Environmental Analysis of Construction Materials

There is a growing universal awareness of protecting the living and non-living environment and making enlightened decisions to achieve a sustainable development without destruction of the natural resources. In this point of view, selecting building materials according to their energy and health performances gains importance in sustainable design. 3Rs (reducing, reusing, recycling), and supplying a healthy, non-hazardous indoor air for building occupants are two important parameters of environmental life-cycle assessment for materials. Information on exposure to gases and vapors from synthetic materials made from petrochemicals, to heavy metals and pesticides, and to some combustion pollutants that cause acid rain should be determined by analyzing environmental product declarations or material specifications. After studying on building materials individually, they are analyzed in the form of tables for four different stages; manufacturing, application, usage, demolition phase. Consequently, this chapter can guide the designer and engineer to think on the elements of design and construction activity.

Environmental Analysis of Construction Materials

There is a growing universal awareness of protecting the living and non-living environment and making enlightened decisions to achieve a sustainable development without destruction of the natural resources. In this point of view, selecting building materials according to their energy and health performances gains importance in sustainable design. 3Rs (reducing, reusing, recycling), and supplying a healthy, non-hazardous indoor air for building occupants are two important parameters of environmental life-cycle assessment for materials. Information on exposure to gases and vapors from synthetic materials made from petrochemicals, to heavy metals and pesticides, and to some combustion pollutants that cause acid rain should be determined by analyzing environmental product declarations or material specifications. After studying on building materials individually, they are analyzed in the form of tables for four different stages; manufacturing, application, usage, demolition phase. Consequently, this chapter can guide the designer and engineer to think on the elements of design and construction activity.

Characterization of pure plant oil and biodiesel from Jatropha curcas and Thevetia nerifolia seed

The problems associated with long term availability of conventional hydrocarbon fuels for automotive engines, and the continuous emission of combustion pollutants into the environment are cause for concern. These has necessitated the need to investigate the performance of plants oil methyl ester. Hence this study investigates the characteristics of pure plant oils (PPO) of Jatropha curcas and Thevetia nerifolia ; biodiesel produced from them at different methanol/ oil ratio. The percentage oil and biodiesel yield; pH, Specific gravity, viscosity and flash point for both PPO and biodiesel were determined. The result of this study showed that the pH value for PPO of Jatropha is slightly alkaline, Thevetia slightly acidic and their mixture very acidic. The biodiesel yield at ratio 1:5 is the best for this study in terms of yield of about 91%, 82% and 70% on average for Jatropha curcas, Thevetia nerifolia and mixture respectively. The viscosity of the biodiesel ranged between 1.2mm/s2 and 6.44 mm/s2. Therefore, the limited fuel characterization carried out demonstrated that the biodiesel produced can be considered as an alternative environmentally-friendly fuel for diesel enginesKeywords: Transesterification, Viscosity, Flash point PPO.