2019

BUILDING FROM WASTE

SHAMNAS P M
5 TH SEMESTER
DIPLOMA IN ARCHITECTURE
 INTRODUCTION
Our economic system is based on the principle of the exhaustion of natural resources for the
purpose of production, entailing the fabrication of waste. We are towards urbanization and
we know by far the majority of non-organic waste should be included in a metabolic cycle
and flow model of goods and resources, waste is considered within a dead-end scenario of a
linear process; to be literally buried from- out of sight, out of mind – as a formless
substance that has no value and is therefore covered by thick layers of earth or burned to
ashes.

Looking by contrast, at the waste products reveals a completely different story. It is the
story of a resource that is being wasted. 1.3 billion tons of municipal wastes are
generated every year by cities worldwide. This amount is expected to grow to 2.2 million
tons by 2025, i.e. within the next ten years.

Why can’t we think ‘Waste and its meticulous handling are valued as gifts, offered by
society to itself’. Where we turn the parable’s missed opportunity to our advantage, a
modified economy would be set into motion. Perhaps then we would come full circle in
being sustained by the constant transformation of matter and energy at hand, without
beginning and without end.

An economic principle; waste production is an investment that needs to be returned. So far,

this investment is deadlocked and we seem to have lost the key to how to open its potential
and benefit from it as a life-long revenue. Once the waste is produced – i.e. when a natural
resource is transformed into a product with a limited lifespan-society should be able to
make a limited lifespan – society should be able to make a profile of its constant
reformulation.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Food Organic
Human
Energy habitats Emissions

Goods INPUT OUTPUT Inorganic

Linear metabolism – cities consume and pollute at a high rate

Linear metabolism inputs equal outputs. The dominant economic model for our
current waste management has been phrased as ‘Take, Make, Waste’. In this principle, as it
permits that

the resource “taken” would become the outcome of “wasting”. But this is not the case. In
fact, we follow a linear process where the outcome of our consumption is not valued as a
resource, but seen as a product excluded from the cycle of our economic system – neither
belonging to the natural resources nor to the desired products.

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 Recycled Organic waste

Human Reduced pollution

Renewable input input output
habitats and waste

Recycled Inorganic waste

Circular metabolism – minimized inputs and outputs due to the concept of a circular economy.

What we describe today as a circular or metabolic economy has rooted for decades in the
thinking of economists and surprisingly enough also architects. Landscape architect John T.
Lyle developed a theoretical concept in the late 1970’s in which communities are envisioned
that base their daily activities on living within the limits of available renewable resources
and without causing environmental degradation. Stahel co- founder of the Product Life
institute in Geneva (and Graduate of the department of Architecture at the Federal institute
of Technology (ETH)in Zurich in 1971) had become a pioneer in the field of sustainable
thinking by promoting the “service life extension of goods” and one of the first to introduce
the three R’s to the product life cycles; Reuse, Repair and Remanufacture. In his 1982paper
‘The Product Life Factor’ he advocated the development, and application in the industry, of
new sustainable strategies and policies in economic terms. His ideas were an important
contribution to a model that we call today as circular economy. Industries around the world
adopted the concept of reuse and service life extension of products as a strategy for waste
prevention in order to decouple our prosperity from the exploitation of natural resources.

It is also Walter R. Stahel who is credited to have first coined the term ‘cradle to cradle’, an
expression later turned into a well-known principle by the architect and former student of
John T. Lyle, William McDonough. Together with the German chemist Michael Braungart,
the Cradle to Cradle framework was developed to introduce the idea that all materials used
in the industrial and commercial production processes should be acknowledged as
constituents of a continual circular growing process. Imitating natural metabolic life cycle,

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the authors developed a model of a technical metabolism of the flow of industrially
produced materials. The key idea is very obvious; products should be designed in such a
way that they can become a part of a continuous recovery and reutilization process. They
act as nutrients in a global metabolism, without ever being discarded as useless substances
that are of no value. Following McDonough’s and Braungart’s arguments, systems need to
be installed that constantly recover the economic actions. Bio mimicry means that we do not
ask what we can extract from our natural surrounding but instead seek to find out how we
can learn from nature to turn the abundance of renewable energy into a circular metabolism
of growth and economic surplus- without wasting or polluting a single element inside this
system.

