendly Building Materials. [online] Available at: https://lignacite.co.uk/benefits-of-sustainable-building-materials-in-construction/ [Accessed 14/12/2024]
- Myint, N.N. & Shafique, M. (2024). Embodied carbon emissions of buildings: Taking a step towards net zero buildings. Case Studies in Construction Materials Volume 20(2024). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2024.e03024 [Accessed 14/12/2024]
- Peiyu Xu, Jianjun Zhu, Haitao Li, Yang Wei, Zhenhua Xiong, Xiaoxiao Xu. (2022.) ‘Are bamboo construction materials environmentally friendly? A life cycle environmental impact analysis’, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Volume 96, September 2022, 106853, ISSN 0195-9255, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106853. [Accessed 07/12/24]
- UCEM. (2024). 16 sustainable and cost-effective building materials [online] Available at: https://www.ucem.ac.uk/whats-happening/articles/sustainable-building-materials/ [Accessed: 07/12/24]
- UKGBC Team. (2024.) What are the environmental impacts of construction materials? An introduction to Embodied Ecological Impacts. [online] Available at: https://ukgbc.org/news/introduction-to-embodied-ecological-impacts/ [Accessed: 07/12/24]
- Ukpanah, I. (2024.) Are Bricks Bad For The Environment? [online] Available at: https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/are-bricks-bad-for-the-environment [Accessed: 07/12/24]
Image URLs:
- https://www.front-materials.com/news/reuse-building-materials/
- https://www.forestryengland.uk/pdf-download/the-forest-cycle-activity-sheet
- https://archello.com/news/10-structures-that-demonstrate-bamboos-construction-capability
- https://www.guaduabamboo.com/gallery/bamboo-export
