USE OF GREEN MATERIALS IN CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS

- For a Building to be called as “Green”, it should have used minimum Non-renewable resources while construction, have minimum carbon emission while operational and after its life it should have maximum contribution in decarbonizing by being reused in other projects. Using Natural Resources in sustainable manner is an attribute of Green Buildings.

• This Blog is specifically about one aspect of Green Building, ‘ Green Materials used in construction’. Upon its successful execution, it shall be a significant landmark in advancement in human civilization. Note that it will be advancement not invention, Hunter gatherers used green materials for construction, it’s just that this time it’s going to be with innumerable features added.

Birds live in nest, monkeys on trees…

Imgsource :https://www.eai.in

• Unlike other creatures, human beings aspire for certain aesthetics to their living place, which theoretically demands not needed element, hence making sure that buildings can never be really green. So, this problem isn’t going to be solved rather only optimized.

• Let us now dig into finding some green materials, a textbook would say, ‘ Any material which is Sustainable and is Natural is Green Material’ makes sense but not entirely in 2022. Now we have already have used plethora of Renewable and Non-renewable resources to make buildings.

So, the updated definition should be, ‘ Any Existing Material which is net positive for environment from the present time is Green’

So, a bamboo getting transported hundreds of miles and then used is not green and a concrete slab which was planned to be deconstructed before its life cycle and instead was renovated and used its remaining life can be a green material (because it is cancelling the negative effect of the new concrete slab hence net being positive). So, for a material to be green is no more its property.

• Making stone walls in a place near to mountains having large stones is Green unlike in metro cities.

Bamboo is a green material for cabinetry and flooring in places receiving high rain unlike others where it will either use high percentage of water available or use transportation.

Imgsource: https://pin.it/5ff8WfI

-Farmers have the best surrounding to use green materials like Sheep’s wool for instance, they insulate house , makes it more energy efficient.

-Cork absorbs noise and pressure effectively and be an insulation for sheet materials. It can be used for subflooring and flooring. It is thermal insulator and fire resistant.

-Reclaimed Wood is good for cabinetry, flooring and structural framing. It is one of the few green materials for metro guys.

Hempcrete- Feature loaded green material has light weight, fire-resistant, thermal insulation, acoustic and many more. Striking point about it is Carbon negative

ImgSource :https://theconstructor.org

Above all, the worthiest use case of green material is that it always has more liveness/life than non-green materials. This will greatly enhance one’s well being by allowing one to be connected with nature as we were supposed to be.