Environmental Performance Enters Construction Materials

Mechanical Performance of Wood Construction Materials

The paper aims to illustrate the relevant use of infrared thermography as a nondestructive, non-contact and real time technique (a) to observe the progressive damage process and failure mechanism of wood, and (b) to detect the occurrence of intrinsic dissipation localization. The investigated parameter is the heat generation due to intrinsic dissipation caused by inelasticity. Thanks to the the...

New Materials for Biosensor Construction

Rock Masses as Construction Materials

A rock mass is a material quite different from other structural materials used in civil engineering. It is heterogeneous and quite often discontinuous, but is one of the materials in the earth's crust, which is most used in man's construction. Ideally, a rock mass is composed of a system of rock blocks and fragments separated by discontinuities forming a material in which all elements behave in...

Construction Methods and Building Materials

Today visitors often approach the massive pyramids, temples, and obelisks of the ancient Egyptians with wonder and disbelief. The huge blocks of stone used to create these architectural masterpieces were quarried and moved without the aid of modern technologies, and it is diffi cult for us to imagine how such feats of engineering could be accomplished without the aid of cranes, bulldozers, truc...

Environmental Impacts and Embodied Energy of Construction Methods and Materials in Low-Income Tropical Housing

This paper evaluates the current conditions of Ugandan low-income tropical housing with a focus on construction methods and materials in order to identify the key areas for improvement. Literature review, site visits and photographic surveys are carried out to collect relevant information on prevailing construction methods/materials and on their environmental impacts in rural areas. Low quality...