BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC DIN IAŞI

Publicat de
Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iaşi
Tomul LIX (LXIII), Fasc. 2, 2013
Secţia
CONSTRUCŢII. ARHITECTURĂ

TRADITIONAL BUILDING MATERIALS AND FIBRE

REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES. A SUSTAINABILITY
APPROACH IN CONSTRUCTION SECTOR
BY

SEBASTIAN-GEORGE MAXINEASA* and NICOLAE ŢĂRANU

“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Building Services

Received: February 5, 2013

Accepted for publication: February 22, 2013

Abstract. It is well-known that the construction industry is among the

largest consumers of material, energy and a significant polluter. From the
extraction of raw materials to disposal and recycling, the entire life cycle of a
construction has a significant environmental impact. The manufacturing/
processing of materials represents an important phase in the life cycle of
constructions which has a negative effect on the environment. Accordingly, the
construction materials industry has made tremendous progress towards fulfilling
some of the most important goals of the sustainability concept.
In order to reduce impact on the environment of new or existing
constructions, the civil and structural engineers possess an important role. By
using specific solutions and systems or other types of civil engineering
applications, some objectives of sustainability can be achieved. Fibre reinforced
polymeric (FRP) composite materials that are used for structural rehabilitation
or are included in new structures, can be sustainable if the life span of the
structures is highly increased with very low environmental impact and a
minimum use of material resource.

*
Corresponding author: e-mail: [email protected]
56 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

The main objective of this paper is to identify the specific challenges

associated with both traditional civil engineering and FRP composite materials
and their applicability in a sustainable environment.
Key words: sustainability development; life cycle of constructions;
environment; fibre reinforced polymeric composite materials.

1. Introduction

Common knowledge says that construction industry is among the

largest consumers of material, energy and a significant polluter. It is well-
known that this sector is a key one for environmental protection and for a
sustainable resource management. At the global scale we are currently
consuming about 150% of the resource that the Earth can renew in one year.
Thus, the existing patterns of production and consumption are unsustainable.
The construction industry plays an important role, since it consumes more raw
materials than any other economic activity, approximately 50% of the global
consumption. Furthermore, it is expected that this industry will grow in the next
years (Ewing et al., 2008; Messari-Becker et al., 2013; Pacheco-Torgal &
Labrincha, 2013).
From the extraction of raw materials to recycling and disposal of waste
material, the entire life-cycle of a construction has a significant environmental
impact. An important phase which has a negative effect on the environment is
the manufacturing/processing of materials. Thus, the traditional civil
engineering materials industry has made tremendous progress towards fulfilling
some of the most important goals of sustainability development. For example,
substituting a volume of cement with fly ash in concrete, using recycled
materials in steel production and sustainably harvested certified wood.
On the other hand, civil and structural engineers have an important role
in sustainable construction development. The environmental impact of new or
existing buildings is reduced using specific solutions and systems or other types
of civil engineering applications. Therefore, some objectives of sustainability
can be achieved (Ţăranu et al., 2012).

2. Sustainable Development in Construction

In order to discuss about sustainable development in construction, we

need to define the sustainability concept. According to ISO 15392/2008,
sustainability is a “state in which components of the ecosystem and their
functions are maintained for the present and future generations” and “is a state
that requires that humans carry out their activities in a way that protects the
functions of the Earth’s ecosystem as a whole”. Sustainability is the global goal
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LIX (LXIII), f. 2, 2013 57

