Which Criteria Might Be Most Appropriate for Assessing the Essay

Which Criteria Might Be Most Appropriate for Assessing the Sustainability of Building Materials - Essay Example The resources used to fuel this economic growth (fossil fuels, minerals, fresh water, wood etc.) are being depleted at a very alarming rate. Issues such as global warming, pollution etc. has raised concerns about the future of life on the planet. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the community of scientists and engineers are now promoting sustainable practices in the various fields of engineering (Braganca, Mateus and Koukarri, 2010). This includes lesser dependence on the fossil fuels with increased power production from renewable energy resources, energy conservation through more efficient production systems and building designs and the use of sustainable and recyclable materials in construction industry and consumer goods. The construction industry currently consumes a huge amount of resources mainly the building materials such as structure steel, concrete, cement, sand, gravel, wood, and glass etc. The current annual consumption of structure steel in USA alone is 7.1 millio n metric tones. On the completion of its lifecycle, as the building is destroyed for renovation or incorporation of new designs, this material is usually dumped in waste land and creates environmental issues. Moreover, the materials traditionally used for construction such as masonry bricks and concrete are good conductors of heat and hence they significantly increase the energy consumption for cooling and heating the building. Operation and maintenance of buildings is also a very important concern while selecting the building materials. Deterioration of traditional building materials causes waste materials to escape in to the atmosphere. The maintenance of buildings usually causes use of the same materials with the same drawbacks. It is also reported that the traditional construction materials are responsible for toxic emissions to both outdoors and indoors of the building causing damaging effects on the human health. The above discussion shows that the traditional practices involv e wastage of materials and energy and in most of the cases has deteriorating effects on the environment. It is hence of great importance that the materials used for construction must be environment friendly and sustainable. When it comes to engineering design and material selection process, it is important that the decisions are made on the basis of quantified data rather than abstract observations and experiences. It is important to measure how much a material is environment friendly or to what extent it has the damaging effect on the environment. Hence as the first step towards the use of sustainable materials in the building design, the criteria on which the sustainability of a building is measured should be specified. This paper discusses the research made in this regard and summarizes the criteria used by different researchers and in different regions around the globe. According to Oxford dictionary sustainability is defined as the ‘conservation of the ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources’. With reference to the building materials, the term implies that the selection of building materials should be made considering the environmental effect of their production and usage. Such materials should be given preference which are recyclable, have none or negligible emissions, have very low carbon foot print during their production and transportation. There are several different properties which are desirable in building materials in order to increase their sustainability. The manufacturing processes for the materials should involve minimum green house gas emissions or other harmful environment effects. The emissions from the building mate

Research-Technology in Action Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

-Technology in Action - Research Paper Example This concept has made the ever prevalent barriers created by the national and international boundaries become of a relatively smaller relevance and made the world appear like a global village (Beenhakker, 2001). It is driven mostly by the financial flows and trade, information technology, mass media and entertainment. Human factors including cultural exchanges, international tourism and migration have also contributed to globalization to a significant extent. This process with the integration with both communication and information technology has made people co-exist very closely together and has changed people’s lives in regard to how they think and in the other aspects of their lives. As a concept, globalization was thought to have begun after World War II, and has been speeded over the years. It has had many impacts, both positively and negatively, on lives of people, the environment, national governments, cultures and economic development in countries all over the world. Considering the role of information technology in globalization issues, it can be considered as a driving force within the current global economy. The internet and the computer-based technologies have made a vital impact in the area of communication and information technologies. Easy access to such technologies has also increased internet usages and made internet information to spread more. The World Wide Web, www, in particular being a collection of varied documents accessible over the internet, is responsible for easy and reliable access of information by people across the globe (Beenhakker, 2001). The internet too has enabled both people and countries to contact each other constantly, creating an instant connection between them. The communication advancement has been made possible through the use of such items as video calls, emails and chat programs. In addition to the internet and the cyberspace, there   has also been the existence of the global media networks that have