364 Int. J. Environment and Sustainable Development, Vol. 10, No.

4, 2011

A comparative analysis of building materials for

sustainable construction with emphasis on CO2
reduction

Shahriar Shams*, Kashif Mahmud and

Md. Al-Amin
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Islamic University of Technology (IUT),
Board Bazar, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh
E-mail: s-shams@iut-dhaka.edu
E-mail: rusho@iut-dhaka.edu
E-mail: alamince@iut-dhaka.edu
*Corresponding author

Abstract: Building contributes almost 40% of CO2 emissions and is a major

contributor to the green house gas (GHG) emissions. Different types of
construction materials possess a wide variation of embodied energy and emit
CO2 at different magnitudes during its life cycle. Selection of appropriate
construction materials can considerably cut down CO2 emissions and make our
buildings more sustainable and energy efficient. The study is an attempt to
address the issues of sustainable construction and how its selection of
construction materials can reduce CO2 emissions and play an important role in
reducing the impact of climate change directly or indirectly. A case study for a
typical house having 90 sq. m. of plan area was analysed to see the variation of
CO2 emission based on altering the types of construction materials to be used.
It has been observed from the case study that construction materials like
aluminium and steel should be less encouraged due to their higher CO2
emission rate as compared to glass and timber.

Keywords: building materials; climate change; embodied energy; sustainable

construction.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Shams, S., Mahmud, K.

and Al-Amin, M. (2011) ‘A comparative analysis of building materials for
sustainable construction with emphasis on CO2 reduction’, Int. J. Environment
and Sustainable Development, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp.364–374.

Biographical notes: Shahriar Shams is currently teaching as an Assistant

Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Islamic
University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur, Bangladesh. He received his PhD
from the University of Manchester (UK) in 2008 and MSc in Environmental
Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure from Royal Institute of Technology
(KTH) Sweden. He has published a number of peer reviewed international
journal and conference papers related to water and environmental issues.

Kashif Mahmud is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental

Engineering Department of Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur,
Bangladesh. He received both his MSc and BSc in Civil Engineering from
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka,
Bangladesh. His main research interests are solid waste management, landfill

Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 A comparative analysis of building materials for sustainable construction 365

leachate management and characterisation, application of biological and

chemical processes in waste water treatment, leachate recirculation modelling,
sustainable developments, etc. He has published several research papers in
international refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Md. Al-Amin is currently working as a Lecturer in the Department of Civil and

Environmental Engineering at Islamic University of Technology (IUT),
Gazipur, Bangladesh. He received his Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering
from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2008. He has
published couple of papers in international journal and conference.

1 Introduction

The concept of sustainability in building and construction has evolved over many years.
In fact, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat, 2001) acknowledges
that housing is now universally recognised as a human right and that effort to implement
this right must be strengthened and accelerated. Furthermore, the success and progress of
human society depends on physical infrastructure, and a nation’s economic strength is
reflected in its infrastructure assets (Hudson et al., 1997). With almost 60% of world
population expected to be living in urban areas by the year 2030 (Syal et al., 2006),
massive construction activity is taking place globally. Sustainable construction is a way
for the building industry to move towards achieving sustainable development, taking into
account the environmental, socio-economic and cultural issues. Specifically, it involves
issues such as design and management of buildings, materials and building performance,
energy and resource consumption – within the larger orbit of urban development and
management (Miyatake, 1996; Ding, 2008). It requires optimisation of environmental
impacts such as water use, energy flow and waste output in addition to CO2 emissions
from the building. Bangladesh is recognised worldwide as one of the countries potentially
most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming and climate change (ADB, 1994; Ali,
1996, 1999; IPCC, 2001; World Bank, 2000; Piguet, 2008; Climate Risk Index, 2010).
This is due to its unique geographic location, dominance of floodplains, low elevation
from the sea, high population density, high levels of poverty, and overwhelming
dependence on nature, its resources and services. Global warming has caused
fundamental changes to our climate. According to the IPCC (2001), a 45 cm sea-level
rise could cause a potential land loss of 10.9% and a one meter sea-level rise a loss of
20.7%. The UNDP (2007) predicts that 11% of the population will be directly threatened
by a one meter sea-level rise. The fast growing mega city like Dhaka is more exposed due
to its unplanned urbanisation, rapid population growth and massive boom in construction
sectors, improper management and planning. Therefore, the study is an attempt to address
the issues of sustainable construction and what approaches needs to be implemented for
the developing cities like Dhaka based on existing geophysical, socioeconomic and
climatic condition.
366 S. Shams et al.