of sustainable development. We can say that the concept of sustainability

represents an ideal state, a perfect equilibrium state between the requirements of
the present generations, the level of resources used to fulfill the day by day
human activities, and the actual level of Earth’s resources including its capacity
to renew the stock of resources for the next generations.
The world-wide accepted definition for sustainable development was
included in the report that Bruntland Commission issued to the United Nations
in 1987, which stated that “sustainable development is the one which meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development,
1987). This definition for sustainable development is actually present in the ISO
15392/2008. The construction sector has an important role in the global
sustainable development, being a key sector in every national economy and
having an important environmental impact.
In order to achieve sustainability in the construction sector it is
necessary to consider and interpret its aspects – economical, environmental,
social and health & comfort, through sustainable development. At the same
time, the technical and functional performance of construction works must be
fulfilled (ISO 15392/2008; Sustainable Smart ECO-Buildings in the EU, 2005).
According to ISO 15392/2008, the objectives for applying the concept of
sustainability to constructions and, at the same time, promoting sustainable
development, are: “improvement of the construction sector and the built
environment, reduction of adverse impacts while improving value, stimulation
of a pro-active approach, stimulation of innovation, decoupling of economic
growth from increasing adverse impacts on the environment and/or society,
reconciliation of contradictory interests or requirements arising from short-term
and long-term planning or decision making”; and the principles that are applied
to reach these objectives are: “continual improvement, equity, global thinking
and local action, holistic approach, involvement of interested parties, long-term
consideration, precaution and risk, responsibility, and transparency”.
Life Cycle Assessment is the best tool to assess sustainability in the
construction sector. According to ISO 14040/2006 and ISO 14044/2006, Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a “compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs
and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life
cycle. LCA addresses the environmental aspects and potential environmental
impacts (e.g. use of resources and the environmental consequences of releases)
throughout a product’s life cycle from raw material acquisition through
production, use, end-of-life treatment, recycling and final disposal (i.e. cradle-
to-grave)”. To determine the sustainability of a material or of a construction, the
following items must be considered: the initial, operating/maintenance and
disposal cost, the life of the asset and its environmental impact through the
whole life cycle. By applying LCA we can optimize the aspects of
58 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

sustainability, from the extraction of raw materials to recycling and final

disposal of waste (Ortiz et al., 2009; Lee et. al., 2012; Estes & Frangopol, 2005;
Murphy, 2010).

3. Sustainability of Traditional Civil Engineering Materials

The construction materials industry has made tremendous progress to

achieve sustainability in this sector through a sustainable development. For
example, concrete, steel and brick production companies try to reduce the
energy consumption in order to reduce CO2 emissions and the embodied energy
of their products. Recycling is another step to comply with the current
environmental protection laws and to reduce the processing costs. In what
follows some of the steps that are currently being undertaken are presented in
order to promote the sustainability concept.

3.1. Concrete

Concrete is one of the most used building materials worldwide. During

a year’s time, a ton of concrete is produced for every human being. The main
concrete ingredient, cement, had nearly doubled the carbon footprint between
the years 1990 and 2005. In Fig. 1 it is represented the cement consumption
rates from 1950 until 2010. With the current rate of cement consumption we can

Fig. 1 – Historic and projected annual cement consumption

rates (Mehta & Meryman, 2009).

expect the pollution levels from cement production to double about every 5
years. It is estimated that from the chemical reaction and the combustion of
fossil fuels for generating heat necessary to manufacture a ton of cement is
produced a ton of CO2. Recent studies have shown that the cement production is
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LIX (LXIII), f. 2, 2013 59

responsible for 5%...7% of all CO2 generated around the world. Therefore, in
order to reduce the environmental impact of concrete, we must reduce the
amount of cement used in concrete.
The cement producers chose to optimize the cement mixture by adding
complementary cementing materials, like fly ash (a pozzolanic by-product of
coal-fired electricity generation) and blast-furnace slag (a pozzolanic by-product
of steel blast furnaces). There are two benefits for using this pozzolanic by-
products: the environmental impact is reduced because of the replacement of
cement with carbon-neutral by-products and these by-products are diverted
from the landfills. The Portland Cement Association has developed some
recommendations for the quantity of cement replacement with fly ash and blast-
furnace by weight. Another environmental problem of the cement and concrete
is the dust that is generated in the production stage. Thus, the Environmental
Protection Agency has limited the quantity of dust that is released into the
atmosphere. The concrete impact over the environment can be reduced by
replacing the natural aggregates with recycled materials like: brick, glass,
granulated plastics, waste fibreglass, and crushed blast furnace slag (Heede &
Belie, 2012; Estrada et al., 2012).
The techniques used by the cement industry for reducing its carbon-
footprint will result in a more durable concrete with a much longer service life
and lower overall cost. This concrete will possess lower embodied energy,
lower carbon emissions, lower environmental impact and an increased diversion
of by-product materials from landfills.
3.2. Steel

