Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials

Yinquan Liu

and Yucheng Wang

Wugang NO. 3 High School, Wuhan, China

School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, China

Keywords: Building Materials Asphalt New Insulation Materials UPVC.

Abstract: Against the background of environmental problems in the field of construction this paper addresses the impact

of construction materials on the environment and discusses the drawbacks of traditional building materials in

the three fields of municipal highways building insulation and water supply and drainage and gives new

materials or technologies in different fields to solve and optimize the problems. On the one hand, the

advantages of new green materials are highlighted and combined with asphalt pavement regeneration

technology on the basis of recycling to provide solutions for green road construction by comparing asphalt

and warm mix asphalt. On the other hand, it involves new thermal insulation materials widely used in the

field of building thermal and acoustic insulation such as the composite silicate thermal insulation materials

mentioned in this paper which usually adopt the green production method and can effectively reduce energy

consumption and reduce the amount of landfill. At the same time, the use of new insulation materials can

reduce the building of traditional energy dependence the building of and energy consumption, and carbon

emissions which are beneficial to the environment. Finally, it is clear that on the road of water supply and

drainage construction, people should choose appropriate water supply and drainage construction materials to

effectively reduce the waste of water resources and pollution and improve the efficiency and stability of the

drainage system.

1 INTRODUCTION

Green materials for road construction building wall

insulation and drainage pipes Nowadays some

building materials have caused a series of impacts on

the human living environment during construction

and later use. For example, in highway construction,

the toxic gas produced by mixing asphalt with cement

ash affects the health of the human body and air. In

addition, building materials face a long time of use

and wear on the safety of residents to varying degrees.

At the same time, the long-term harmful substances

produced by underground drainage pipes affect

ecological water resources. This shows the

importance of new building manufacturing materials

and the future development prospects of new

materials. New building materials can not only bring

unlimited benefits and convenience for future

construction and development but also play a certain

role in the protection of the ecological environment.

https://orcid. org/0009-0006-0008-3688

https://orcid. org/0009-0009-7464-1162

For example, in terms of road construction

compared with the current and past asphalt paving

methods and materials new materials such as asphalt

mixture modifier paving can make the service life of

roads longer in the future and also greatly improve the

smoothness of the road surface. In addition, in the

process of use, it is not easy to be damaged and

repaired twice avoiding secondary environmental

pollution. If it is eroded by sunlight or rain, it will not

produce harmful substances that pollute the

atmosphere thus protecting the environment.

In the same aspect of house construction, the wall

insulation or doors and Windows of the future house

can use new building insulation materials such as

composite silicate and insulating glass which can

greatly improve the service life of the house and

ensure the life safety of the household compared with

the current or past construction materials and the price

is not particularly expensive reducing the

construction cost. The builder can invest the cost in

safety and service facilities.

484

Liu, Y. and Wang, Y.

Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials.

DOI: 10.5220/0013422700004558

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Modern Logistics and Supply Chain Management (MLSCM 2024), pages 484-489

ISBN: 978-989-758-738-2

For urban drainage devices and the pipes used for

discharge, many of the pipes are facing problems such

as aging and damage which may lead to soil erosion

or pollution. In the future construction process

polymer polyethylene plastic material can be used

which has excellent characteristics such as heat

resistance acid and alkali resistance low permeability,

and weather resistance, and is also easy to process and

low cost. Not only can it ensure that the pipeline will

not pollute the land underground but it can also

improve the service life of the pipeline and its impact

on water resources.

2 POSSIBILITIES FOR

SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT OF ASPHALT

ON HIGHWAYS POSSIBILITIES

Materials play a very important role in road

construction projects. Because of the impact of

building materials on the environment, the rationality

and sustainability of material selection should also be

taken into account when selecting materials for roads.

Reasonable and sustainable material selection can

reduce the burden on the environment and improve

the project's environmental performance. Asphalt as a

common paving material has a wide range of

applications due to its physical properties but it also

raises issues related to the environment. Asphalt is

black and shiny semi-solid at room temperature and

will gradually melt when heated and it can dissolve in

organic solvents with good fluidity thermal stability

durable adhesion elastic-plastic electrical insulation

and water resistance. It is suitable for paving asphalt

pavements for medium and light traffic volume roads

(Lu, 2019).

However, as a building material, its production

and application can not avoid a series of

environmental problems. During the actual operation

of the asphalt mixing plant specific fuels need to be

burned such as Coal heavy oil and other sources of

energy may have poor fuel composition or

combustion efficiency. And produce a small amount

of industrial gases such as sulfur dioxide carbon

monoxide and dioxide. Carbon reduction etc. Among

them, sulfur dioxide has a relatively high degree of

pollution in the atmospheric environment. Causing

problems such as atmospheric voids or acid rain and

the production of sulfur dioxide. Due to the

insufficient purity of the coal and heavy oil burned in

the asphalt mixing plant internal operations are

dependent on it. It contains a small amount of sulfur

and undergoes oxidation reaction with air during

combustion. And sulfur dioxide was generated

(Zhang, 2018).

