Building Design and Construction Handbook - Merritt - Ventech!

SECTION FOUR
BUILDING MATERIALS
David J. Akers
Civil Engineer, San Diego, California
This section describes the basic materials used in building construction and discusses
their common applications. As the world’s population increases and consumes
more of the natural resources, it is incumbent upon the civil engineer to use
building materials that contribute to sustaining development instead of satisfying
only the short-term need. Material selection should incorporate an evaluation of the
amount of energy required to produce and deliver the material to the building site.
This concept of ‘‘embodied energy’’ is evolving and variable. As an example, in
the Pacific Northwest lumber would have an ‘‘embodied energy’’ of 1, but in the
arid Southwest transportation raises the value several points. Examples of other
materials are concrete (2–3), steel (4–6), and aluminum (80). For discussion purposes,
materials used in similar applications are grouped and discussed in sequence,
for example, masonry materials, wood, metals, plastics, etc.
CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS
Cementitious materials include the many products that are mixed with either water
or some other liquid or both to form a cementing paste that may be formed or
molded while plastic but will set into a rigid shape. When sand is added to the
paste, mortar is formed. A combination of coarse and fine aggregate (sand) added
to the paste forms concrete.
4.1 TYPES OF CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS
There are many varieties of cements and numerous ways of classification. One of
the simplest classifications is by the chemical constituent that is responsible for the
setting or hardening of the cement. On this basis, the silicate and aluminate cements,
wherein the setting agents are calcium silicates and aluminates, constitute the most
important group of modern cements. Included in this group are the portland, aluminous,
and natural cements.
4.1