Typically, the following two methods are used in the production of this
material: electric-arc furnace (EAF) or basic oxygen furnace (BOF). Each of
these methods uses a different amount of recycled materials; the steel produced
by the EAF can have up to 100% recycled content and the one produced by the
BOF method contains 10%...25% recycled content. Another difference between
these two methods is the type of energy being used in the production process;
EAF uses electricity and BOF uses coal or natural gas. Adding that the most
structural steel used in construction is produced using the EAF process, we can
say that EAF is the most friendly environmental method.
Steel has a unique property: it is 100% recyclable (a highly recyclable
material), which means that steel can be recycled multiple times without any
degradation of its mechanical properties. Increasing the use of recycled steel
and changing the production process have led to a drastically decrease over the
past 30 years of the CO2 emissions and the amount of raw materials and energy
used. The environmental thinking in steel industry took place in the 1970s and
1980s, when the manufacturers started to recycle steel and they switched from
coal burning furnaces to electricity. Steel has a relatively small carbon-footprint,
60 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

compared to concrete, approximately 0.70 t of CO2 are produced to manufacture

a ton of steel (Table 1). In future time, the steel industry can come to produce
steel that has no carbon footprint, provided the EAF method will be used and
the electricity needed in this process will be generated by only using renewable
sources, such as solar and wind. Because the steel is highly recyclable, a large
volume of deconstructed and scrap steel is diverted from the landfills and
reused. In the last years the steel industry has contributed to the reduction of the
amount of steel used in a construction project, by producing a high strength
steel which has 40% higher strength compared to the steel used 30 years ago
(Estrada et al., 2012; AISC, 2011; Strezov et al., 2013).
The steel industry has made tremendous progress in order to achieve the
most important goals of the sustainability concept by applying solutions like
development of high-strength steel, recycling and reusing steel, all of which will
result in a sustainable cost effective material with a lower environmental
impact.

3.3. Timber

Timber is the most available construction material derived from a

renewable resource. Adding that trees are the most powerful and efficient tool
of Earth for extracting the CO2 from the atmosphere (Table 1), the using of
timber in construction sector can have a significant impact over the
environment.
One of the measures the timber industry has implemented in order to
reduce the timber production negative effects such as soil erosion, habitat loss
and increasing the level of CO2, is to harvest the wood used in construction
sector from certified forests. For example, because of reforestation practices, in
the European Union, the forested area has increased with 2%, approximately 3.5
million ha, between 2000 and 2010 and in North America the forested area is
the same size as 100 years ago (Eurostat, 2011; Ward, 2010). Another solution
adopted by timber industry is to produce Engineering Wood (EW) products like
plywood, oriented-strand board panels, glued-laminated lumber, laminated and
parallel strand lumber, and laminated veneer lumber (Estrada et al., 2012).
These EW products are manufactured using trees with a smaller diameter from
forests that are farmed using fertilizers and pesticides and are harvested
relatively frequent. The EW products are difficult to recycle because in order to
obtain these products, binders are required.
Considering that a tree sequesters CO2 and releases O2 in the
atmosphere and the fact that the wood during processing requires low amount of
energy, having as result a lower level of embodied energy, we can consider the
timber used in construction sector as a carbon negative material. Also, a main
benefit of wood is its biodegradability and the fact that its recycling is primarily
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LIX (LXIII), f. 2, 2013 61

