Sustainable Building and Construction - International Environmental ...

Sustainable Building and Construction
Illustration 25: Techniques, materials and typical lifespan of biomass roofing
Compared with industrialised products, the traditional processing of natural
available and renewable materials is relatively labour intensive. On the one hand
that may have the positive effect that the value enhancement concerns the workmen.
On the other hand it may have a negative effect on the utilisation and distribution of
these techniques, because they are in comparison with industrialised building products,
which are “fashioned” and easy to use. Therefore beneath the activation of traditional
techniques and knowledge, the development of new appropriate technologies for the
processing as well as the production of “ready made" products, which are easy to use
and are comparable with industrialised building products, are crucial for the wide use
and of environmental friendly building materials. Anyhow the generally small
enterprises using less industrialised techniques and the relatively high “employment
Illustration 26: Energy consumption in the
production of building materials in Brazil.
intensity” of construction activities in
low-income countries offers manyfold
possibilities for an immediate change
in the building and construction
industry towards sustainability by the
utilisation of materials with low
environmental impacts and energy
efficient building techniques, orientated
on traditional knowledge and practices.
The development of ready-made
industrialised products and building
systems out of renewable materials as
well as out of inorganic materials
becomes more and more popular,
especially in high income-countries,
because these materials are not only
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