TY  - EJOU
AU  - Lawrence, Mike 

TI  - Reducing the Environmental Impact of Construction by  Using Renewable Materials
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2015
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - The relative importance of embodied energy and operational energy on the environmental impact of 
construction are examined in this article. It highlights the fact that the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol are 
primarily being met by the reduction of in-use energy, and that the implications of that are that the energy 
embodied in buildings will increase in signifi cance from its current 17% level to 50% by 2050. The article 
describes how the use of bio-based renewable materials can make a signifi cant contribution to reducing not 
only the embodied energy of buildings by using the sequestration of CO2
 through photosynthesis, but also 
in-use energy demand through passive environmental control. Case studies are presented showing ways in 
which this has been achieved.
KW  - Bio-based materials
KW  -  vapour-active materials
KW  -  embodied energy
KW  -  transient thermal performance
KW  -  hemp-lime
KW  -   straw bale
KW  -  carbon sequestration
KW  -  life-cycle assessment
KW  -  environmental impact

DO  - 10.7569/JRM.2015.634105