Asphalt is generally transported in the form of

petroleum or asphalt mixtures which require the use

of large tanker trucks or pipelines for transportation

generating large amounts of tailpipe emissions and

resulting in high carbon emissions.

With the use of highways, asphalt pavements are

subjected to the effects of vehicle compaction and

weather erosion and require regular maintenance and

rehabilitation work including asphalt coating which

also requires significant heat and energy consumption.

2.1 Green Development Technologies

on Roads

The pavement base will shrink during the gradual

decrease in temperature which may cause cracks. The

so-called temperature fatigue cracks refer to cracks

formed due to temperature fluctuations in road

environments with large and frequent occurrences.

When the road is affected by the combined effects of

vehicle load and constantly changing environmental

temperature it will directly cause serious damage to

asphalt materials exacerbating the severity of

pavement structural problems (Sun, 2024).

Conventional solutions are not economical and can

damage the environment to a certain extent so we

introduce a new green solution technology.

Asphalt pavement regeneration technology is a

kind of technology to regenerate and reuse old asphalt

pavement which helps reduce resource consumption

lower construction costs and reduce waste generation.

The process is crushing and mixing → hot

regeneration → cold regeneration. First of all, the old

asphalt pavement will be crushed and broken into

smaller particles and mixed with additives. Then

using a hot recycling plant, the waste asphalt is mixed

with the new material through heating and mixing and

the mixed material is heated to restore its viscosity

and fluidity. In some cases, cold regeneration

technology can also be used where the old road fabric

is mixed with additives and directly laid and

compacted on the road surface. The road fabric

without the thermal regeneration process can be used

to relay the road surface to form a new asphalt

pavement.

Compared to the traditional asphalt pavement

construction process of asphalt production asphalt

pavement recycling technology only needs to

consume relatively little energy reducing the

consumption of non-renewable resources the use of

recycled asphalt can also reduce the emission of

harmful gases and hazardous substances less

Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials

485

pollution of the environment. Asphalt pavement

recycling technology can be retained to a greater

extent in the old pavement substructure only the old

asphalt processing and recycling. This not only saves

a lot of time and cost but also can maintain the

stability and strength of the original pavement

extending the pavement's service life (Bai, 2019).

2.2 New Green Pavement Materials

Warm mix asphalt is a new type of road material that

is produced at much lower temperatures than

traditional hot mix asphalt. Warm mix asphalt

mixtures are typically produced at temperatures

between 110°C and 140°C. The temperatures used in

the production of warm-mix asphalt mixtures are

much lower than those of conventional hot-mix

asphalt mixtures. Compared to conventional hot mix

asphalt warm mix asphalt mixtures can be produced

and constructed with reduced energy consumption

and emissions and better engineering performance

and sustainability. Compared with traditional hot-mix

asphalt mixtures warm-mix asphalt mixtures can

significantly reduce energy consumption during the

production process and the lower construction

temperature can also reduce the impact of the

construction site on the air quality and reduce harmful

emissions which not only reduces the pollution of the

environment but also conducive to the health of the

construction workers (Zhou, 2024). The key to this

technology lies in determining the aggregate grading

types and contents of additives and mixing

temperature. Among them, aggregate gradation plays

an important role in the performance and pavement

construction characteristics of warm-mix asphalt

mixtures. In most cases, it is recommended to use

crushed stone and limestone aggregates however the

resistance of siliceous aggregates may be equal to or

greater than that of limestone aggregates. Therefore

by improving and modifying the performance of

asphalt the quality and economic advantages of most

siliceous aggregate mines can be fully utilized (Shen,

2023).

3 GREEN ENERGY-SAVING

APPLICATIONS OF NEW

INSULATION MATERIALS

The emergence of new insulation materials is very

important for the environment and the sustainable use

of energy resources. Traditional insulation materials

usually have some problems such as environmental

impact high energy consumption and short service life.

New insulation materials Composite silicate material

is a kind of thermal insulation material that has been

improved and innovated in terms of thermal

insulation effect environmental protection

performance construction convenience and so on.

Like insulating glass composite silicate materials

these new insulation materials are widely used in

construction furniture and other fields not only to

improve the thermal insulation performance of the

building but also help to save energy reduce emissions

and protect the environment (Meng, 2022).

3.1 Common New Insulation Materials

There are many common new insulation materials.

