Sustainable Building Materials

This study presents the experimental results of concrete bricks based macroencapsulated phase change material (PCM) in different capsule designs (circular, square and rectangular cross-sections). Eight concrete bricks (including a reference brick without PCM) are fabricated, and their thermal performance is tested under hot summer conditions of Al Amarah city, Iraq. The study considered several indicators such as the interior maximum temperature reduction (MTR), decrement factor (DF) and time lag (TL) to compared among tested bricks in addition to the thermal behaviour during melting and solidification of PCM. Results indicated that all PCM based bricks are performed better than the reference brick in which the maximum interior temperature is shaved and shifted. Moreover, the best thermal performance is reported for bricks of large PCM capsules number. Amongst others, the brick-based square cross-section PCM capsules showed the best thermal contribution where the average MTR of 1.88 • C, average DF of 0.901 and average TL of 42.5 min were obtained compared with the reference brick. The study concluded that PCM capsules' heat transfer area is the main parameter that controls PCM's thermal behaviour as long as all PCM capsules have the same PCM quantity and position. Therefore, excessive encapsulation area might influence the thermal performance of concrete brick and should be specified for the efficient use of PCM storage capacity.

Five different cell concentrations of Bacillus megaterium (10 Â 10 5 to 50 Â 10 5 cfu/ml) were introduced in structural concrete to achieve the optimum concentration of bacteria. The significant increase in the strength was obtained in the case of 30 Â 10 5 cfu/ml at different ages. The strength of highest grade of bacterial concrete had improved (24%) as compared to lowest grade (12.8%) due to calcification mechanism. Microbial calcite precipitation was quantified using X-ray diffraction analysis, visualized by scanning electron microscopy and analyzed by energy dispersive spectrometer. It was found that the optimum concentration of B. megaterium had a positive effect on high strength structural concrete.

Hempcrete is a bio-aggregate based composite material used for building envelopes which typically consists of hemp shiv (hurd), lime binder and water. Hempcrete has several distinct advantages including low thermal conductivity, effective moisture buffering, and high sound absorption, while having a high carbon sequestration " index ". This work investigates the impact of mix proportions on hempcrete properties and the hygrothermal performance of two proposed hempcrete wall assemblies for Ontario, Canada. The experimental results highlight the significant influence of the binder on the density and thermal conductivity of the final material. Thermal conductivity measurements ranged from 0.074 to 0.103 W/mK. Finally, hygrothermal analysis demonstrated that when using hempcrete in the Canadian climate a rain screen wall system is more suitable than a mass wall.

Today built heritage conservation should consider constantly changing needs of users. In particular, recent problems related to the economic crisis and to environmental pollution make issues related to consumption reduction and environmental impact particularly important.
Even if historical buildings have many sustainable features in terms of embodied energy and land consumption, they don’t perfectly meet current standards and impose many restraints from a constructive and typological/functional point of view.
In recent years a new approach to preservation has been derived from the theory of “care of monuments” by Ruskin: a preventive and constant maintenance,  interpreted as less destructive and cheaper intervention and management of the continual becoming. Besides a lifecycle approach leads to reconsider management and to rethink the intervention putting in place a balance between positive and negative contributions in the long term.
The LCA mantra “from cradle to grave” is usually applied to new products taking into account all components, from the extraction/production of raw materials to the disposal of constructive elements. Since the main goal of historical buildings' conservation is to shift to infinity their dismissal time, this study aims to lay the foundations for an innovative approach for sustainability assessment of existing buildings that should consider the resources savings and doesn’t set a time limit for the building’s life.
The paper focuses on “minor” built heritage, the most exposed to abandonment and decay.

Retrofitting Solutions and Services for the enhancement of Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings (RESSEEPE) is an EU funded project which aims to bring together design and decision making tools, innovative building fabric manufacturers and a programme to demonstrate the improved building performance achievable through the retrofit of existing buildings at a district level. The RESSEEPE framework is being validated by a strong demonstration programme, envisaging the renovation of 102,000 square metres of public buildings. The core idea of the project is to technologically advance, adapt, demonstrate and assess a number of innovative retrofit technologies implemented on several pilot cases with different climate conditions across Europe (Coventry-UK, Barcelona-Spain and Skellefteå-Sweden) to ensure a high potential replication of the retrofit solutions. The three demonstration sites are involved as the main promoters of a very ambitious district level renovation, demonstrating a systemic approach to technology installation and evaluation, taking into account the benefits of a set of technologies, which properly combined in terms of cost effectiveness and energy performance could achieve reductions around 50% in terms of energy consumption. Coventry University is acting as a Living Lab in order to test some advanced technologies already in the market and others developed specifically within the RESSEEPE project. Those innovative technologies implemented in the pilot case are: Vacuum Insulated Panels, PCM tubes, Ventilated façade with Photovoltaic Panels, Electrochromic windows and Aerogel Mortar. The main feature of this installation is that it acts as a testing bed for where to install different advanced technologies covering specific areas of the building, rather than refurbishing it as a whole. This paper documents the testing of prototype technologies in a pilot case in Coventry University, analysing the process of selection of the different technologies and showing all the challenges faced during installation and coordination of installation activities. The installation 1 This research was supported by the RESSEEPE project, which has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme, Project ID: 609377 The article reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. The information in this document is provided as is and no guarantee or warranty is given that the information is fit for any particular purpose. The user thereof uses the information at its sole risk and liability. 257 The International Journal ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES ISSN 2345-0282 (online) http://jssidoi.org/jesi/ 2017 Volume 4 Number 3 (March) process is shown and discussed, highlighting the difficulties, setbacks and challenges faced during the low carbon refurbishment. The key issues are related to technical and health and safety risks. Also, to financial, coordination, planning and legislation barriers etc. It will also show ways forward and solutions adopted. The study also analyses the process of monitoring the energy performance of the spaces retrofitted and the data obtained through the monitoring of the building before and after the installation of the different technologies. The idea behind the Living Lab pilot case is to monitor the performance of those installations in isolation in order to obtain results which allow us to make conclusions about the replicability of the technologies selected in other locations. Ultimately, what is discussed is the overall process followed. This discussion seeks to show the lessons learnt throughout the process and to obtain conclusions from the barriers and engagement issues faced during the installation when retrofitting a public building.