Roland Clift, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Technology in the Centre for

Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey , and Julian Allwood ,senior lecturer in
engineering at the university of Cambridge, claim that so far all attempts at improving the
energy efficiency of industrialized processes focus on an appropriate parameter; instead of
energy input, what should be targeted and reduced are the materials circulating in the
industrial realm. They pleaded the case for a system change to create closed-loop processes
with waste serving as the main input resource. Thus the formerly unwanted and undesired
substance becomes the key element for an industrial ecology .at the same time ,a process of
natural capital restoration would be initiated that evolves towards the desired decoupling of
the creation of material wealth and the exploitation of natural resources.

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 NEWSPAPERWOOD

Figure 1a.Newspaperwood planks Figure 1b.Newspaperwood used in Figure 1c.Newspaperwood table

interior of a car

NewspaperWood is a new material invented by Mieke Meijer, developed together with and
licensed to the Dutch design label Vij5.

The underlying idea is simple. Every day, piles of newspapers are discarded and recycled
into new paper. Mieke Meijer devised a solution to use this surplus of paper into a renewed
material: NewspaperWood.

NewspaperWood shows a reversing of a traditional production process; not from wood to

paper, but the other way around. When a NewspaperWood log is cut, the layers of paper
appear like lines of a wood grain or the rings of a tree and therefore resemble the aesthetic
of real wood. The material can be cut, milled and sanded and generally treated like any
other type of wood.

NewspaperWood does not aim to be a large scale alternative to wood, nor to use all paper
waste into a new material. The main theme in the project is ‘upcycling’ with which the
manufacturers show how a surplus of material can be changed into something more
valuable, just by using it in another context.

As a basic material, a local source has been used intentionally to create a local binding of
the end-material with its resources. It also limits the transport-cycle to a minimum.
Misprints and a surplus of day-old printed newspaper that has not been distributed create
enough material supply to create the new material.

To actually upcycle newspapers into our new wood-like material, we (temporarily) take the
newspapers out of the already existing and efficient cycle of paper-recycling. We think it
would be ideal to be able to bring our own waste material back into the circle again.
Therefore we use a glue to construct the material which is free of solvents and plasticizers
which would make it more difficult to recycle. With this it is not only the possible to put

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our own sawing and sandpapering waste back into the circle, but also to bring the
NewspaperWood products to the scrap yard for recycling.

All NewspaperWood development, production and application will be done by Vij5. There
is no availability to purchase the material for third parties to work with, only to construct a
project in direct cooperation with Vij5 and Mieke Meijer.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

SENSORIAL
GLOSSINESS MATTE
TRANSULENCE 0%
STRUCTURE OPEN
TEXTURE MEDIUM
HARDNESS HARD
TEMPERATURE MEDIUM
ACOUSTICS MODERATE
ODOUR MODERATE
TECHNICAL
FIRE RESISTANCE UNKNOWN
UV RESISTANCE MODERATE
WEATHER RESISTANCE POOR

SCRATCH RESISTANCE MODERATE

WEIGHT MEDIUM
CHEMICAL
POOR
RESISTANCE
RENEWABLE YES

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 NAPPY ROOFING

Figure 2a.Roofing tile made of Figure 2b.Cellullose fibres Figure 2c.Plastic pellets
recycled napkin

Leading developer of recycling technologies for nappies and personal care products
Knowaste had launch the new sustainable roofing solutions venture. The new company,
SmallPlanet Building Products, will manufacture global roofing solutions made from
recycled plastic. Initially, this recycled plastic will come from a variety of sources but the
ultimate aim is to use the plastic recyclates produced at the UK's first Knowaste nappy
recycling plant This plant will process and sanitise nappies and adult incontinence products,
resulting in two outputs: plastic and cellulose organic residue for green energy. The plastic
will be recreated into a variety of products, including plastic cladding, decking and roof
tiles.

SmallPlanet will market and distribute roofing products to building contractors, roofing
supply companies, homebuilders and architects and DIY, hardware and gardening stores.
Long-term plans will be for SmallPlanet to represent other manufacturers of recycled
building materials such as decking and siding, thereby extending the product range.

SmallPlanet roofing materials will be manufactured by Mailbox Mouldings in Stalybridge,

Cheshire. The environmentally friendly production process utilises recycled materials that
are both pliable and durable to produce the roof tiles that will be available in a standard
black colour or with an additional natural stone granulate in Forest Green, Granite Grey,
Traditional Red and Broadleaf Brown.

