Construction Mitigation Strategies For Greenhouse Gas Reduction

Construction mitigation strategies for greenhouse gas reduction

Summary 

Currently the environmental crisis is a situation that affects everyone, in the case of the construction sector every year development without awareness makes contributions to the GHGs, so it is necessary to make adjustments in the current constructive methods that serveas mitigation mechanisms to climate change. In this we will explore the characteristics such as buildings such as green roofs, bioclimatic architecture, material alternatives, among other strategies that currently exist and can be applied to the climate in our country trying to have great environmental benefits that lead to an adapted construction sectorand resilient.

Introduction

The average environmental crisis currently is a reality that dates back many years, then predictions of many scientists about the environmental crisis arose terms such as the principle of irreversibility. Where it is proposed that the resources that were believed inexhaustible such as the case of fuel, water and materials for constructive purposes among others, have susceptibility to being exhaustible much faster than expected worldwide.

Focusing on the constructive area, we can observe around us that the construction area “is one of the most devastating and pollutants of all those developed by humanity. In its development two serious problems are presented such as:

• The intensive and irrational exploitation of non -renewable natural resources and the generation of construction and demolition waste, with their inadequate disposition and almost no integral management of these.

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We can summarize the main problems that have the effect of world construction activities:

• “Intensive extraction of renewable and non -renewable raw materials.
• Generation of construction and demolition
• High energy consumption in buildings "

Keep in mind that the most used materials in the construction industry for many years are land, concrete, steel, wood and glass. For many of these materials, stone aggregates are needed that generate open -pit mines and quarries, excavations to obtain the earth, movement of fauna and flora, CO2 emissions. After the building processes there are waste and remains of concrete, blocks, steel, formalttes wood, pipes of pipes and plastic packaging. When these buildings are already ready for their certain use, they also contribute to high energy consumption and heat detachment.

The term of sustainable construction covers, not only the buildings built, but also tells the environment and how they are integrated to form the cities. Sustainable urban development (sustainable urbanism) aims to create an urban environment that does not attempt against the environment, and that provides sufficient urban resources, not only in terms of energy and energy efficiency and water efficiency, but also for itsfunctionality, as a place that is better to live. 

“Energy consumption occurs throughout the life cycle of the buildings, from the extraction of raw material and their transport to the works, through the use of buildings, to subsequent modifications and demolition. On the other hand, when transformed for incorporation into the production and life cycle of buildings, resources generate waste and waste in the form of gases, heat and debris, causing loss of natural resources, pollution and toxic waste, causing costsadditional for the material that is lost, the additional labor and energy that is used. However, there are conceptual alternatives and practical strategies to formulate and face the problems that derive from the activities of architecture and construction."

Methodology

This work consisted of an extensive bibliographic review which was first based on the research and search for information regarding the mitigation of GHG emissions in the construction sector through the website: Academic Google (Googlescholar). This research process chooses to seek information in a time range of 10 years to compare and see the evolution in strategies and actions to mitigate GHG emissions.

As a next step, a compilation of the most relevant and interesting documents regarding mitigation in the construction sector was made, taking into account characteristics applicable to the climate and environmental conditions of Panama.

In the last stage of the methodology, of the selected documents were analyzed and the measures of construction and use of construction materials that help mitigate the generation of GH and that can be applied in Panama with positive results were applied.

Results

GHG Mitigation Measures under construction

Use of green roofs

This measure is based on the use of vegetation on the roof or roof of buildings either partially or totally covering the area, it is generally covered up, but it can also go on inclined surfaces to improve drainage, generate benefits as moreoxygen production by filtering 85% of air particles, additional reduce atmospheric warming and moisten the environment.

Bioclimatic architecture

The fundamental objective of buildings projects is being oriented towards evaluating the energy demand of a building and making them more sustainable;taking into account aspects such as:

• Rainwater use form.
• Application of renewable alternative energies.
• Building design for natural light.
• Buildings design for natural ventilation. 

Use of agricultural waste as construction material 

This mitigation measure is based on the use of agricultural waste such as use for materials which are much cheaper and have very good physical characteristics such as low thermal conductivity and high compression resistances also taking into account that the production of common materials requireMuch more energy, among the most relevant agricultural waste, the cane bagasse, rice shell and ashes of them which are used in replacement of a percentage of the cement volume are highlighted.

Use of prefabricated elements

The results indicate that projects under semi -prefabrication reduced approximately 1.1 tons per 100 m 2 in GHG emissions compared to conventional construction projects. The most positive taxpayer of the reduction of GHG emissions are the incorporated emissions of construction materials, representing 86.5%. The following taxpayers are the transport of construction materials, the consumption of resources of equipment and techniques for the construction and transport of waste. and soil, representing 18.3%, 10.3 % and 0.2% respectively. On the other hand, the negative to the taxpayer is the transport of prefabricated components, which compensates for the corresponding percentage of the total reduction of emissions and weakens the advantages of reducing the emission of the prefabrication, that is: although the use as such of the elementsPrefabricated do have a reduction in GHG emissions, transport of these could counteract the reduction, which is a variable value and will depend on the location of the companies where these prefabricated elements are produced to the place of the works. The approaches to improve the reduction of GHG emissions in semi -prefabrication are reducing the amount of steel -embedded parts by meansoutside the site that are close to the projects or centers of distribution of materials.

Materials for green buildings 

This method resorts to the use of materials such as the use of silly soil material such as plaster for building finishes, the use of blocks of silly sand material being these more durable, eco-friendly tiles constituted of soil materials, reflective glass of reflective glasssunlight that reduces heat inside reducing energy use.