2 The environmental impact of construction

Despite the benefits of construction, its activities can be a major source of environmental
damage through depletion of the natural resource base, degradation of fragile eco-zones,
chemical pollution and the use of building materials harmful to human health
(Earthwatch, 2009). The design, construction, and maintenance of buildings have a
negative impact on the environment and natural resources. Globally, buildings account
for the following impacts (Augenbroe et al., 1998):
• One-sixth (17%) of the world’s freshwater withdrawals.
• One-quarter (25%) of its wood harvest.
• Two-fifths (40%) of its material and energy flows.
• nearly one-quarter (25%) of all ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are
emitted by building air conditioners and the processes used to manufacture building
materials. A report from the Worldwatch Institute stated that building construction
accounts for 55% of non-fuel wood use, and worldwide, buildings account for 40%
of energy and materials use Roodman and Lenssen (1995). The energy consumption
in the buildings both residential and commercial is likely to increase in the next
30 years, particularly in the developing countries as shown in Figure 1. While apart
from USA the developed countries energy consumption will increase very steadily.
This steady increase in developed countries indicates how they are using energy
efficient materials and technologies in the built environment. The embodied energy
and CO2 emission of common construction materials are shown in Table 1.

Figure 1 Building energy projection by region 2003–2030 (see online version for colours)

Note: *Energy use from marketed sources.

Source: Energy Information Administration (2006)
 A comparative analysis of building materials for sustainable construction 367

Table 1 Embodied energy and CO2 emission of common construction materials

Materials Embodied energy MJ/kg CO2 emission kg/kg

Aggregate 0.1 0.16
Concrete 1.3 0.1311
Brick 2.5 0.189
Plywood 10.4 4.2
Glass 30.3 0.748
Aluminium 227 9.964
Steel 32 2.95
PVC 70 2.6904
Plastics 61 2.2
Timber 3 0.003
Lime 6 1.352
Cement 5.8 0.9638
Gravel and sand 0.5 0.0018
Ceramics 5 0.349
Source: Kilbert (2007) and Mulavdic (2005)

3 Sustainable construction

A good building practices offer an opportunity to create environmentally-sound and

resource efficient buildings by using an integrated approach to design. Sustainable
building is the process of producing a constructed facility that encompass ultimate energy
efficiency, forward-thinking resources management, and general sustainable construction
(Rajgor, 2004). It requires an integrated team; combining a wide range of different
specialists through in-depth collaboration so that the complexity of trade-offs between
architectural features, value and cost, building services and other factors can be reached
(Sorrell, 2003). The characteristics of sustainable buildings include:

• resource conservation, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water

conservation features

• consideration of environmental impacts and waste minimisation

• creation of a healthy and comfortable environment

• reduce operation and maintenance costs and use of environment friendly

construction materials

• contribute to overall quality of life.