The tiles are UV resistant, colourfast and non-corrosive and their ultra-light weight nature
allows for easy installation. The design also makes the materials easy to ply, saw and cut
and provide good thermal insulation and sound absorption. The tiles are suitable for a wide
range of buildings and purposes including non-traditional and traditional housing, pre-
fabricated and industrial buildings, over-roofing of asbestos, felt or industrial sheeting,
conversion of flat to pitched roofs, sheds, conservatories, garages and stables. The modern
disposable nappy consists of three components: mixed plastic, wood pulp and super
absorbent gel polymers. Mixed plastic makes up the nappy's inner and outer layers. Wood

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pulp cushions and wicks moisture away from the skin and towards the nappies innercore.
Super absorbent polymers (gel-like capsules) are located in the inner core and absorb
moisture. All these individual components of a disposable nappy can be recycled using
Knowaste technology. The plastic recovered from the nappies and pads will initially be sent
to partner company, Belgium based NRC, which produces plastic roof tiles. Other markets,
such as the manufacturing of cycling helmets, shoe insoles and cladding provide other
possibilities .The longer cellulose fibres can be separated for making products such as
biodegradable plant pots, certain paper grades, card, and filters. The rest will be used to
improve sewage processing though, at a later stage, Knowaste claim the superabsorbent
polymers could be separated and re-used. Anything else left over goes to an "energy island"
within the plant. The energy island is a thermal transformation unit that will accept the
cellulose fibre output and turn it into green energy. In a second phase, methane will be
extracted from the used nappies and sold to the national gas grid. Water is internally treated
and clarified and reused in the process.

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 RECY-BLOCKS

Figure 3a.wall made up of recy blocks Figure 3b.Recy blocks of different Figure 3c.A seating made up of recy
colour block

Recy-block is designed by Gert de Mulder. Plastic wrapping material which has been
pressed under heath into a pillow shaped rectangle element. An interesting block made of all
sorts of plastic waste material, coloured plastic sheets and with an additions of a special
object made from plastic (e.g. flowers). Usage for in- and outside applications such as a
recy-block wall, sitting elements or just as a remarkable decoration element by itself
MATERIAL PROPERTIES

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

SENSORIAL
GLOSSINESS SATIN
TRANSULENCE 0%
STRUCTURE OPEN
TEXTURE MEDIUM
HARDNESS HARD
TEMPERATURE MEDIUM
ACOUSTICS MODERATE
ODOUR NONE
TECHNICAL
FIRE RESISTANCE UNKNOWN
UV RESISTANCE MODERATE
WEATHER RESISTANCE GOOD

SCRATCH RESISTANCE MODERATE

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WEIGHT MEDIUM
CHEMICAL
GOOD
RESISTANCE
RENEWABLE YES

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 BLOOD BRICK

Figure 4a.Blood bricks Figure 4b.Interior of proposed building

A recent graduate from the University of Westminster in

London, architect Jack Munro has developed a process that
uses cattle blood as a binding ingredient in making bricks for
use in building construction.

A single cow produces up to eight gallons of blood at slaughter

(which is typically thrown away), and blood naturally
Figure 4C.Birds eye view of coagulates. Given these facts, Munro,while still a student,
proposed building conceived the idea of using this blood to facilitate the
formation and solidification of bricks. He began testing various mixtures, and eventually
landed on the current formula—blood, an antibacterial agent, an anticoagulant, sand, and
water. The result is a crimson brick that is strong enough to be used as a building material.
Its waterproof, too, which means it could be used in resource-scarce places such as parts of
the Middle East that currently rely on mud bricks for constructing homes and other
buildings.

A single cow produces up to eight gallons of blood at slaughter

(which is typically thrown away), and blood naturally coagulates. Given these facts, Munro,
while still a student, conceived the idea of using this blood to facilitate the formation and
solidification of bricks. He began testing various mixtures, and eventually landed on the
current formula—blood, an antibacterial agent, an anticoagulant, sand, and water. The result
is a crimson brick that is strong enough to be used as a building material. Its waterproof,
too, which means it could be used in resource-scarce places such as parts of the Middle East
that currently rely on mud bricks for constructing homes and other buildings.

For his thesis, Munro described how a brick-making operation might work in the
community of Siwa, Egypt. He selected that community because it is typical of those that
have been adversely impacted by changes in the Saharan desert—where the arid desert

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conditions are encroaching on previously arable lands. His idea entails creating a
manufacturing building by laying a blood-glue mixture over a sand dune. The dune is then
allowed to blow away, leaving a hollow shelter behind. In that shelter, the bricks would be
made by mixing the anticoagulant EDTA with a quantity of blood to slow thickening. That
would be followed by a dose of sodium azide to stop fungal and bacterial growth, and then
the addition of sand and water. The final mixture is stirred and then poured into a form, and
baked at 70° C for an hour. The result is a brick suitable for use in erecting simple buildings.

