5 things to consider when choosing Building Materials
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
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Construction Material Pyramid: www.materialepyramiden.dk
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:16 Global warming
1:42 Ozone depletion
2:44 Photochemical ozone creation
3:11 Acidification
3:34 Eutrophication
4:28 Structural steel
5:09 Cross laminated timber
5:46 Sponsorship
6:33 Concrete
7:29 Conclusion
Can we rate structures based on the environmental impact of materials used to build them? That’s exactly what the Construction Material Pyramid hopes to achieve. The pyramid highlights the environmental impact of the most used construction materials like structural steel, aluminum, double and triple paned windows, insulation, lumber and more.
This interactive version of the material pyramid allows you to toggle between 5 impact categories. The first is the global warming potential or carbon footprint. GWP calculates how much heat is absorbed and trapped by a certain amount of gas, compared to carbon dioxide.
The second is the ozone depletion potential. During manufacturing, materials release certain gases that can degrade the ozone layer. When a single chlorine or bromine atom comes into contact with ozone in the stratosphere, it can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules.
The third is photochemical ozone creation potential. Some materials produce carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds during manufacturing. When sunlights hits these compounds, they form ground level ozone which can affect our health.
The fourth is acidification potential. The extraction and production of some materials release sulfur dioxide, nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide into the air. They react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids, which can fall to the earth as acid rain.
Lastly, is eutrophication potential. An unnatural increase in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus in water starts a process called eutrophication. Algae feed on the nutrients, growing, spreading and turning the water green. In large concentrations, these compounds can lead to algal blooms, tainted water supplies and the death of fish.
The Construction Material Pyramid allows designers to quickly understand the impact of building materials. It reminds us that we should place value on the bones of buildings, not the stuff that we fill them with. Let’s talk about 3 materials that are featured in the construction pyramid.
Structural steel. Steel production is energy intensive and one of the leading sources of greenhouse gases. Nearly two tons of carbon dioxide are emitted for every 1 ton of steel produced. It also accounts for five percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.
Cross laminated timber. Engineered wood like glulams, cross laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber have the potential to revolutionize the building industry. To improve the properties of wood and make it even stronger than steel and concrete, layers of wood are sandwiched with moisture resistant glues and compressed under heat and pressure.
Concrete. The data on concrete really surprised me. Worldwide, we use about 30 billion tonnes of concrete a year, which accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. When I was researching concrete for my video on geopolymers, every article and paper claimed that concrete was one of the most polluting materials, but it ranks lower than steel in every category!
I think that the takeaway from the construction pyramid is that materials like concrete, steel, and glass have allowed us to tame nature and push the limits of engineering but their extraction and production come at a cost. It’s important for us to be aware of that cost and, if possible, choose alternatives that are not as harmful to the environment.
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#construction #materials #carbonfootprint #ecofriendly #architecture - Наука та технологія
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Construction Material Pyramid: www.materialepyramiden.dk
Are sheds homes a scam? Can u make a video about shed homes
There is a company making drywall with glass beads for insulation properties in Germany but I cant figure if there still manufacturing the product. You should do a video.
I have been watching these videos for a few years and would like to know at what outside temperature it becomes unnecessary to run a dehumidifier in the winter ?
@@rowslynch6342 Once it gets below 42F outside most forced air systems will dry the house out.
@@FreezeinHellBatman Thank You Very Much Zach. I have been trying to convince someone who runs their dehumidifier all winter that they are wasting money. What can I say to them ? 🙏
I’m so glad I found your channel, just amazing how detailed and passionate you are. Your videos are entertaining as well as being informative.
I could watch your videos all day long, my clients would track me down and cut my internet connection. Thank you for all this info, I hope you get back at least as much as you give.
Hello Belinda. So nice to have your information available again! Hope all is well with you and yours.
Hello Belinda: very nice to see you again. Hopefully, all of your temporary issues are resolved or in that process. Happy New Year to you and yours!❤
Pumicecrete is by far the best building material on the planet Pumicecrete is a mixture of 10 parts pumice to 1 part cement and 1.5 parts water mixed and poured into a set of reusable forms walls are poured from 12"to 24" thick pumicecrete is fireproof termite proof rust rot and mold proof and has a high R value and good sound attenuation solid poured walls means no critters can live in your walls Pumicecrete can be built for a fraction of the cost and time and pumice is the only material that can go directly from the mine to the job site ready to use without any additional possessing and zero waste
Your videos are amazing, very incredible informative and well communicated. I also really appreciate the production quantity, especially the sound.
