1 THE ROLE OF MATERIALS IN SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

A more holistic solution to global warming not only includes reductions in energy consumption but sequestration on a massive scale. This paper describes the potential of materials and particularly materials in the built environment to deliver not only greater sequestration but conversion of many wastes to resources, solving two major problems facing the globe today. All materials are ultimately derived from the bio-geo-sphere. They are everything between the take and waste and are the key to sustainability. The choice of materials for construction controls whole of life cycle impacts such as emissions, gross take, properties of wastes returned to the bio-geo-sphere, use of recycled wastes and their own recylability. Materials also strongly influence lifetime energies, user comfort and durability. The built environment encompasses the major proportion of all materials flows and is our footprint on the planet. The materials we use strongly influence linkages with the wider bio-geo sphere and must be significantly changed to improve sustainability. An example of such a paradigm technology shift would be to incorporate carbon as a component of durable building materials as well as many other wastes for their physical properties. By making carbon a resource in construction we would be mimicking nature as substantial quantities of carbon were used during previous epochs of global warming to form carbonate sediments, coal and petroleum. End users would not discern any detrimental changes, architects would have a much wider range of material composites with different properties to select materials from and the process would easily be made economic underpinning the legally imposed cost of carbon by the Kyoto treaty with real economic value. By making sustainability an economic process then economic forces will be able to be relied upon to deliver the massive sequestration and waste utilisation required to save the planet from further significant climate change. The TecEco kiln, tec, eco and enviro-cements will have a major role in changing the technical paradigms in the above manner. KEYWORDS Materials, built environment, construction industry