used as bio-fuel. The main disadvantage is represented by the vulnerability of

the wood to decay and to attacks from insects and thus, the wood must be
protected using preservatives to ensure a long-term durability (Estrada et al.,
2012).
Table 1
Net Carbon Emissions In Producing a Ton of Various Materials
(Falk, 2010; Estrada et al., 2012)
Near-term net carbon
Material Net CO2 emissions emissions including carbon
kg CO2/ta,b storage within material
kg CO2/tc,d
Framing lumber 33 –457
Medium-density
fiberboard (virgin fiber) 60 –382
Brick 88 88
Glass 154 154
Recycled steel
220 220
(100% from scrap)
Concrete 265 265
Concretee 291 291
Recycled aluminum
(100% recycled content) 309 309
Steel (virgin) 694 694
Plastics 2,502 2,502
Aluminum (virgin) 4,532 4,532
a
Values are based on life-cycle assessment and included gathering and processing of raw
materials, primary and secondary processing, and transportation
b
Source: EPA (2006)
c
The carbom stored within wood will eventually be emitted back to the atmosphere and
the end of the useful life of the wood product
d
Derived based on EPA value for concrete and consideration of additional steps involved
in making bloks

Timber industry has made progress in order to become an industry with

low environmental impact which has the goal of manufacturing a carbon
negative construction material. To achieve this goal, the timber industry must
reduce their carbon footprint and become a carbon neutral industry by
promoting the harvesting of certified forests, using non-toxic preservatives,
development of new durable EW products, using locally available wood
species, and recycling or using as bio-fuel of timber resulted from construction
demolition.
3.4. Masonry

The environmental impact of masonry is highly influenced by the

materials used for manufacturing bricks. For example, the level of embedded
62 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

energy in fired clay bricks is almost three times higher than in concrete bricks
(Table 2). Being a fired material, the process of manufacturing clay bricks
requires a large amount of energy. Therefore, this material has a large amount
of embodied energy and a significant carbon footprint. The environmental
impact of concrete bricks is the same as the one of the regular concrete.
Table 2
Embodied Energy in Masonry Materials
(Volz & Stovner, 2010a; Estrada et al., 2012)
Material Embodied energy, [MBtu/yd3]
Concrete brick 0.946
Fired clay brick 3.28
Fly ash brick 0.492

In order to reduce the level of the embedded energy and the carbon
footprint of fired clay bricks, the masonry industry has developed the fly ash
brick which has comparable mechanical properties with fired clay brick but the
level of embedded energy in fly ash brick is much lower. For concrete brick, the
manufactures have minimized the carbon footprint and the embedded energy by
substituting cement with complementary cementing materials, like fly ash
(Estrada et al., 2012; Volz & Stovner, 2010b).
The masonry industries have made progress in order to reduce the
carbon footprint and the level of embedded energy in fired clay and concrete
bricks, which are two of the most used building materials worldwide. For the
future, brick’s manufacturers are expected to reduce more the environmental
impact of their products by trying to minimizing the amount of cement used in
concrete bricks, replacing fired clay bricks with fly ash bricks and trying to
recycle and reuse the masonry construction waste.

4. Sustainability of Fibre Composites Polymeric (FRP) Composites

Materials

“Fibre reinforced polymeric (FRP) composite materials are multiphase

systems consisting of two or more chemically distinct constituents with
properties superior to those provided by any constituent working individually”
(Ţăranu et al., 2012). In the first years of development the FRP composite
materials were too expensive to utilize them in construction applications, but in
time, the cost of this materials have decrease and the use of FRP composite
materials in infrastructure applications has increased (Lee et al., 2012).
The FRP composite materials used for structural applications are
usually manufactured by combining a polymer matrix (epoxy, polyester or
vinylester resin) with glass, carbon, or aramid fibres. The main advantages of
FRP composite materials over the traditional civil engineering materials are:
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LIX (LXIII), f. 2, 2013 63

high mechanical properties (high specific strength and high specific stiffness),
lightweight, noncorrosive, durability and can be manufactured to satisfy specific
performance requirements. FRP composites can be used for rehabilitation of
existing structures, increasing the life span of the structures, or can be included
in new constructions (Ţăranu et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2012; Estrada et al., 2012).
The fabrication stage of the constituent materials for FRP composites
have an important environmental impact. If we consider only the large amount
of energy necessary for manufacturing the fibres and the primary resources used
for obtaining the polymers, it appears that it is irrational to use FRP composite
materials for a sustainable development in the construction sector. In the
following sections there is presented an overview of the most used FRP
composite constituent materials and their implications in a sustainable
construction development.
4.1. Glass Fibres