Munro concedes that the bricks are not nearly as strong as traditional bricks made using
clay, but suggests they are at least as strong as the mud bricks currently in use. The
advantage that bricks made from cattle blood have over mud-based bricks is they require far
less water—a definite plus in water-deprived parts of the world.

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 WOBO BRICKS

Figure 5a.Shed made by WOBO bricks Figure 5b.Wall made of WOBO at Heinkens entertainment

Figure 5d.Interlocking of WOBO bricks

Figure 5c.WOBO of 300ml and 500 ml

While on a world tour of Heineken factories in 1960, Alfred Heineken had an epiphany on
the Caribbean island of Curaçao, where he saw many bottles littering the beach because the
island had no economic means of returning the bottles to the bottling plants from which
they had come. He was also concerned with the lack of affordable building materials and
the inadequate living conditions plaguing Curaçao's lower-class. Envisioning a solution for
these problems, he asked Dutch architect N. John Habraken to design what he called "a
brick that holds beer." A similar project was the Block-o-beer-bottle developed in 1959 by
the East German Radeberger Brewery.

Over the next three years, the Heineken WOBO went through a design process. Some of the
early designs were of interlocking and self-aligning bottles. The idea derived from a belief
that the need for mortar would add complexity and expense to the bottle wall's intended
simplicity and affordability. Some designs proved to be effective building materials, but too
heavy and slow-forming to be economically produced. Other designs were rejected by
Heineken based on aesthetic preferences. In the end, the bottle that was selected was a
compromise between the previous designs.

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The bottle was designed to be interlocking, laid horizontally and bonded with cement
mortar with a silicon additive. The necks were short and fitted into a large recess in the
base, the bottles were square section with dimpled sides to ket to the mortar. A 10 ft. (3.0 m)
x 10 ft. (3.0 m) shack would take approximately 1,000 bottles to build. In 1963, 100,000
WOBOs were produced in two sizes, 350 and 500 mm. This size difference was necessary
in order to bond the bottles when building a wall, in the same way as a half brick is
necessary when building with bricks. Unfortunately, most of them are destroyed and no
bottles are left. They are very rare and became a collector's item.

Only two WOBO structures exist[3] and they are both on the Heineken estate in Noordwijk,
near Amsterdam. The first was a small shed which had a corrugated iron roof and timber
supports where the builder could not work out how to resolve the junction between necks
and bases running in the same direction. Later, a timber double garage was renovated with
WOBO siding. Alfred Heineken did not develop the WOBO concept further and the idea
never got a chance to materialize. Rinus van den Berg, a Dutch industrial & architectural
designer, designed several buildings while working with John Habraken in the 1970s. One
design was published in Domus, 1976. A third WOBO structure was made by Dutch
architect Gerard Baar in the late 1980s. He used a small batch of WOBO's for the side walls
of his garden shed.

A typical mortar mix is 3:1 mason sand to a pozzalan (fly ash) cement mix. Other mixtures
could be made from mortar and clay, adobe, cob, sand or cement. Bottle walls are extremely
versatile and could be bonded with pretty much anything that can endure its given climate.

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 SMOG INSULATOR

Figure 6a.euclidean geometry used in Figure 6b.aluminium mesh with dust Figure 6c.Form induced by the dust
the proposed building particles due to electrostatic force particles over the mesh

In 2002 the architecture firm R&Sie designed Dusty Relief, an electrostatic building in
Bangkok that would collect the dirt around it, rather than try to shuffle it somewhere else.
Eventually, the building would be coated with a gigantic fur coat of dirt\

Exacerbating the skyzo climate between interior (white cube and labyrinth in an Euclidian
geometry) and exterior (dust relief on topologic geometry), and using this sun protection
monolith interface for in/outdoor exhibition.