Thanks for making these videos and shearing your knowledge and experience.
😊
Due to sapling mortality, I'd argue planting 2 trees for every 1 cut down. If we want to account for future demand, we should be planting 4 for evey one cut down.
Simply planting trees isn't enough, either. You need to avoid planting entire forests with just 1 or 2 types of tree, you need to loosen the soils around the trees after it was compacted by harvesting equipment and you need to seed in symbiotic mushrooms to help the trees gather enough moisture and nutrients since all of these young trees will quickly deplete these resources in the upper layers of soil.
Pelle Munch Petersen is an architect and reading some of what he has written he seams to be rather enviromentally obsessed, this is usually not a good sign for honest presentations, as those who are emotionally driven their biases heavily influence the final product.
But i could be wrong about him, this is just a glance at him as there is not a lot written about him or by him. This could be 100% honest as well.
What i am the most interested in, is how deep digging his work is, do we have weights of everything and how much waste we get from using it. For example wood leaves a huge waste of unused wood during the manufacturing of planks and also cutting them to size. Is this factored in?
When we talk about aluminum there is hardly no waste, and unused aluminum is tossed in together with the bauxite which makes it so it uses a lot less energy into getting new aluminum, is this factored in as well? Or is it based on a batch of pure bauxite to aluminum?
Then you have to take more of the construction of those materials into account, is that done? You have to dig rather deep to get accurate numbers. For example bauxite uses far less resources to dig up out of the ground then iron. Bauxite is also a mineral that binds some rare earth materials which iron ore rarely does.
What im trying to get at, is how thorough he was. Did he take lifespan and wear and tear into account, then we have to consider the human factor, are there some materials that customers will seek to replace with other materials. When they have bought it they can do what they want with it obviously and if you for some reason made the floor out of untreated bambu it will be replaced by the new owner obviously. Things like that are important.
I thought most wood mills use the shavings of wood for other building applications? Is it a huge waste?
You can build an entire home out of 3 materials Pumice cement and water and Pumice is one of the few building materials that can go directly from the mine to the job site ready to use without any additional possessing and zero waste
I see your three materials and triumph it using just one material - wood.
@@bzdtemp how do you connect the wood together what about insulation, vapor water and air barriers paint drywall nails Simpson ties ??? Even log cabins need chinking
I would love to see you build an entire house out of wood alone
Your obviously not a builder
@@bzdtemp there was a lesbian couple in Santa Fe that built a house with no nails it was all tongue and groove
@@raymondpeters9186 I think me wood house would do better than one build using only your three materials. It won't be ideal, but if needed one can make the chinking of wood.
@@bzdtemp can't fix Stupid
I suspect the lifespan of materials aren't taken into account as they typically outlast the buildings. Given a proper building envelope even wood is going to be in good condition by the time a building is replaced these days.
Regarding the pyramid, I'm of the impression we're now at the same stage as nutrition, or cancer. If we consume A, we minimize the ill effects of Z, but there is also an increased risk of Y. If we consume B, however, we can mitigate Y and Z, but then problems with X crop up. Something may have a low carbon footprint, but can't be recycled. Other things can be highly recyclable, but require a lot of CO2 to be exhausted into the atmosphere during processing. Then there might be something with low CO2 AND can be recycled, but is unsuitable for a desired use. In the end then, it seems as if we'll just have to close our eyes and pick something.
That's why pyramid structures, designed by people with a political agenda, never work. It's bound to do the exact opposite of what they claim it will. Think of it as a pyramid _scam_ -- it will _appear_ to be working, for exactly as long as they can keep selling it!
Sounds to me like some very wealthy and powerful people sat around trying to find yet another way to price the poor and the middle class out of home ownership.
The best way to build is to use materials and techniques that few construction companies know and are currently both impractical and prohibitively expensive.
I would love to watch a video of yours about rammed earth construction. Thank you for your work.
I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.
3 wythe brick, hotmix, lime plaster, steel casements with storms in for winter. Hardly ever need to turn the boiler up.
nice work on the comparison, now go find out if something changed with foams that require an update to your pyramids.
Please make a video about straw bale houses, love your videos
I echo the sentiments in some of the other comments here: would be interesting to compare the environmental impact pyramid with lifespan.