First of all like composite silicate insulation material,

this material has a low thermal conductivity and can

achieve a good thermal insulation effect even if the

impact of a high temperature of 700 ℃ or more can

work normally (Jun, 2024)). In addition, this material

meets the basic requirements of environmental

protection no dust pollution can be arbitrarily cut, and

it can be convenient for construction. Furthermore

such as a vacuum insulation board set up with a

vacuum protection layer filler core material etc. the

use of these materials can effectively reduce the heat

conduction rate achieving very good environmental

protection and energy saving effect. In the use of

vacuum-insulated panels, the shell is in a vacuum

state and can be filled with foam or fiber (Tao, 2020).

3.2 The Value of New Insulation

Materials

New thermal insulation materials that have low

thermal conductivity and high thermal resistance

values can effectively block the wall inside and

outside the heat transfer. In the winter heating period,

the insulation material can reduce the indoor heat loss

through the wall to the outside reducing the heat

supply demand of the heating system; in the summer

cooling period, the insulation material can block the

outdoor high temperature to the indoor transfer reduce

the load of the refrigeration equipment (Bai, 2019).

For an office building for example the use of

100mm thick rock wool board exterior wall insulation

compared with the uninsulated annual heating energy

consumption by 42. 3% of the annual cooling energy

consumption by 31. 5% (Teng, 2023) the operating

costs are significantly reduced. Therefore applying

building wall insulation material is important for

reducing building energy consumption and realizing

building energy saving.

MLSCM 2024 - International Conference on Modern Logistics and Supply Chain Management

486

The use of new materials combined with

waterproofing anti-cracking and other functions can

build a highly efficient integrated thermal insulation

system to improve the overall thermal insulation

effect and reduce energy consumption. Specifically,

the exterior wall is generally made of polystyrene

boards concrete and other composite materials poured

first with a special crusher to crush polyethylene

plastic into particles it will be stirred into a pourable

mortar and then coated in the internal and external

walls of the building to make up for the inadequacy of

the wall insulation but also to prevent cracking

(Huang, 2019). This new composite material can not

only improve the stability of the building but also

improve its thermal insulation performance.

4 APPLICATION OF POLYMER

POLYETHYLENE MATERIAL

IN DRAINAGE

As we all know the cost of water supply and drainage

engineering accounts for a small proportion of the

total cost of construction projects and it is easy to be

ignored in the construction quality management of

construction projects. However, after the water

supply and drainage project is completed and put into

use its quality will greatly affect the normal operation

of the construction project. Suppose the quality

control is not strict in the construction of water supply

and drainage engineering. In that case, it is easy to

have quality defects such as deflection leakage or

blockage of the installation pipeline which will affect

the normal use function of the water supply and

drainage engineering not only bring great

inconvenience to the office or life of customers but

also affect the good image of the construction

enterprise. Construction water supply and drainage

engineering involves a variety of sub-projects and its

embedment work is cross-synchronized with civil

engineering construction so the construction quality

management of construction water supply and

drainage engineering is difficult. How to do a good

job in building water supply and drainage

construction quality management is a problem that

construction enterprises still need to solve. During the

installation process, it is necessary to do a good job of

real-time recording the details of the installation

process and the overall progress of the accurate and

standardized record. Generally speaking in order to

ensure the overall quality of the installation process it

is necessary to avoid the situation where the recording

personnel are simultaneously installed by the

installation personnel and avoid manual negligence

caused by complex tasks. The recording personnel

who understand the related technologies of the hidden

pipe network should be equipped to record the work

so as to facilitate later acceptance and maintenance.

In addition, it is necessary to realize that the pipeline

installation process through the wall through the

foundation and other situations for these situations to

be pre-judged must pass through the relevant areas

should strengthen the protection of the pipeline to

avoid leakage due to pipeline damage. New materials

for drainage pipes and enclosures must be developed

to reduce the high transport and installation costs of

traditional materials and to improve the quality of

construction. Secondly due to the increase in the

speed and methods of mechanical installation

traditional methods of quality control have proved to

be inadequate (Ritzema 2006).

The main contents related to the performance test

of traditional pipelines include the water leakage

corrosion phenomenon accumulation of deposits

increase of fluid internal resistance and excessive

pressure loss. For such cases we have different

solutions: for example, check whether the pipe

connection is loose or damaged and repair or replace

the damaged parts in a timely manner. Select

corrosion-resistant pipe materials such as stainless

steel or alloy steel and perform corrosion tests

regularly; Clean the inside of the pipe regularly to

remove attachments. Optimized pipe design

with reasonable selection of pipe diameter and

bending radius to reduce fluid friction resistance;

Optimized pipe layout to reduce pipe length and

number of breaks and reduce pressure loss.