This type of fibres are a very popular choice in construction

applications of FRP composite materials. There are four types of glass fibres
that are used in infrastructure applications, the E-glass, S-glass, AR-glass and
C-glass. The main advantages of glass fibres are: low production costs, high
strength and tolerance to high temperature and corrosive environments. Glass
fibres are very sensitive to moisture, and if used in areas with high humidity the
strength of glass fibres can be reduced by 35%. Compared with carbon fibres,
the stiffness of glass fibres is relatively low. The manufacturing process requires
a large amount of nonrenewable energy and consumption of large quantities of
fossil fuels. In order to produce these fibres, it is necessary that all ingredients
be melted into furnace at high temperatures, approximately 1,370ºC. Another
disadvantage of the manufacturing stage is that the glass processing is dusty
(Lee et al., 2012; Hollaway, 2011).
4.2. Carbon Fibres

The advantages of carbon fibres are: high tensile strength, high modulus
of elasticity, and high tolerance to high temperatures and corrosive
environments. Due to their tolerance to corrosive environments, the carbon
fibres can be used for applications in marine environments. They are petroleum-
based and in the manufacturing stage there are reached temperatures above
1,600ºC. This type of fibres has a big environmental impact because, like in the
case of glass fibres, a large amount of nonrenewable energy is required in the
manufacturing stage. The environmental impact of carbon fibres can be reduced
due to their mechanical properties. Thus, in a construction application it can be
used a lower quantity of carbon fibres to achieve the same performance given
by a larger quantity of glass or aramid fibres (Lee et al., 2012; Hollaway,
2011).
64 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

4.3. Aramid Fibres

Aramid fibres are often used for applications which require a high
impact resistance. Because this fibres have a low axial compression strength,
poor transverse properties and low shear modulus, they are usually used in
construction applications as a composite hybrid material which is obtained by
combining the aramid fibres with other fibres, such as carbon fibres. Unlike the
glass and carbon fibres, the maximum value of temperature for manufacturing
aramid fibres is around 200ºC. The main advantageous properties of aramid
fibres are: a very low density, high tensile strength and stiffness (Hollaway,
2011; Stoian et al., 2004).

4.4. Epoxy Resins

Compared with other polymers, epoxy resins are more expensive, but
are used in many construction applications due to their advantageous properties,
like high mechanical strength, low viscosity, low shrinkage rates and durability.
In order to initiate and accomplish the crosslinking, almost all epoxies used in
composite applications require an increased and well controlled temperature and
the use of curing agents (hardeners) and accelerators. Most hardeners used in
epoxy systems are highly toxic and cause severe irritation if are touched or
inhaled. Additionally, it is known that some of them are carcinogens and can
cause damage to the liver and kidneys (Lee et al., 2012; Strong, 2008).

4.5. Polyester Resins

Polyester resins are the most widely used thermosetting resins. Their
main advantages are: high corrosion resistance, uncomplicated manufacturing
process and low cost. The price of unsaturated polyesters is about 33%...50%
less than epoxies and about 25% less than vinylesters. Like in the case of epoxy
resins, the crosslinking agents and the catalysts used for the polymerization
reaction of polyester resins have high levels of toxicity and can create serious
health problems. For example, styrene is a crosslinking agent used in polyester
resins, which easily evaporates and has an important negative impact over the
human’s health in the mixing and applications stage. Other disadvantages of
polyester resins are low temperature tolerance and shrinkage from crosslinking
(Lee et al., 2012; Strong, 2008).

4.6. Vinylester Resins

Like epoxy and polyester resin, the vinylester is a thermosetting

material. The vinylester resins are cheaper than epoxies but slightly more
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LIX (LXIII), f. 2, 2013 65

expensive than polyesters. Compared with polyesters, the vinylester resins have
superior toughness and corrosion resistance to water and organic solvents. Still
the vinylester resins have weaker properties than the epoxy resins. The
vinylesters have another advantage with respect to the polyesters, namely the
lower quantity of styrene used for vinylesters manufacturing. Therefore, the
impact of the styrene emissions over the human’s health is reduced (Lee et al.,
2012; Strong, 2008).

