Building Materials

This element covers every aspect of the envelope of the building:

• wood
• bricks & blocks
• insulation
• tiles
• ground floor construction (concrete etc)

The production of building materials is often a high carbon process, and industry is being forced to move in unprecedented directions as the consequences of legislation forcing low-carbon requirements are felt throughout the housing market, from architect and developer, through builder and supplier to the final homeowner. (See Global Warming).

The cement industry is currently one of the largest producers of CO2 in industry and as such is conscious of the fact. Despite the fact that most concrete blocks these days use less than 15% cement, research into alternatives to cement are going ahead.

Some of the insulation products that are widely used these days are based on sand and minerals, which is a largely sustainable resource. Other insulation products are based on the petrochemical industry. It is considered that fossil fuel reserves may have a limited life, even though little firm agreement as to when the effects will be felt has been reached. Most of the large insulation companies are putting resources into the research of alternative products.

Organic based building products are already available, and although they perform well, they have a more limited life and cannot at the present time be produced in the quantities or at the prices the industry needs.