The Black Forest Family noticed this problem when they talked about their experiences of building a house in Freiburg, Germany, versus the building process in the US. The USA's reliance on wood, plasterboard and wool insulation might result in super-fast building and less toxic waste in a demolition or disaster cleanup, but the slower building process made of more durable materials in Germany meant the house was built with long-term living in mind - not to mention the amazing insulation and offsetting!
Can you PLEASE do a follow up to the Jedda Tower. What is happening? What happened? And are there other such buildings that just stopped construction, like the Chicago Spire and the North Korean hotel?
To adjust for lifespan I guess you can multiply it by how many times you would have to replace it in say a hundred years.
I'm a home inspector and indoor air consultant in the San Juaquin Valley. I love your show; you are fantastic. Could I use some of your videos on my website or link to yours? How does that work?
There are several serious problems with wood cutting where I live in rural Vermont, USA.
1. The sound of chainsaws is disruptive to the peace and quiet of rural living.
2. Loggers burn the wood scraps that they don’t sell on the logging sites dumping huge amounts of particulate pollution into the air.
3. Logging sites are not replanted after cutting.
4. Cleared forests are not stabilized to prevent watershed runoff pollution.
5. Native animals are driven off the logged land.
6. Log trucks are so large that they are a hazard on our narrow roads.
There is nothing environmentaly sound about logging in Vermont.
Logging is a wholesale rape of the land making wood the most environmentally damaging building product in my opinion.
Thank you Belinda. Do you have a choice alternative for a metal roof? Perhaps a terra cotta type material? Also if I have a cinder block building to cover as a terrace, are there any suggestions for a rooftop in place of polycarbonate and cdx?
"When sunlight hits these compounds" (subtitled "Sunlight + CO or NO or NO2"). Well, sunlight does nothing to CO, nothing to NO, splits NO2 to NO + O, but that is followed by O + O2 ---> O3 and NO + O3 ---> NO2 + O2 (zero net effect).
No blame on you, because it's complicated, even for CO: Sunlight + O3 ---> O2 + O* (electronically excited), O* + H2O --> 2 OH. Each OH radical then starts a cycle: OH + CO ---> CO2 + H, H + O2 ---> HO2, HO2 + NO ---> OH + NO2. The cycle is closed by producing OH in the last step. The side effect of each iteration, NO --> NO2, increases O3, see above paragraph.
But wood production is not harmless with respect to ozone formation, as light wood frequently means wood of coniferous trees, which purposely emit a lot of volatile organic compounds, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terpene#Biological_function. Their effect on ozone formation has long been underestimated, see agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007JD009166
That's why you need structures that last, not ones that _appear_ to reduce environmental impact. A concrete and steel building that lasts 100 years, is always better than a more supposedly environmentally friendly one, that needs to be rebuilt or updated every 10. Think: _Three Little Pigs!_
7:01 At least one Holcim plant in Mexico is burning municipal trash in the state of Veracruz as a cheap source of energy.
I have a few problems with this pyramid. First thing is ozone. The ionosphere is there to create ozone, everytime a lighting bolt hits the ground ozone is produced at ground level. Ozone is produced by air coming in contact with electricity. Also the amount of ozone needed to actually harm you at ground level is about 80% ozone to air and only for exposure over the course of 5 hours. There is always ozone present at ground level, always has and always will be.
Secondly I'm going to say this for the 50 millionth time. One volcano produces the entire human green house production in one single eruption, one! Now take into account on average there are anywhere between 14 to 50+ eruptions in a year.
Thirdly, nature is a fine tuned machine, it has made sure this planet is habitable for millennia. If there is an increase in greenhouse gases which cause the oceans to increase in temperature and acidity then the algae blooms(which produce 2/3 of the over all oxygen on earth) would be going absolutely batsh!t due to the perfect conditions for production. If that fails then the planet increasing in temperature would result in a higher level of volcanic eruptions, which not only produce greenhouse gases but lowers the over all temperature of the planet due to the amount of dust particles thrown into the air.
Fourthly, concrete is made with lime and gypsum. Lime is calcium carbonate which is actually removing carbon from the environment and binding it in the concrete, gypsum is a selenide which is a calcium magnesium sulphate, also reducing the amount of sulphur in the environment. But wait it gets better. When sulphuric acid comes in contact with calcium or magnesium it's neutralised same with nitric acid and within the soil there is a lot of calcium and magnesium.
Within nature there is a balance and it will always be maintained.
BRAVA! This is brilliant, Belinda. I am taking a course in biophilic design in preparation for building my retirement cottage. This is very helpful information.