4.7. Sustainable Construction Development Using FRP Composite Materials

The manufacturing processes of FRP composite materials has an

important impact over the environment because it requires the use of raw
materials, energy and water. Adding that during the manufacturing stage
different types of emissions are released in air, land, and water, it may appear
that we can not use FRP composite materials for a sustainable construction
development.
Usually, the FRP composite materials are used for rehabilitation or
strengthening existing constructions and for retrofitting structural elements. All
of these applications have the scope of increasing constructions’ life span. The
construction of a new structure requires large amounts of energy and a
significant initial investment. If this structure is demolished before or even after
the end of expected service life, all the embodied energy and the initial and
during life costs are wasted. Therefore, we can say that it is more sustainable to
rehabilitate and reuse an old building than to demolish this building and
construct a new one.
As stated before, through the usage of FRP composite materials we
increase the life span of an existing structure and thus, we reuse this structure
after the end of initial expected service life. Increasing the service life of an old
structure is the biggest advantage of FRP composite materials in a sustainable
development of constructions’ sector. In consequence, by using FRP composites
in construction applications, we can promote all aspects of the sustainability.
5. Conclusions

Fulfilling the sustainability aspects in constructions sector through

sustainable development has become a global problem. Worldwide, efforts are
made in order to reduce the significant environmental impact of constructions.
Knowing that constructions industry is among the largest consumers of
raw materials, nonrenewable energy and a significant polluter, the construction
materials manufacturers have tried among the years to reduce their negative
impact over the environment. For example, the manufacturers are trying to use
complementary cementing materials in concrete, more recycled materials in
steel production, only wood harvested from certified forests and replacing the
66 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

fired clay bricks with fly ash bricks. All the steps already taken and the ones
planned for the future have the declared scope of reducing the carbon-footprint.
Even if the production stage of FRP composite materials has negative
impacts over the environment, the aspects of sustainability can be achieved in
constructions sector by using the previously mentioned. The main advantage is
that the life span of an existing structure is extended through FRP composite
applications. Thus, we can avoid all the environmental implications of
demolishing and constructing a new building.

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project smart-eco, Contract number FP6-2005-TREN4-038699.

MATERIALE DE CONSTRUCŢII TRADIŢIONALE ŞI COMPOZITE POLIMERICE

ARMATE CU FIBRE. O ABORDARE REFERITOARE LA SUSTENABILITATE
ÎN DOMENIUL CONSTRUCŢIILOR

(Rezumat)

Este deja cunoscut faptul că domeniul construcţiilor reprezintă unul dintre cele
mai poluante activităţi economice, folosindu-se cantităţi semnificative de materiale şi
68 Sebastian George Maxineasa and Nicolae Ţăranu

energie. Începând cu extragerea materiei prime şi finalizând cu demolarea clădirii şi

depozitarea deşeurilor, întreg ciclul de viaţă al unei construcţii are un impact
semnificativ asupra mediului. O fază importantă care influenţează negativ mediul
înconjurător este reprezentată de fabricarea materialelor de construcţii. Astfel,
producătorii materialelor de construcţii tradiţionale au făcut eforturi însemnate în a
atinge aspectele conceptului de sustenabilitate.
În încercarea de a reduce impactul asupra mediului a structurilor noi sau
existente, inginerii constructori au un rol important. Aşadar, anumite aspecte ale
sustenabilităţii pot fi evidenţiate prin folosirea unor soluţii sau a altor tipuri de aplicaţii
specifice ingineriei civile. Materialele compozite polimerice armate cu fibre (CPAF),
care sunt folosite pentru reabilitarea structurilor existente sau pentru realizarea
structurilor noi, pot reprezenta o alegere sustenabilă dacă perioada de viaţă a structurii
este mărită semnificativ, cu un impact scăzut asupra mediului şi cu o minimă utilizare
de materiale.
Prezenta lucrare îşi propune să identifice şi să analizeze provocările asociate
atât cu materialele tradiţionale, cât şi cu cele compozite polimerice armate cu fibre şi
aplicabilitatea acestora în cadrul unei dezvoltări sustenabile.