Building Material

This report presents alternative emission limit values for inorganic components to be used in the revision of the Building Materials Decree (1999) in the Netherlands. Three key factors determine the emission limit value: (1) the environmental compartment under consideration, with its dimensions and the accounted for, (2) the desired level of environmental protection and (3) the scenario applying to the intended use of the construction material. Emission limit values have been derived here from modelled concentrations in soil, groundwater and surface water. The desired level of protection has been elaborated as a stand-still approach (based on quality target values and a risk-based approach (based on PNECs). Two exposure models were used for taking the effects of a time-dependent exposure of the soil to leached components into account, for vertical transport through the soil profile and for retardation of components in the soil profile. The PEARL model was used for binding described by equilibrium adsorption. The ORCHESTRA model was used for binding that also takes speciation into account. For surface water, a dilution factor was computed assuming a certain mixing zone, dependent on the size of the surface water. The consequences of the proposed alternative emission limit values have been estimated on the basis of information in a database containing results of leaching tests for construction materials. The alternatives proposed form the basis for a political decision-making process, where environmental protection will be balanced with other socio-economic concerns.

ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59: S208–S213. 2002 doi:10.1006/jmsc.2002.1263, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on ... Effects of increased habitat complexity on fish assemblages ... Eric Charbonnel, Christophe Serre, Sandrine Ruitton, Jean-Georges Harmelin, and ...

The subject of this paper is about an analysis of the challenges to make this complex sector more sustainable in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. The regional economic, social and environmental characteristics are presented. The relative size of the construbusiness in LAC economies is discussed. The relative importance of its environmental loads is discussed based on available CO2 generation data as well as on some available local studies’ results of construction wastage and construction and demolition waste generation rates. Some items to be included in a regional Agenda 21 for the Construbusiness are presented based on the regional specificities as well as on the global Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction proposed by CIB. Reducing building material wastage, increasing the use of recycling wastes to new building materials, energy efficiency in buildings, water conservation, indoor air quality, quality of products and processes, durability and maintenance, social as...

Interviews conducted with the end-users of timber products revealed that their knowledge of timber is very poor. However, building contractors are not satisfied with the quality of timber, primarily as a result of its excessive warp. Their requirements are not passed on to the producers in the forest and sawmill industry. The quality of a timber product should be described in a specification of requirements for each individual product. In this paper, a systematic analysis of the end user's expectations is presented and is illustrated using a product specification for wall studs. The proposed acceptance levels are based on interviews with contractors and derived from the requirements set for the wall. The current grading rules are more generous than our proposal. Field tests by carpenters showed that our proposal limits appear to be reasonable. A study of commercially-available studs showed that it should be possible both technically and economically to produce studs which fulfil our requirements. If timber is to hold its own as a building material, the forest and sawmill industry will have to produce products which match the end user's requirements. Umfrageergebnisse unter Enduntzern von Bauschnittholz zeigten, daß deren Kenntnisstand über diese Produkte sehr gering ist. Sie sind jedoch nicht zufrieden mit der Qualität des Bauholzes, vor allem aufgrund starker Verformungen. Die Anforderungen an das Bauholz werden nicht an die Hersteller im Forst und in Sägewerken weitergegeben. Die Qualität dieser Produkte sollte durch spezifische Anforderungsprofile beschrieben werden. Im vorliegenden Bericht wird eine systematische Analyse der Erwartungen der Endverbraucher vorgelegt und am Beispiel einer Produkt-Spezifikation für Wandpfosten erläutert. Aufgrund der Befragungen und der Anforderungen für den Holzbau werden bestimmte Akzeptanz-Grade vorgeschlagen. Die derzeitigen Sortierungs-Regeln sind großzügiger als die neu vorgeschlagenen. Felduntersuchungen bei Zimmerleuten ließen die neuen Grenzwerte als vernünftig erscheinen. Eine Untersuchung handelsüblicher Pfosten ergab, daß es sowohl in technischer als auch in ökonomischer Hinsicht möglich sein sollte, Bauschnittholz entsprechend den neuen Anforderungen herzustellen. Wenn Schnittholz seine Eigenständigkeit als Baumaterial beibehalten soll, müssen Forst- und Sägebetriebe Produkte liefern, die sich an den Erfordernissen der Endnutzer orientieren.

