Construction Materials Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Construction Materials - assignment Example1.1. Social Buildings have to comply with social considerations of sustainability so that they must provide safe, comfortcapable and rock-loving interiors. In order to meet these objectives the major considerations are ensuring geomorphologic integrity, dealing with vibration levels, adequate wear protection, fire resistance and acoustical performance. 1.2. Economic Economic considerations play a major and often deciding role in determining what kinds of materials to use for body structure purposes. The major considerations are that buildings ought to be durable, reusable, require first-class honours degree maintenance and slide fastener efficient. These considerations need to be satisfied both during the building phase as comfortably as during the operation phase. Some other considerations include the construction costs, net lettable area, building reuse value, construction programmes and whole of life value. 1.3. Environmental Envir onmental considerations mandate that buildings ought to be constructed in a manner that their whole-of-life energy use as well as their greenhouse gas emissions produce a small ecologic footprint. The major considerations are the life cycle assessment (LCA), cooling of urban areas, thermal citizenry and recycling. appendix A shows the mutually common area that social, environmental and stinting factors share to produce a rattling sustainable design. 2. Sustainability of Current Lecture Centre Building Concrete has been in extensive use almost the globe as a preferred construction material for residential and commercial applications alike (Goodchild, 1997). When station in perspective of sustainability, concrete has a number of advantages to offer including (but not limited to) economic considerations, durability, acoustic performance, recyclability, thermal mass, fire resistance and adaptability. The factors listed above can be optimised to achieve maximised sustainability fro m concrete construction ground on construction techniques and other considerations. The current Lecture Centre Building at Brunel University is made come out of concrete in large part and offers a sustainable outlook based on social, economic and environmental considerations. These are discussed below in detail. 2.1. Social Concrete buildings are able to offer structural integrity along with structural requirements that are well understood by designers and builders alike. This leads to the construction of safer structures that are able to stand up to risks such as snow, earthquakes, wind base loading etc. The large mass involved in concrete construction ensures that these structures provide excellent damping characteristics that are required for minimising vibration. In addition, concrete provides exceptional fire resistance given that it does not burn at all and does not fade toxic fumes when exposed to fire (Ching, 1995). For most cases concrete structures can be described as f ire proof. Similarly, concrete structures are able to offer excellent acoustic damping characteristics as well which mandates the final possible use of insulation materials. 2.2. Economic Concrete buildings are the most economical solution when it comes to multi-storey buildings (please cypher Appendix C for a comparison). The large amount of benefits that are provided by concrete such as fire resistance, large thermal mass and durability ensure that concrete buildings have lower operate costs and maintenance requirements. Building reuse is also more common for concrete structure for font