Do embodied energies deserve greater attention now that buildings are becoming “greener”?

We all know the importance of fire safety in the workplace and in our homes. Utilizing fire-retardant materials is an effective method for containing and controlling potential fires.

Falls Church, VA – Workers may be exposed to a group of synthetic chemicals used in building materials without realizing it, according to a new white paper from the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

JUAMI, the joint undertaking for an African materials institute, is a project to build collaborations and materials research capabilities between PhD researchers in Africa, the United States, and the world. Focusing on research-active universities in the East African countries of Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, the effort has run a series of schools focused on materials for sustainable energy and materials for sustainable development. These bring together early-career researchers from Africa, the US, and beyond, for two weeks in a close-knit environment. The program includes lectures on cutting-edge research from internationally renowned speakers, highly interactive tutorial lectures on the science behind the research, also from internationally known researchers, and hands-on practicals and team-building exercises that culminate in group proposals from self-formed student teams. The schools have benefited more than 300 early-career students and led to proposals that have received funding and have led to research collaborations and educational non-profits. JUAMI continues and has an ongoing community of alumni who share resources and expertise, and is open to like-minded people who want to join and develop contacts and collaborations internationally.

Oxford : BAR Publishing, 2024.

A recent study has compared the environmental impact of a range of building materials. Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and water demand can all be reduced by switching to renewable sources of energy, improving technologies and promoting eco-friendly alternative materials.

European buildings built in the 1950s, 60s and 70s may contribute towards levels of toxins in the body, a new study suggests. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found at elevated levels in children that lived in houses and studied in schools built during this period, before PCBs were more thoroughly regulated in the construction industry. Although food is generally a more concentrated source of these toxins, the authors say exposure through these environments should be minimised wherever possible.

As the construction industry struggles to deal with its impact on the climate, a new crop of people with big ideas are looking for alternative materials to build with. Phil Ayres, an architect and associate professor of architecture in Copenhagen, says the future of building materials isn't high tech polymers or special light metals but mushrooms.  

(United States Federal Circuit) - In a complaint alleging design-patent infringement under federal law as well as trade-dress infringement and unfair competition under federal and state law, the district court's denial of defendant's motion to stay the action pending arbitration based on the parties' agreement's arbitration provision, is affirmed where defendant's assertion that the arbitration provision covers the claims stated in the complaint is 'wholly groundless,' a standard that defendant accepts as applicable in this case.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that CalPortland Company (CPC), a major producer of Portland cement and building materials in the United States, has agreed to pay a $1.425 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its cement plant in Mojave, Calif.

We have been saying for years that building materials should be healthy and high fiber like the food we eat, and now Perdue delivers.

Building and living in a tiny house can be a big step toward living more sustainably, but using repurposed salvaged building materials to build one might be the Holy Grail of green living.

Imports - Selected Building Materials (Census Basis) in the United States increased to 2832.70 USD Million in March from 2828.99 USD Million in February of 2020. Imports - Selected Building Materials (Census Basi in the United States averaged 1845.03 USD Million from 1989 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 3383.03 USD Million in June of 2018 and a record low of 493.45 USD Million in March of 1991. This page includes a chart with historical data for the United States Imports of Selected Building Materials.

Sustainable Building Materials

Barker Library - TA441.B56 2013