Innovative Sustainable Materials in Construction Industry

Green building concept is identified as environmental friendly and resource efficient concept. These green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact on the natural environment. Building materials are the major effect for this concept.

Generally, sustainable building materials are categorized into two namely; renewable materials which are made from resources that can be replaced by nature or recycle and other one is non-renewable materials which cannot be replaced by nature or recycle.

Nowadays many innovative sustainable materials are being invented. And also many new materials are being in research. Programmable cement is a material invented like that. The greater advantage of this is that it can get desired shape controlling the kinetics. Enhanced density of this material will increase the strength and stability. It is also a chemical restive material and therefore protect the reinforcing steel inside the concrete. 

Another building material is hardwood cross-laminated timber which consist of softwood spruce, the tulip wood. It is much stronger and has a superior appearance. 

Power generating textiles are another innovated material. The fabric is highly flexible, breathable, lightweight and adaptable to a range of uses. Additionally, it consist of low cost, widely available and environmental friendly

In Africa, they use some other innovative materials such as stabilized soil blocks, insulating materials from grass Typha, tiles using recycling plastic in Cameroon. The stabilized soil blocks are made of a mixture of soil, cement and sand and are compressed in a press machine. It is a labour intensive and the products are aesthetic with better stability and good thermal comfort.

Grass Typha is a local raw material in Africa. Insulating materials made from this reduce the energy consumption in buildings. They produce thermal insulated materials in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using this raw material. 

Instead of that there are many innovative materials in the world such as translucent concrete, sensi tile, solar panel roofing tiles, electrified wood, kinetic glass, richlite, self-repairing cement, bendable concrete etc.

These innovative sustainable materials are replacing with conventional building materials today. They improve and help in recycling of the materials, energy saving, and making our country environmental friendly. Innovative materials should be invented further to make construction of building simpler with more strength and stability. 

                                                                                                                                 Group No 26