Organic Materials for Sustainable Civil Engineering

This book provides an inventory of organic materials and products, the major components of all civil engineering projects, in terms of their scientific and technical background, including the regulations that cover their use and their predicted useful life. Such materials include: bitumen on the roads; geotextiles for retaining walls; membranes for bridges; tunnel and reservoir waterproofing; paint binders to protect metallic and concrete structures or to realize road markings; injection resins; gluing products; concrete admixtures; and composite materials.
The presentation is based on a physicochemical approach, which is essential if these products are to be considered as part of sustainable development: as such, those studying or working in these fields will find this an invaluable source of information.

50 Award Winning House >> By Zelda Liu

Self-Compacting Concrete

Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a relatively new building material. Nowadays, its use is progressively changing the method of concrete placement on building sites.
However, the successful use of SCC requires a good understanding of the behavior of this material, which is vastly different from traditional concrete. For this purpose, a lot of research has been conducted on this area all over the world since 10 years.
Intended for both practitioners and scientists, this book provides research results from the rheological behavior of fresh concrete to durability.

Low Impact Development and Sustainable Stormwater Management

Sustainable Stormwater Management introduces engineers and designers to ideas and methods for managing stormwater in a more ecologically sustainable fashion. It provides detailed information on the design process, engineering details and calculations, and construction concerns. Concepts are illustrated with real-world examples, complete with photographs.

This guide integrates the perspectives of landscape architects, planners, and scientists for a multi-disciplinary approach. This is an enlightening reference for professionals working in stormwater management, from engineers and designers to developers to regulators, and a great text for college courses.

Guide to Building Control

To clarify the practical requirements of the Building Regs and help you meet their requirements first go, all the information contained in the building regulations 2010 and approved documents is presented here in an easy-to-understand format, clear, concise and fully illustrated.

Guidance is given for domestic buildings of up to three storeys in England and Wales, including extensions, loft conversions, new dwellings, conversions (garages, basements and barns), and upgrading of existing buildings - including the use of natural lime mortars, plasters renders and paints. There are clear explanations of how the technical design and construction requirements of the Building Regs can be met with sufficient information to draw up an effective specification and design to be developed.

Guide to Building Control illustrates the design and construction of the various building elements and explains the principles and processes of the building regulations and approved documents - including structure, fire safety, contaminates, sound insulation, ventilation, water efficiency, drainage systems, combustion appliances, stairs and guarding, energy conservation/green building issues, disabled access, safety glazing, electrical safety, materials and workmanship.

The Guide contains up-to-date examples of everyday practices and procedures gained by the author - a practicing building control surveyor - from years of responding to requests from property professionals, builders, property owners and students for clarification of the practical requirements of the building regulations.

Accompanied by detailed diagrams, tables and text offering an enlightened understanding of the complexities of building regulations the Guide is both an authoritative reference for use at planning stage and a practical handbook on site.
Students and professionals will find it an essential, easy-to-use resource for building control surveyors, building designers, building contractors, self-build, and others working in the construction industry.

Low Impact Building: Housing using Renewable Materials

This guide to the designs, technologies and materials that really make green buildings work will help architects, specifiers and clients make informed choices, based on reliable technical information.

Low Impact Building: Housing using Renewable Materials is about changing the way we build houses to reduce their ‘carbon’ footprint and to minimise environmental damage. One of the ways this can be done is by reducing the energy and environmental impact of the materials and resources used to construct buildings by choosing alternative products and systems. In particular, we need to recognise the potential for using natural and renewable construction materials as a way to reduce both carbon emissions but also build in a more benign and healthy way. This book is an account of some attempts to introduce this into mainstream house construction and the problems and obstacles that need to be overcome to gain wider acceptance of genuinely environmental construction methods.

The book explores the nature of renewable materials in depth: where do they come from, what are they made of and how do they get into the construction supply chain? The difference between artisan and self-build materials like earth and straw, and more highly processed and manufactured products such as wood fibre insulation boards is explored.

The author then gives an account of the Renewable House Programme in the UK explaining how it came about and how it was funded and managed by Government agencies. He analyses 12 case studies of projects from the Programme, setting out the design and methods of construction, buildability, environmental assessment tools used in the design, performance in terms of energy, air tightness, carbon footprint and post-occupancy issues.

The policy context of energy and sustainability in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world is subjected to a critical examination to show how this affects the use of natural and renewable materials in the market for insulation and other construction materials. The debate over energy usage and embodied energy is discussed, as this is central to the reason why even many environmentally progressive people ignore the case for natural and renewable materials.

The book offers a discussion of building physics and science, considering energy performance, moisture, durability, health and similar issues. A critical evaluation of assessment, accreditation and labelling of materials and green buildings is central to this as well as a review of some of the key research in the field.

Delivering Sustainable Buildings: An Industry Insider's

The UK government has committed to reducing the nation’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Buildings currently use almost half of the UK’s generated energy and they are now the focus of an unprecedented drive to cut energy use in our homes, offices, schools, libraries – in fact in almost every building, public or private.

Delivering Sustainable Buildings: an industry insider’s view offers peer-to-peer insights and advice from a leading practitioner in this field and brings together in one book an overview of the main issues to consider when creating energy-efficient and sustainable buildings. A resource to dip into for practical advice, which is both highly readable and also backed up by in-depth technical knowledge, giving the important points to note and common pitfalls to avoid. Based on observations of an author with hands-on experience of dealing with the various elements of the building services engineering industry, the book gives a unique insight into the particular challenges faced by designers, project managers, contractors and installers working to deliver lower carbon and sustainable building projects and operation.

There is a lot of guidance on sustainable buildings available from reputable sources including BRE, CIBSE, B&ES, ECA and BSRIA. This book is different in that it speaks directly to contractors and practitioners, with practical messages dealing with real on-site challenges, offering practical advice based on experience. Many contractors are now faced with a business choice of offering services related to issues of the energy hierarchy, minimising energy use, providing good building automation and controls and then looking further at microgeneration/renewables. Here they must decide what technologies might be suitable for their businesses, as well as considering what level of training is required before they or their employees can start to work with these technologies.

Numerical Methods in Contact Mechanics