Advantages of using natural construction materials over cement and concrete
- Ria & Aneena
- Oct 19, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 21, 2020
Cement and concrete are used during every kind of construction from houses to roads. It’s the most traditional way of construction and no one ever thinks about using any other materials. But have you ever thought about how cement and concrete are made or if they or the process cause any pollution?
To know that, let us look at the process of manufacturing of cement and concrete.
Cement – It is manufactured by a chemical process in which calcium, silicon, aluminum, and other ingredients are mixed chemically.
The materials used for these are chalk and limestone which are combined by mining and combined with silica, clay, and slate in blast furnaces. At very high temperatures the materials combine to form cement.
Concrete – It is a homogenous mixture of sand, cement, water, and air, but its texture is heterogeneous.
Pollution and hazards of cement and concrete:
1. The most astonishing thing about cement is how much air pollution it produces. Manufacturing the stone-like building material is responsible for 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, more than what comes from all the trucks in the world
2. It is the process of making “clinker” – the key constituent of cement – that emits the largest amount of CO2 in cement-making. In 2016, world cement production generated around 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to 8% of the global total
3. Limestone mining can affect groundwater conditions. The limestone deposits result in sinkholes, caves, and areas of rock fractures that form underground drainage areas. When mining occurs in karst, disruption to natural aquifers, or flows of underground water, can result. Often, mining operations remove ground water to expose the quarrying site, which can lower the water table and change how water flows through the rock formations.
4. The noise, dust, and impact from explosions to create the mines for limestone mining can result in noise pollution and dust.
With the increase in the growth of infrastructure, the cement production in India is expected to be 500 Million Tonnes by the year 2020 and 800 Million Tonnes by 2030. The per capita consumption of cement in India is 195 kg.
Now just imagine the disadvantage and harm cement has on us and the environment.
The cement and concrete industry is a major contributor to world pollution. It’s time we start looking and using alternate materials in construction whenever we can and save our environment because if we have the power of transforming another planet into our home then we can definitely save the only home have right now.
At Revillage, we aim for a carbon-neutral off-grid lifestyle in the heart of nature. So we use natural oriented materials like stone, sand, clay, mud, adobe, and limestone that are free from carbon-emission.
The structure of Revillage is a load-bearing structure with sandstone blocks. We don’t use any artificial or emulsion paints that emit less amount of carbon instead of that we use natural and organic ones. The elements used for the construction of houses at Revillage are listed below.
1. Foundation:
At our site, we have an abundant amount of sandstone therefore, for the construction of the wall and the complete foundation we use sandstone. The advantage of sandstone over concrete is that sandstone weathers naturally over the years and its value increases with time only, therefore, paving a way towards a carbon-neutral lifestyle. It is subtracted from the ground and then used for the construction. The subtracted content in the ground is used for the underground greywater filtration process. We don’t use concrete and cement at all in the construction of our houses.
2. Flooring and kitchen platform:
At Revillage, flooring is done using polished sandstone, and sometimes we use artificial stone too. Kota stone and anti-skid stones are used in the verandah. We use some vitrified and porcelain tiles to get some elegance in the interior of the house. Flooring in the indoor garden is done using interlocking of clay tiles and semi-polished stone cladding. In living spaces, artificial stones or sandstones are used. The kitchen has black or white granite platforms, and polished stone is used for basin counters. We use a less amount of wood and plastic for platform and accessories instead we use stone, marble, and
stainless steel.
3. Walls, Windows, and Doors:
The wall finish at Revillage has a natural and organic wall color cladding over artificial ones. The interior wall finish uses mud cladding with a putty finish, and the external wall finish uses natural stone mosaic details along with organic wall color cladding. Windows have wooden frames with glazed panels. We provide a bug repellent net along with sound resistance glass for windows. We are balancing the environment in the living space with the indoor plantation habitat and the glazed panel. The main door has a teak or veneer finish. The door frames have engineered door frames and flush doors for internal room door frames with Dorset or kich hardware.
4. Plumbing and Electrical fixtures:
Copper pipes and materials are used in the interior area and the exterior like greywater plant normal plastic is used because if we use any metal or any other durable material it will cost higher than plastic. Only 20% of the construction elements are plastic. Premium brands like jaguar, cera, somany are used for fittings, accessories, and sanitary ware. Brands like anchor, casa, or havells are used for electrical fixtures.
5. Berm:
We have a berm on three sides of the house. We are fixing or stuffing the berms all over the soil or with the adobe. Adobe is a kind of clay used as a building material that is eco-friendly and produces zero carbon emission. There will be a barrier around the soil so that the soil won’t go down when it rains.
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