368 S. Shams et al.

Figure 2 Location of DOHS Baridhara (see online version for colours)

Source: Goggle Map

 A comparative analysis of building materials for sustainable construction 369

4 Study area

The developing city like Dhaka is having an annual growth of 12% in construction sector
which contributes 3.7% of GDP (Mintoo, 2006) and employs 1.6 million people. Today,
real estate and construction industry is the biggest of all the locally run industries and
contributing 14.50 billion BDT (US$231 million) (BBS, 2006) annually. A survey was
conducted in DOHS Baridhara in the year 2009 to identify the number of houses being
built and to estimate amount of CO2 based on different types of materials used. DOHS
Baridhara is located on the northern part of Dhaka city which is 2 km away from the
airport (Figure 2). The area is also close to the diplomatic zone and an affluent
community lives there. The average temperature of DOHS Baridhara is 0.5°C to 1°C
higher than its surrounding area like Gulshan and Banani as observed during the survey.
The most of the heat is generated from the buildings as there are very few trees or
vegetation in the area. The justification for considering this area is that the buildings are
built very recently (last 20 years) and many are still in the construction phase. There is an
opportunity to look at the building materials that are widely used. There are 654 houses in
DOHS Baridhara with estimated population of 6,000. Of the total area, 98.2% plot areas
are already occupied by houses and rest of them are still vacant plots. Almost 36% houses
are still under construction. Average plot area is 3,600 sq. ft. and average covered area is
2,600 sq. ft.
Table 2 Estimate of the materials required for five story building

Sl. no. Name of the item Unit Quantity

1 Reinforcement kg 50,441
2 Cement bag 5,204
3 Sand 32,957
4 Brick
a Picket (for Khoa) nos 13,500
b First class nos 109,048
5 Stone cft 14,527
6 Door
Wooden sft 1,800
Plastic sft 900
7 Window
Grill sft 4,010
Aluminium sft 4,010
Tiles work sft 21,252
8 Painting (plastic) sft 72,075
9 Painting (weather coat) sft 9,165
370 S. Shams et al.

5 Results and discussions

The analysis of building materials were based on the quantity used assuming the house is
a five story building. It is estimated for an average of 2,600 sq. ft. floor area, a five story
building would produce approximately 5,128,640 MJ embodied energy and 412,254 kg
CO2. This has been calculated based on the quantity of materials required for construction
as shown in Table 2. The estimated materials are converted into weight and then using
the embodied energy and CO2 emission for specific materials as given in Table 1, the
total amount of embodied energy and CO2 for the five story building is calculated
(Table 3).
Table 3 Embodied energy and embodied CO2 for a five story building using typical
combination of construction materials in the study area

Item Description Embodied energy MJ Embodied CO2 kg

1 Backfill (using general sand) 87,653 4,383
2 Flat soaling (using common bricks) 117,695 8,631
3 Cement concrete work using general cement 91,683 11,431
4 Brick works using common bricks 914,349 67,052
5 Tiles work using ceramic tiles 272,184 17,843
6 Plastering work (mortar using general cement) 227,296 33,249
7 Painting (double coat) 168,214 8,741
8 Door (wooden + PVC) 1,124,227 39,181
9 Window (aluminium framed) 875,200 44,640
10 Reinforced concrete (using general cement) 1,250,138 177,103
Total 5,128,640 412,254

Table 4 Embodied energy and embodied CO2 for a five storied building using alternative
combination of construction materials in the study area

Item Description Embodied energy MJ Embodied CO2 kg

1 Backfill using general sand 87,653 4,383
2 Flat soaling using common bricks 27,854 3,139
3 Cement concrete using cement with 50% fly ash 66,679 6,906
4 Brick works using common bricks 914,349 67,052
5 Tiles work using marble tiles 117,623 6,665
6 Plastering work (mortar using cement with 113,648 16,292
50% fly ash)
7 Painting (single coat) 84,932 4,370
8 Door (laminated veneer lumber) 173,577 9,318
9 Window (timber framed) 57,600 2,960
10 Reinforced concrete (using cement 50% fly ash) 833,426 106,493
Total 2,477,339 227,579
 A comparative analysis of building materials for sustainable construction 371

Figure 3 Variation of embodied energy and embodied CO2 of construction materials made from
cement with cementitious (fly ash and balst furnace slag) (see online version
for colours)

The materials for construction have a significant impact on the embodied energy and
embodied CO2 of a building. Another calculation has been made for the same five storied
building using alternative combination of building materials (Table 4). In this calculation
372 S. Shams et al.

