Manually compressed soil blocks stabilised by fly ash based geopolymer: a promising approach for sustainable buildings.

The construction industry is one of the sectors which have significant impacts on the environment. The research on sustainable materials is a demand of society. This paper presents an investigation on the use of fly ash (FA) geopolymer binder for the production of unburnt bricks.

Three-dimensional pore characterization of poly(lactic)acid/bamboo biodegradable panels.

In the context of novel environmental and energy regulations in construction (RE2020), biocomposites derived from bamboo fibers, bamboo powders, and biodegradable poly(lactic)acid polymer, all of which are renewable resources, have been investigated to meet the criteria of the novel regulations. In this work, the biocomposites were manufactured by twin-screw internal mixing at 170 °C for 5 min with a rotation speed of 60 rpm. The composites sheets were then shaped on a hydraulic press at 185 °C.

Earth as construction material in the circular economy context: practitioner perspectives on barriers to overcome.

The need for a vast quantity of new buildings to address the increase in population and living standards is opposed to the need for tackling global warming and the decline in biodiversity. To overcome this twofold challenge, there is a need to move towards a more circular economy by widely using a combination of alternative low-carbon construction materials, alternative technologies and practices. Soils or earth were widely used by builders before World War II, as a primary resource to manufacture materials and structures of vernacular architecture.

Geopolymer Recycled Aggregate Concrete: From Experiments to Empirical Models.

Ordinary cement concrete is a popular material with numerous advantages when compared to other construction materials; however, ordinary concrete is also criticized from the public point of view due to the CO emission (during the cement manufacture) and the consumption of natural resources (for the aggregates). In the context of sustainable development and circular economy, the recycling of materials and the use of alternative binders which have less environmental impacts than cement are challenges for the construction sector. This paper presents a study on non-conventional concrete using recycled aggregates and alkali-activated binder.

Synergistic Influences of Stearic Acid Coating and Recycled PET Microfibers on the Enhanced Properties of Composite Materials.

This study aims to produce novel composite artificial marble materials by bulk molding compound processes, and improve their thermal and mechanical properties. We employed stearic acid as an efficient surface modifying agent for CaCO particles, and for the first time, a pretreated, recycled, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers mat is used to reinforce the artificial marble materials. The innovative aspects of the study are the surface treatment of CaCO particles by stearic acid.

First Exploratory Study on the Ageing of Rammed Earth Material.

Rammed earth (RE) is attracting renewed interest throughout the world thanks to its "green" characteristics in the context of sustainable building. In this study, the ageing effects on RE material are studied on the walls which have been constructed and exposed for 22 years to natural weathering. First, mechanical characteristics of the "old" walls were determined by two approaches: dynamic measurements on the walls; laboratory tests on specimens which had been cut from the walls.