The use of durable, attractive, and environmentally responsible building materials is a key element
of any high-performance building. The use of natural and health friendly materials contributes to
the well-being of the occupants and to a feeling of connection with the bounty of the natural world. Report/Rubrics
We traditionally used earth bricks, concrete, steel and wood in construction. These have been, and
continue to be used in everyday construction, meaning the continued destruction of trees for
timber, and the mining of resources to produce steel, cement for binding sand, gravel, and bricks.
Concrete is one of the most used building materials in the world. It’s also one of the worst
materials.
Sustainable and green building is the future of construction. Not only does it help to protect our
environment, building greenly can reduce the cost of building operation over time. One important
aspect of green construction is to use sustainable natural building materials with good insulation
properties.
Natural building materials are materials used for building that are considered abundantly available
in that environment, and are renewable, recycled or reused. Natural building materials are
significant and many. Overall, they have less embodied energy than conventional building
materials, which results in less energy being required for their production. Using locally sourced
natural materials reduces the environmental impact that goes into sourcing the material. These are
materials that are more easily found in nature with good thermal properties, and do not take as
much energy ( carbon dioxide) to mass produce, and do not contribute as much to the pollution of
the earth as opposed to the conventional building materials which have poor thermal properties.
Deliverables:
1. A comprehensive literature review (25 references) for Sample Characteristics of
Environmentally Preferable (EP) Materials for subcontinent region.
2. Enlist 15 construction materials for subcontinents region along with their thermal properties
3. Select local natural materials (2 each for five climatic condition of coastal , Plain, desert,
low lying/dry mountainous and high lying mountainous compare their thermal properties
with existing(Concrete, steel, bricks, plaster etc) construction materials.
4. Simulate a model house in all five climatic conditions of Pakistan/ subcontinent in any
software with existing materials and 5 selected local natural materials and compare annual
energy saving.
5. Conclude the work with justified social and environmental benefit of using local natural
construction materials for sustainability.