the materials are selected on the basis of their embodied energy, embodied CO2 and
availability. The analysis revealed that we can reduce approximately 52% of total
embodied energy and 45% of total embodied CO2 of a building only by using building
materials with low embodied energy and low embodied CO2. The principal materials for
construction (cement concrete, mortar for plastering, reinforced concrete) in the study
area are made from general cement (Type I cement as per Bangladesh Standard BDS EN
197-1:2003). The study shows that there is a significant reduction in embodied energy
and embodied CO2 if the general cement is replaced with other cementitious materials
like fly ash or blast furnace slag (Figure 3). These types of cement (Type-II and Type-III
as per Bangladesh standard BDS EN 197-1:2003) are available in Bangladesh with
similar physical and mechanical properties as type-I cement. By replacing type-I cement
with type-II or type-III cement the embodied energy and embodied CO2 can be reduced
to 23% to 35% and 22% to 45% respectively. Therefore, selection of materials can
significantly reduce embodied energy and CO2 which play an important role in reducing
the impact of climate change resulting from emission.
The sustainable buildings should emphasis on use of recycled materials like bricks
and concrete, natural ventilation using mixed mode design. Mixed mode design is a
concept where mechanical and natural ventilations are provided for optimum comfort
condition, which is 26 degree Celsius. The dwellers are encouraged to use water saving
technologies through aerated and self-closing faucets. Currently it is not clear whether
energy-efficient products and services can be competitive with existing, less-efficient
versions, because of reluctance among potential buyers to pay an adequate price. This
reluctance is based on the value proposition not having been fully developed and
communicated. The study identified that there is a lack of information among the
residents of the study area regarding energy use and the concept of sustainable buildings.
There is also a lack of leadership from the real estate developers, professionals or
politicians to promote sustainable construction approaches in the country. Also very few
professionals have know how or hand in experience in constructing sustainable buildings.
In DOHS Baridhara, most of the buildings are built very recently with expensive fittings
and building materials like using glass, aluminium and marbles, aluminium, wide glasses,
etc. which produce more embodied energy in their life cycles. The owners as well as real
estate developers have given priorities more on atheistic value and used widespread
building materials imported from abroad instead of using local materials. Therefore, the
main challenges are stimulating an appropriate design approach, reconciling this with the
concept of sustainable buildings to overcome behavioural barriers.

6 Conclusions

Selection of appropriate construction materials can considerably cut down CO2 emissions
and make our buildings more sustainable and energy efficient. The analysis of a
five-story building having an area of 90 sq. m. demonstrates that we can reduce
approximately 52% of total embodied energy and 45% of total embodied CO2 by altering
the building materials with low embodied energy and low embodied CO2. It has been
observed from the case study that construction materials like aluminium and steel should
be less encouraged due to their higher CO2 emission rate as compared to glass and
timber. The case study shows that use of bricks rather than using ceramics can cut down
CO2 emission by one third. This seems quite promising; hence, many refurbishment
 A comparative analysis of building materials for sustainable construction 373

works for high-rise building could be adapted to the cities where there is a demand for
high-rise buildings with emphasis on materials which emits less CO2 in its life cycle. A
good building should incorporate as many sustainable, local materials as possible into its
construction – to support local economies, to avoid the high energy and financial costs of
long-distance transportation, and to fit in with local aesthetics. The fast growing cities
like Dhaka need immediate attention so that buildings are designed for maximum
efficiency with optimum use of resources and lesser impact on environment. It is also
recommended that the real estate developers working with construction industries needs
to be assessed and ranked annually based on the concept of sustainable buildings. It is
recommended that sustainable construction processes should promote the increased use
of energy-efficient designs and technologies and sustainable utilisation of natural
resources. It should provide financial incentives to promote recycling of energy-intensive
materials in the construction industry. The use of construction materials and products that
create pollution during their life cycle should be discouraged by imposing pollution tax.

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