Low Environmental Impact Materials

We are trying hard to specify materials that have a low environmental impact from manufacture and can be easily recycled.

We conducted in house ad hoc research, while specifying materials for many projects, including our own retrofit project, on the embodied energy of certain building materials. A lot of the regular products on the market often use up a lot of energy during manufacture and transport to the final building site or are manufactured from environmentally harmful raw materials. Such materials are poured concrete, structural steelwork, concrete blocks, clay bricks, foamed rigid insulation board like Kingspan or Celotex [that are obtained from petrochemical fossil fuels], vinyl flooring, plastics + many more. Some of these products also release harmful Volatile Organic Compounds [VOC’s] back into the building and can have a negative effect on the occupant’s heath. Furthermore many readily available products are not non-combustible and fire safe.

Having reflected on this we are now trying hard to specify materials that have a low environmental impact from manufacture and can be easily recycled at the end of the building lifespan, if the building is no longer suitable for reuse and upgrading. A lot of these low impact materials have often been used for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and form the backbone of traditional construction methods and techniques. These are essentially organic or bio-based materials with minimal processing, like timber [if sustainably sourced], stone, lime mortar, lime plaster, lime render, solid limecrete floors, metal cladding, wood fibre insulation, cork insulation, sheeps wool insulation, hemp insulation, mycelium insulation, straw insulation building systems, cellulose insulation, recycled glass, linoleum, natural paints and finishes, etc. There almost seems to be a reversal back to traditional materials, before the industrial revolution went global.

Interestingly enough, many of the organic materials release low or zero VOC’s so generally create a far healthier building for the occupants and increases occupant wellbeing. We are fully aware that the preventing the use of certain materials is not possible, like plastics and sealants. We feel there is a place for some of these materials as the benefits outweigh their negative qualities, it’s about trying to reduce their use and our over reliance on them. Perhaps in the future there might be the opportunity to use bio-based plastics and sealants made from plants and naturally occurring plant based oils that are biodegradable. Many of these organic materials are sometimes more resistant to fire and safer all round.