As Belinda points out, the pyramid doesn't account for the vitally important issues of performance and lifespan. Additionally, of the five "impact categories", only two are even related to the immediate environment of people using these materials or living near the production of these materials. As far as I can tell, except for ground-level ozone and the acidification and eutrophication chemicals, the pyramid doesn't factor in any of the other air or water pollution that afflicts billions and kills millions. In addition, there is no account for the actual environment in the structure itself: pollutants emitted into a home or office by various materials that also can cause serious health problems. (Do you want to live next to a cement plant or a pulp mill?)
For a pyramid that purports to "show the environmental impact of a number of relevant building materials", it falls far short. And without performance and lifespan considered, it says nothing about sustainability. It unfortunately seems to be more of a tool for feel-gooders with a political agenda than those of us who actually want to improve our environment. Thanks, Belinda, for bringing it to the attention of the masses and for your careful explanation.
what's your opinion on barndominiums?
I'm interested in the use of bamboo, will you be looking into this?
Please do the video you mentioned on the theory about the actual pyramids and how they might have been created 🙏 😀
Hi Belinda. Hope all is well 🙏. Haven’t seen any posts lately. Hope you’re doing well.
Very interesting Belinda. Thank you for sharing your research on this.
I said this ten years ago if they factor performance the winner is 3 wythe brick in hotmix with lime plaster, steel casements and storms
Interesting...egyptian style!
How about steel roofing?
My grandfather bought a house in 1946 and put a steel roof on it. (I'm in that house right now). Not one leak in those 76 years. I don't think a shingle roof can say the same and the leaks that appear at the end of life could damage the structure of a house.
How can a chart (or building regimen) which =fails= to include both performance and lifespan be worth a hoot? If you're gonna do it, folks, think cradle to grave and every single aspect of the material's effect on things around it.
I'm surprised that nobody has gone after the automakers for their 600 horsepower gas guzzlers and the resultant extra pollution.
It appears that the chart was devised by extremely strict adherents who focused on the low hanging fruit of data sets. Pity, that.
The chart simply can not include performance or lifespan because it is comparing materials that are used in different conditions and have different functions. Between a three pane glass and a piece of steel, how can you decide which one has a better performance? Are you looking for a structure, a part of the envelope? do you need strength or thermal insulation? What is the lifespan of the steel? will the material be covered or exposed to a corrosive environment?
The chart only shows you the impact of the manufacturing process for each material by volume/weight, other aspects like lifespan and performance can only be calculated after you know where they are used, how they are combined and what is their function. The chart is only a tool, you have to use it with perspective and critical thinking.
(I suppose nobody has gone after automakers because the video is about construction materials)
As usual, you are correct, but this tree-hugger plan has no chance against $$$....
👍
seeing as buildings should be designed to last 50-100 years, not taking account of the lifecycle emissions in use renders the building material pyramid more or less redundant / meaningless
Thank you for highlighting and sharing this wonderful software with us.
More excellent information and data. Thank you and SkillShare for providing this to us.
Confusing thumbnail, thought the video would be about food.
All right, this is a good video on cost analysis of material impact, however, regardless of material impact to make new construction, how about recycling of existing structures. A large amount of houses are destroyed every years to build "better" home, meaning more expensive generating higher income for the developers. Not that all old homes can be saved, but what a waist.
The labor costs make this prohibitive and only viable for the well-heeled.
Seen a brick structure that was taken down to the studs and revised with a new floor plan. Contractor worked out the cost compared to demolition and rebuilding from scratch, and it was nearly double.
This was pre-supply shortages however.
@@quintessenceSL I was a contractor in Los Angels. You can't make any comparisons, of any kind without comparative costs.
Interesting video, thanks for highlighting the tool. I kinda wish it were a table instead though so comparing across 5 impact categories were easier.
Heeeey!!!!!
Without lifespan what's the point? Seems like repeated replacement would change this significantly
The point is for the construction workers to take the data into consideration.
To adjust you can multiply it by how many times you would expect to replace it in 100 years. I think you make an excellent point though. I think the same problem exists with the drive to switch to electric cars without trying to improve longevity of vehicles. This is especially frustrating considering half the emissions for a car are produced during its manufacturing.
@@HavNCDy not to mention how destructive and ethical lithium mining can be. There a lot of this sustainability stuff that is just smoke and mirrors. We might just be swallowing what ever they are telling us because they want to sell us something.
