Biodegradable materials: A research and design handbook; enhancing the use of biodegradable materials on building's envelopes in the Netherlands.

Biodegradable materials: A research and design handbook; enhancing the use of biodegradable materials on building's envelopes in the Netherlands.

Ganotopoulou, E.

Klein, T. (mentor)
Veer, F. (mentor)

Architecture and The Built Environment

Building Technology

Sustainable Design graduation studio, Facade design

2014-07-04

This master thesis dealt with 12 biodegradable materials that were researched extensively under various parameters, aiming to a better understanding of those materials and their potentials as future building materials in the Netherlands. The main research question of “which products and systems will enhance the use of biodegradable materials on the building envelopes in the Netherlands? And How can we enhance their use as façade components?” was answered via multiple research steps and the final design topic contributes to this direction by presenting the possibilities of such materials. The relevance between the master thesis topic and the building technology master track -and more specifically with façade design- relies on the focus of this thesis on the performance characteristics of those materials and on the products levels of the 12 biodegradable materials that were researched. More specifically, the 12 materials were researched on their properties (thermal,acoustical, mechanical, etc), on their performance (thermal resistance, fire resistance, durability, lifespan) as well as on the related production processes and resulting products types available already in the building industry focusing on a buildings envelope level. Moreover, assuming that biodegradable materials may present great potentials to decrease significantly the construction waste that accumulates in landfills, and contribute to a lower environmental impact via buildings constructions, these 12 materials were researched in terms of embodied energy content, their CO2 footprint as well as they were compared with a contemporary façade study case via three redesign proposals to “test” such terms by numerical figures and facts.

material properties
biodegradable materials
natural materials
building materials
adobes
compressed earth blocks
sheep-wool
rammed-earth
straw
cellulose flocks
cork
flax
hemp
hempcrete
papercrete
facade design

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:876f4ec3-8410-4c1b-91b8-e28bdf34d443

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2014 Ganotopoulou, E.