UPVC pipe is a new type of material derived from

the concept of energy saving and environmental

protection which is widely favored and applied by

construction units be of its advantages of energy

saving environmental protection and low price.

Compared with ordinary pipes this kind of pipe has

lightweight strong corrosion resistance and a small

surface roughness coefficient and the density ratio is

only about 20% of the cast iron pipe. In the

application and laying process in real life, the

construction personnel can ignore the anti-corrosion

treatment which can not only fully meet the

construction needs of water supply and drainage

engineering but also very high construction efficiency

and quality. However, every advantage has

disadvantages and this kind of pipe also has some

defects in practical application. It is reflected in poor

heat resistance and low compressive strength. It is

necessary to control the medium in the tube within 45

° C if it exceeds there is a certain security risk. At the

Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials

487

same time, there are also certain health problems in

the water supply process of UPVC pipes because

some chemical components need to be incorporated

in the production and manufacturing process of pipes

which will affect the water quality when mixed with

water and cause harm to residents if they drink it.

High-density polyethylene PE pipe has various

applications in various fields such as building water

supply and drainage agricultural irrigation urban gas

transmission chemical pipelines power cable

protection pipes. Its excellent corrosion resistance

wear resistance high temperature resistance low

temperature resistance non-toxic and tasteless

advantages so that it can maintain a stable structure

and properties at various humidity temperatures. As

people pay more attention to environmental

protection and health high-density polyethylene PE

pipes also have a clearer application prospect.

Similarly reasonable and appropriate preparation

work is the basis for ensuring the normal installation

of water supply and drainage pipes. At the same time,

Raw life cycle inventory data for the production of

nanoclays from the mineral montmorillonite were

collected for this case study in the United States. A

life cycle inventory model was developed for the

production of a drain pipe used in highway

construction from cradle to gate which considers the

sensitivity of model parameter inputs to the life cycle

effects and cost outcomes of the three material

choices. GHG emissions from nano-clay composite

pipes were 54% lower than those from original HDPE

pipes and 16% lower than those from original HDPE

pipes (Long, 2017). Generally speaking, the

following details need to be done in the preparation

work: First according to the construction

requirements design reasonable installation drawings

of water supply and drainage pipes to provide a clear

reference for the subsequent practical operation;

Second according to the requirements of the drawings

and the characteristics of the project with a reasonable

number of professional personnel professional skills

in place and according to the requirements of the

drawings assigned to implement the responsibilities

of each construction personnel; Third determine the

installation technology needed to complete the

requirements of the drawings on this basis prepare

supporting installation materials and installation

equipment and carry out the corresponding

procurement work. If the preparation work before

installation is not comprehensive enough and even

if there are flaws it will make the installation process

unpredictable problems and it will be difficult to deal

with these problems in a timely and effective manner

not only causing the extension of the installation cycle

and waste of construction materials but also make the

overall project quality difficult to meet the

requirements. Therefore the preparation work before

installation must be done to ensure that the

requirements of drawings and the actual needs of the

project are met on this basis to ensure that the

installation technology can meet the requirements of

the drawings and to ensure the technical level of each

process(Huang, 2019).

5 CONCLUSION

The production of building materials consumes a

large amount of energy especially some traditional

building materials such as the asphalt mentioned in

this paper whose production process requires a large

amount of fossil fuels such as coal which leads to an

increase in the emission of greenhouse gases such as

carbon dioxide and exacerbates global warming.

Therefore selecting environmentally friendly and

sustainable construction materials is very important to

minimize the environmental impact and promote

sustainable development. This paper introduces

different new building materials (warm mix asphalt

mix composite silicate insulation UPVC pipe etc.) for

highway housing and water supply and drainage

projects and systematically analyzes their green

production and excellent performance. On the other

hand, this paper also introduces some emerging

technologies for green construction such as asphalt

pavement regeneration technology which can reduce

the exploitation of natural resources and at the same

time reduce the impact of the production process on

the environment and reduce the generation of waste

which is conducive to reducing energy consumption

and emission reduction based on which it can also

protect the original pavement substrate structure in

the process of pavement maintenance and restoration

reducing the destruction of infrastructure and helping

to extend the road surface. In addition, it can also

protect the original pavement base structure in the

process of pavement maintenance and repair reduce

the damage to the infrastructure, and help extend the

service life of the pavement. Although all kinds of

green building materials play different roles and

target different directions their ultimate purpose is to

save energy reduce emissions and protect the

environment which also reflects that the selection and

use of building materials should pay attention to their

environmental friendliness and sustainability.

MLSCM 2024 - International Conference on Modern Logistics and Supply Chain Management

488

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTION

All the authors contributed equally and their names

were listed in alphabetical order.

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