The Dusty Relief project indicates air-pollution issue by offsetting a dynamic-shaped skin
on top of buildings, the skin is basically a complex skeleton with substances that could
attract dust within air-flows

I would take the Dusty Relief project as a ‘FORM’ type of building, although it gives both
‘function’ and ‘type’ – ‘function’ of capturing dust and ‘type’ which the device is actually a
prototype for a monumental also environmental friendly type of buildings. The actual body
of the building is a combination of scales of rectangular blocks, but the appearance of the
building form is an irregular-shaped skin related to the opening of the rectangular space

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 MUSHROOM BRICKS

Figure 7a.Furniture designed Figure 7b.Mushroom brick made wall Figure 7c.Hi-fi tower
from mushroom

In the frame of research on sustainable insulation people began to explore natural solutions
that could replace conventional materials while being equally efficient, more ecologically
responsible and cost competitive. The insulation properties of fungal mycelium and d
different kinds of prototypes have been tested and compared recently.

The major role of fungi in nature is to act as a decomposer. They grow on dead organic
matter, disassembling and recycling it back to the environment. In fact, mushrooms are only
the flower of the bigger organism that is basically formed by mycelium. Mycelium is the
vegetative tissue of the fungus, the medium through which it absorbs nutrients. It can be
found in abundance on the planet as it easily colonises soil and many other substrates,
practically acting like a glue that binds together different natural particles.

In the world of construction and object making, it seems that mycelium technology has a lot
to offer. It mainly consists of a process where an organic substrate is inoculated and
gradually digested by the mycelium, forming a solid mass. Later in this process, the
biological activity of the mycelium is terminated and the final material is produced. There
have already been a few people and companies exploring the vast properties of mycelium in
building construction, insulation, art and product design, resulting in more than promising
solutions.

The advantages of using fungal mycelium lie in the fact that it is 100% biodegradable as
well as in its exceptional material properties. More specifically, the mycelium tissue can
trap more heat than fiberglass insulation, it is fireproof, nontoxic, partly mold and water
resistant and stronger pound for pound than concrete. Moreover when dried, it can become
very light, depending on the used substrate and its density. The rapid growing, tight
mycelium tissue can expand under a wide range of environmental conditions and therefore
allows a fast, easy, low-cost and energy material production. Another characteristic is that,
when placing two alive, individual mycelium bricks together, the mycelium will rapidly
spread amongst them and become the bonding material.On the other hand, one of the most

15
important disadvantages of mycelium-based objects is that their water resistance decreases
overtime and thus they become vulnerable to mold and humidity. Artist Philip Ross,
cofounder of MycoWorks, mentions that the mycelium bricks survived the east coast winter
with no coating and without touching the ground for several years, swelling and shrinking
depending on the weather but still functional when dried out. However, when in contact
with the ground a mycelium panel may start to decompose in about a period of six weeks.
On the contrary, if maintained in favorable and stable conditions it can have a lifespan of
approximately 20 years. What can serve as a general statement, is that mycelium behaves
like untreated softwood, meaning that it will stay strong whilst inside but start decaying
when overly exposed to changing weather conditions. Other than that, despite mycelium
being stronger than concrete relative to its weight, its compressive strength of around 30 psi
is far from comparable to the 4000 psi of concrete.

The combination of different substrate and mycelium types obviously relates to the
properties that the final material will develop and to the environmental conditions needed
for it to reach its full potential. For example, Sebastian Cox and Ninela Ivanova used the
mycelium of horse hoof fungus (fomes fomentarius), a mushroom that grows on tree trunks
and therefore they chose to use woodchip waste (coppiced hazel and goat willow) as a
substrate material for their furniture making. As a result they produced strong, lightweight
and fully compostable furniture forms. Other types of strains that can be used as mentioned
by Phil Ross are namely: Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma tsugae, Ganoderma oregonense,
Trametes versicolor and Piptoporus betulinus. However there is one very common strain
used mainly for its fast growth rates: the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus).

When it comes to insulation, there are several factors that can affect the performance of a
mycelium-based material. These — as mentioned before — are mainly the choice and
combination of substrate and fungal strain. Generally, the final material will incorporate the
properties of both actors. Some strains are more or less suitable because of the density and
quality of the mycelium tissue they create. In the same way, each substrate has different
mechanical properties, thermal and water insulation qualities. What is needed for an
insulation material — as opposed to the compact formulation needed for a structural brick
— is low density and porosity. Having a light-weight material is also important. Apart from
the thermal properties of mycelium, the advantage of using mycelium-based products for
insulation is that they do not have to be exposed to the outside environment which is the
number one factor that would accelerate degradation. On the other hand, the biggest
challenge is how to protect them from humidity and mold without destroying their
compostability.