I agree, this table is useless if it doesn’t take into account lifespan. It could be less environmentally harmful to produce a metric ton of something but if you have to make 4 times as much because it’s not a durable, as opposed to the other materials, then it’s just not a real number. I guess it’s just a number that will look nice on a piece of paper. Or they have some stake in the manufacturing of these eco friendly materials. Idk
@@stanton7847 i guess but replacement rates would depend on the durability of the material. If used in the right right materials will last as intended. I know there are a lot of variables but to not include lifespan in the equation is kind of a big deal in my opinion
Thanks Belinda, I always enjoy your videos, even though I don't watch many of them.
Thank you, Belinda, for a very enlightening video that will help in my work
Spray foam is shit. Build with brick and hotmix in 3 wythes, and then go inside and thrive!
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If food pyramids have been so "debated and debunked" (which indeed they have), why would you use such a system for building materials or anything else, based on the same principle? Experience should teach you that any system designed by bureaucrats with a political agenda will not only fail, but do the exact opposite of what it was intended to do.
*Performance and lifespan* -- the two things you admit it specifically does _not_ take into account-- are literally the _only_ two things that matter. Any structure you have to rebuild and/or repurposed every 5-10 years, will have an incalculably greater environmental impact, than any other building that can last a century or more. You don't have to be Fermi to do that estimate!
Hello Belinda - I love your videos - because I learn so much. This a a question that's off topic because I came across this video on some research I was doing and I don't know any other way to contact and ask this question. This being the case, I thought I would take a chance and ask it here. In this video, the person's voice, narrating the video, reminded me of yours and I simply had to ask if it was you doing the narration. Here's the video link. Thank you for considering my question. ua-cam.com/video/5TlpaNB2gTI/v-deo.html
Meh, an hard core environmentalist architect came up with it. Meaning its pretty much fantasy land time and bears no relation to how things work in reality.
This is so interesting! I work for a stainless steel company, specifically in marketing, so seeing our marketing content in contrast with this is quite interesting. Usually we compare it with galvanized steel - but judging by this stainless steel isn't that much better for the environment
As always, it depends on the application. Stainless Steel is certainly more energy intensive to manufacture and more harmful to the environment, but look at the application - if it doesn't have to be replaced as often / doesn't have to replaced at all, the benefit is already there. Material transport, handling and installation tops almost always any monetary/ecological benefit of manufacturing.
The manufacturing toll is about the same. For stainless steel, it's the Nickle and manganese; for galvanized steel, it's the zinc. Chemically, they are all sacrificial metals, taking on the oxidation and forming a protective barrier on the surface to protect the steel. Nickle is actually one of the most toxic and environmentally damaging metals to mine.
The difference between them comes from the longevity and recyclability of these materials.
Galvanized steel just iron and carbon and the zinc is applied to the surface as a coating. It is cheap, fast and does a pretty good job so long as it isn't a contact surface or in an acidic environment. The process of applying the zinc produces a lot of toxic chemical waste, but it has gotten much better in the last decade and much of the chemical baths can be regenerated and reused.
Stainless Steel is an alloy, meaning the other metals are added directly into the steel at a liquid state so it incorporates itself into the molecular structure during re-crystallization. This allows for a very even dispersion. The process for making stainless alloys is very energy intensive, but (post mining) does not use harsh chemicals. In Stainless steel, oxidized atoms wear off of the surface until the nickle is exposed. Should a nickle atom wear off for some reason, there is still more nickle nearby that will eventually end up as the surface. This makes them highly resistant to chemical corrosion and abrasion. They are also much longer lasting in almost every application you would use galvanized for but they also tend to be more rigid and can become brittle through repeated flexing, which mild, galvanized steel excels at.
As for recyclable, galvanized steel is usually kept in service until it's coating fails and it has degraded to the point that it is no longer structurally sound. This means that much of it's iron content and nearly all of it's zinc are lost, soaked into the nearby soils or washed away to the lakes and oceans. Stainless is kept in service until the structure needs upgraded, is no longer needed or until stresses from dynamic loading have altered the crystalline structure enough to require replacement before failure. However, this steel can be tested for exact composition then sent right back to the foundry to be melted down into a new batch with almost no lost material.
Ultimately, it mostly boils down to cost and needed longevity. There's a saying in engineering: "Anyone can design a bridge that will stand for 50 years. It takes an engineer to design a bridge that will BARELY stand for 50 years".
A useless pyramid.
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