and building materials exporters better understand the unique market segments A mail survey of Japanese post and beam builders was conducted to measure their that exist within Japan,s residential post level of ethnocentrism, market orientation, risk aversion, and price consciousness. The and beam constmction market, identify data were analyzed utilizing factor and cluster analysis. The results showed that Japa- where

Straw, as a fiber, has been used as part of building materials for several thousand years. With the invention of the mechanical baler in the early 1900's it became possible for compressed straw to be used as the primary building block of exterior building walls. Although strawbale (SB) houses were popular for a short while in a local area of Nebraska, they lost favor for nearly half a century. There has recently been a rebirth in SB house construction and interest. In many cases the interest stems from the highly insulating, simple, and sustainable nature of SB walls. Although there is a large and growing body of empirical evidence that strawbale buildings can be used very successfully, the scientific justification and explanation is lacking, and hence accepted engineering approaches to design, testing, and inspection have not been well developed. To support the growing volume of rice straw agricultural waste the State of California supported a research program to improve the le...

The disposal of industrial waste presents major logistical, financial and environmental issues. Technologies that can reduce the hazardous properties of wastes are urgently required. In the present work, a number of industrial wastes arising from the cement, metallurgical, paper, waste disposal and energy industries were treated with accelerated carbonation. In this process carbonation was effected by exposing the waste to pure carbon dioxide gas. The paper and cement wastes chemically combined with up to 25% by weight of gas. The reactivity of the wastes to carbon dioxide was controlled by their constituent minerals, and not by their elemental composition, as previously postulated. Similarly, microstructural alteration upon carbonation was primarily influenced by mineralogy. Many of the thermal wastes tested were classified as hazardous, based upon regulated metal content and pH. Treatment by accelerated carbonation reduced the leaching of certain metals, aiding the disposal of many as stable non-reactive wastes. Significant volumes of carbon dioxide were sequestrated into the accelerated carbonated treated wastes.

... BREEAM. ... Buildings are independently assessed and credits given for the achievement of certain environmental criteria, as outlined below. The BREEAM 4/93 falls into two parts: the building's fabric and services, and the operation and management of the building. ...

1. Abstract With approximately 10 000 listed and protected monuments, the Belgian Building Heritage is exceptionally rich. The preservation of this unique patrimony requires fundamental effort. The Koning Boudewijn Stichting (Rosiers et al., 1998) estimated the total cost necessary to maintain or improve the building heritage to such an extent that it would only require regular maintenance for a reference period of 50 years, to be 2.25 billion EURO. This text provides a global overview of the state of the art in (applied) research and practice. However, the text focuses on new techniques for the diagnosis of damage and the monitoring and control of the quality of restoration (non-destructive testing), the development of new building materials and revolutionary techniques for reinforcing existing concrete and masonry structures. The main point of research activities in the field of restoration concerns masonry structures. But gradually concrete structures will be considered being par...

The estimated incidence of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is approximately 6 cases per 10 million people per year with no apparent differences between sexes. The age of APL cases is younger than that of other acute myeloid leukemias (AML). Spatial and temporal clusters of APL have been reported. These observations suggest a possible selective role for environmental and/or occupational factors in APL development. A multicenter case-control study was carried out on risk factors for acute leukemias and preleukemias. In this report data related to APL are selectively analyzed from the larger study to identify specific risk factors. The case-control study on 38 cases of APL showed a strong association with shoemaking (odds ration 6.3, 95% confidence interval 1.3-31.1). A moderate leukemogenic effect from living in houses built with tuff, a polous building material containing gamma-emitting radionuclides and having a high radon concentration, and from using hair dyes was also suggeste...