Suchergebnisse

This chapter starts with an overview on CO2 emissions and climate change addressing key investigations and important related events. The situation of the European Union concerning energy efficiency is described. A short analysis of the nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) concept is presented. A book outline is also presented. ...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) radon constitutes the second cause of lung cancer in the general population, the first being smoking. In addition health investigations also show that children are more susceptible than adults to ionizing radiation. In the past, it was accepted that only radon concentrations above 400 Bq/m3 could constitute a health risk, however, recent epidemiological findings demonstrate lung cancer risk from exposure to indoor radon at levels in the order of 100 Bq/m3. Furthermore, lung cancer aggravates based on the accumulated inhaled dose and, according to WHO, there is no lower radon level below which the risk from exposure disappears. Nevertheless, some surveys show that the majority of the public seems to consider the health risks involved in radon exposure as being negligible. To make things worse, only a few countries require the use of protection measures for buildings located in radon affected areas. This paper reviews literature on radon as a source of indoor air contamination. It covers recent legislation, building protecting measures and their cost-effectiveness. It also covers the case of radon emissions from construction and decorative ...

On March 9th the European Union approved the Regulation (EU) 305/2011 related to the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) that will replace the current Directive 89/106/CEE already amended by Directive 1993/68/EEC known as the Construction Products Directive (CPD) beyond July 2013. The objective of the CPR is the same as the CPD, namely to "achieve the proper functioning of the internal market for construction products by means of harmonised technical specifications". This paper analyses the main differences between CPD and CPR. This paper also addresses the new basic requirement of CPR "Sustainable use of natural resources" and the subject of hazardous substances in construction ...

Apresentação em efectuada na "2nd Conference Environment and Public Health (EPH), Berlin-Potsdam, Germany, 2011" ; Development of building technologies is tightly connected in the network of energy saving demands of growing population, significant problems with waste and economy which tries to be self-sustainble, balancing between profit, social trends like fashion, need for higher living standard and rasing awareness of ireversible destroy of nature. In such social and economical environment building construction sector introduces new technologies and materials which brought large improvement in obeying all these demands but also produces a new complex indoor radiochemical environment. Elimination of waste such as a fly ash by its incorporation in concrete is significinat from the ecological viewpoint, but it may cause increased indoor emissions of ionizing radiation due to the fact that it may contain high levels of radioisotopes. Additionally to indoor radon which levels may be elevated due to regional soil characteristics, usage of zirconium and granit as fashionable elements of indoor finishing can also contribute to final increased exposure to ionizing radiation. Finishing indoor materials which contain nano particles, flame retardants, different organic compounds or ammonia combined with ionizing radiation may produce very complex health effects on occupants, especially on children and possible transplacental effects on fetal development. Introduction of occupancy/use permit which will include measurement of indoor radiochemical emissions will improve life standards and enable enforcement of politics in which occupants will have option to select residence with healty indoor environment. Building construction can be stimulated to apply for such permits via tax ...

This chapter starts by reviewing crucial facts about the climate emergency, resource efficiency, and the circular economy in order to provide a context for the contribution of alkali-activated concrete just because since Humanity is living on borrowed time then classic narrowed approaches are no longer the most effective, nor are they even effective anymore. Every year the world economy uses more than 100,000 million tonnes of natural resources. Of that gargantuan consumption 67,000 million tonnes are transformed into atmospheric pollution or became solid waste and only 8,400 million tones are reused which means each year around 27,000 million tonnes are disposed of. Population growth will further increase resource consumption and waste generation meaning that increasing amounts of waste reuse must be tackled. Alkali-activated concrete has paramount importance in that context because it can recycle a high amount of industrial wastes. And that is why a change in the terminology used for categorizing these materials is necessary. One that gives visibility to the high recycling features of these materials and that helps its wide acceptance and application by the construction industry. Furthermore, the moment that Governments all over the world finally decide to put up in place high taxes on the extraction of virgin raw materials (like the ones that already exist in some Nordic countries) thus benefiting materials that can recycle a high waste content then alkali-activated concrete mixtures could finally gain a cost-competitive edge over Portland cement concrete based mixtures. The chapter includes a brief review on recent alkali-activated concrete developments. An outline of the book is also ...

The world is closer to exceeding the budget (cumulative amount of anthropogenic CO2 emission compatible with a global temperature-change target) for the long-term target of the Paris Climate Agreement than previously thought. Three lines of evidence suggest that global warming will be faster than projected in the recent IPCC special report. First, greenhouse-gas emissions are still rising. Second, governments are cleaning up air pollution faster than the IPCC and most models previously assumed. But aerosols, including sulfates, nitrates and organic compounds, reflect sunlight so the aforementioned cleaning could have a warming effect by as much as 0.7 ºC. And in third place, there are signs that the planet might be entering a natural warm phase because the Pacific Ocean seems to be warming up. And these three forces reinforce each other. Carbon dioxide sequestration is therefore crucial for targets for limiting global warming. Europe is now putting great efforts and funding in carbon sequestration materials and technologies. The flagship programme EnCO2re, currently looks to develop new technologies offering novel ways to use CO2; increase awareness for CO2 re-use; and ensures sustainability and social acceptance of materials and products by integrated socio-ecological research. Also Carbon capture and sequestration is one of the 100 Radical Innovation Breakthroughs for the future (Europe, 2019).This chapter discloses results of an investigation concerning the performance of fly ash/waste glass alkaline-based mortars with recycled aggregates reinforced by hemp fibres. The results show that hemp fibres lead to a reduction of mechanical properties of alkali-activated materials. ; Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the frame of project ...

European Union (EU) aims to achieve nearly zero-energy (public) building (NZEB) by the end of 2018. This very ambitious target would be more easily fulfilled if high- thermal performance materials like phase change materials (PCMs) are to be used. This paper reports experimental results on the mechanical properties of geopolymeric mortars containing PCMs at ambient temperature and after exposure to high temperature. The results show that the inclusion of PCMs is responsible for a reduction of the mechanical strength of the mortars. Several mixtures showed an increase in compressive strength after being exposed to high temperatures. Since PCMs are made of flammable materials, geopolymeric mortars are more advantageous than Portland cement-based mortars for PCM incorporation. ...