Landscape and Green Housing Design

Landscaping can be used to control various aspects of the microclimate of residential buildings. The climatic variables that can be regulated include solar radiation (temperature of the Sun-Aire), air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction;and glow. Microclimate control can be achieved through subtle and intensive landscaping elements. Subtle landscaping elements refer to vegetation, while intensive landscape elements are all other elements, including simple structures, steps, pavements, garden furniture, walls and fences.

Use of natural seaweed polymer for mortars

There have been findings that the use of seaweed polymers in mortar and cement mixtures in a 0.5% of the cement weight result much more compression resistance and greater tension capacity being this feature the weakest of conventional mixtures, thus having the study conducted in the article “The Advantage of Natural Polymer Modified Mortar WithSeaweed: Green Construction Material Innovation for Sustainable Concrete ”a specimen was obtained up to 6.57 MPA additional above the control specimen [10].

Benefits of practicing these measures

Apart from the main end of the measures to reduce GHG emissions, they have other benefits that go hand in hand by implementing and developing these strategies:

• The bioclimatic design of housing and correct solar orientation, is important to correctly regulate climatic and temperature changes, maintaining perfect thermal and environmental comfort without additional energy expenses, while maintaining a correct renewal of the air, respecting theExpiration of the building for all its pores (walls and roof) and avoiding closed pore insulation and plasticizing paintings.
• The use of green ceilings in addition to being temperature regulators, rainwater captors and showing colorThese as measure.
• In the use of prefabricated elements, it would partly reduce the extraction and transport expenses of certain materials and also represent an increase in the prefabrication market.
• The use of agricultural waste for construction materials would also represent an alternative for the management of these of these waste, reducing the environmental impact they may cause compared to the conventional and traditional treatment that these waste usually has. As with prefabricated elements, this measure opens jobs and commercialization.
• Increase in performance, functionality and quality of structures when using alternative materials.

Proposals for mitigation strategies in Panama

For Panama, all described measures are fully applicable, but some are more viable than others such as the use of agricultural waste materials since Panama is a country with high production of such waste such as cane bags that are burned andThey can be used as an element of construction material since according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, sugarcane crops for 2015 was 2.5 million tons of which approximately 30% result in waste having 750,000 tons of cane bagasseGreenhouse gas production.

With respect to the use of sea seaweed polymer, it is also very feasible to be implemented in Panama since when it is also used as part of the concrete mixture, the use of traditional material will also be reduced, which will result as a result of savings in material costsand therefore reduction of greenhouse gases.

All the elements that include the concepts of bioclimatic architecture and landscaping, could be easily applied in the designs and construction of future buildings, where the climate conditions presented by our country, in addition to promoting an awareness of care of the environment of the environment, would be maximized.

Conclusions

The problem that has been generated due to climate change and greenhouse gases is a reality of which we do not escape as a country, citizens and as professionals in the area of engineering, so it is vitally important to transmit possible options for thepopulation can carry them out and make their contributions to the new reality that involves adaptation and resilience of the peoples.

• In the case of the construction sector, this creates considerable negative contributions to climate change.
• It is necessary to make reasonable use of construction materials and such non -renewable resources so as not to resort to the exploitation of these.
• Apply bioclimatic architecture in homes as well as in the big buildings who are the ones that occupy the greatest impact.
• Create green roofs or roofs in buildings already built.
• Implement the alternatives that help the reduction of emissions in construction processes.
• It is important not to forget that each contribution that is made creates much more than just a small reduction, we must not underestimate our contributions to a resilient society since this will also help modify the way of thinking of the people around our environment and will have as reflected theContribution of many people in the long run.

Gratitude

We first thank God for allowing ourselves to have available these tools that allow us to send our knowledge to other people through this article, to our advisor Professor Karina García to whom we owe the theme and inspiration for this topic and to our working group to carry out thisarduous bibliographic compilation work and writing.

Reference

• C. M. Bedoya, "Sustainable construction, to return to the road," Diké, Medellín, 2011.
• A. Ramírez, "Sustainable construction," 2010.
• D. Acosta, «Architecture and construction sustainable: concepts, problem and strategies,» Uniandes magazine, 2010.
• C. PLACED AND G CHURCHES. OIGORENA PÉREZ-ARGOS, «application of bioclimatic solutions in modular and industrializable house. Analysis of the green cover and photovoltaic captor of the ESEI Project, »2014.
• M. R. Menjívar war, "bioclimatic architecture as a fundamental part of savings," 2013.
• M. Maturwar, r. V. Ralegaonkar and s. A. Mandavgane, "Application of Agro-Waste for Sustainable Construction Materials: A Review," 2012.
• C. Maoabc, q. Shen, l. Shen and l. Tang, "Comparative Study of Greenhouse Gas emissions Between Off-Site Prefabrication and Conventional Construction Methods: Two Case Studies of Residential Projects," 2013.
• A. Mokal, a. Shaikh, s. Raundal, s. Prajapati and U. Phatak, «Green Building Materials – A Way Towards Sustainable Construction,» 2015.
• Y. Addedeji and o. EITHER. Aluko, "Sustainable Landscaping and Green Housing in Tropical Climate: A Case Study of Akure, Nigeria," 2010.
• R. M. Reto Susilorinia, H. Hardjasaputrab, g. Hapasaria, r. WAHYU SA, G. Hadikusumoa and J. SUCIPTOA, «The Advantage of Natural Polymer Modified Mortar with Seaweed: Green Construction Innovation for Sustainable Concrete,» 2014.