The principal limitation in using existing natural treatments like oil or waxes for insulation
is that they do not consist a permanent solution, meaning that they need to be reapplied after
a certain period of time. This would require for the panels to be easily detached from the
structure, in case they should be re-treated, repaired or replaced. It is important to take into
account this constructional challenge given the humid climate conditions of Porto and the
fact that the mycelium technology is still in an experimental stage.

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 PLASPHALT

Figure 8a. Waste plastic Figure 8b. Asphalt Figure 8c. A road constructed with
plasphalt and asphalt

The concept is simple – just as glass can be used to replace aggregate, plastic can be used to
replace the bituminous binder in asphalt. Using plastic as a binder has four major benefits –
it can be stronger than traditional binder, the plastic can be mixed quality, it is a direct use of
plastic waste, and the plastic effectively permanently embedded in the road; making it
virtually impossible for the plastic to deteriorate and get into water runoff.

Unlike the much hyped Solar Roadways which was a promising concept that failed to
effectively take off, plastic roadways have working proofs of concept. MacRebur Plastic
Roads Company is a start-up based out of Scotland that has been making plasticized asphalt
since 2016 and has been installing it around parts of the UK and Australia. The plasticized
binder is made from a proprietary blend of plastics that are derived directly from plastic
waste products. According to the company’s founder, the innovative binder is stronger than
traditional bitumen and less expensive. The use of plastic within a designed mix was
inspired partially by a more rudimentary method used in India; where plastic waste was
melted directly into potholes to form a plug – much like an amalgam filling.

In the United States, TxDOT has constructed a test road made with a plasticized material in
2016. Instead of using plastic in the pavement directly, plastic was used to create dowel pins
that were drilled into the roadway surface and the subgrade and used to reduce lateral
motion from soil shifting. Since the plastics are non-biodegradable and generally inert with
respect to chemical reactions in soil, they are expected to last an extremely long time, and
have already been proven to be effective in reducing shifting within paved sections built on
clay soil.

. A Government order in November 2015 has made it mandatory for all road developers in
the country to use waste plastic, along with bituminous mixes, for road construction. This is
to help overcome the growing problem of plastic waste disposal in India. The technology
for this was developed by the ‘Plastic Man’ of India, Prof Rajagopalan Vasudevan,
Professor of Chemistry at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai.

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Plastic has slowly became an integral part of all human requirements. Plastic carry bags,
packaging material, bottles, cups, and various other items have slowly replaced everything
made of other material due to the advantages of plastic. Plastic is durable, easy to produce,
lightweight, unbreakable, odourless, and chemical resistant. The entire process is very
simple. The plastic waste material is first shredded to a particular size using a shredding
machine. The aggregate mix is heated at 165°c and transferred to the mixing chamber, and
the bitumen is heated to 160°c to result in good binding. It is important to monitor the
temperature during heating.

The shredded plastic waste is then added to the aggregate. It gets coated uniformly over the
aggregate within 30 to 60 seconds, giving an oily look. The plastic waste coated aggregate
is mixed with hot bitumen and the resulting mix is used for road construction. The road
laying temperature is between 110°c to 120°c. The roller used has a capacity of 8 tons.

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 WINE CORK FLOORING

Figure 9a. Types of cork flooring

Figure 9b. Used wine corks Figure 9c. Wine cork flooring around
staircase

Cork flooring is made by removing the bark of the Cork Oak (Quercus Suber) without
harming the tree (if harvested correctly); as such, it is a renewable and sustainable resource.
It is naturally anti-microbial and has excellent insulation properties, ensuring minimal heat
loss and comfortable warm walking surface. Cork is resilient and 'springs back' preventing
imprints due to heavy traffic and furniture, it also provides excellent noise insulation. While
cork itself is low in volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, it is important to check
the finish applied. Cork is not suitable for bathrooms, as it absorbs moisture Raw Materials

Both Natural Cork floor products use a cork sheet made from a combination of recycled
cork waste and urethane binder. The floating floor plank also includes a layer of High
Density Fiberboard (HDF) cut into a tongue-and-groove pattern. The mixture of the main
constituents of each floor product is listed in the table below

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 CONSTITUENT PARQUET FLOOR MASS FLOATING FLOOR MASS
FRACTION FRACTION

RECYCLED CORK WASTE 93% 58%

BINDER 7% 3%
HIGH DENSITY FIBRE BOARD - 39%

Since the cork constituent is a waste product, the environmental burdens from virgin
production of the cork are not included. The energy used to grind the cork, however, is
included, as is its transportation to the manufacturing facility. HDF is produced mostly from
recovered wood waste – only 14 % of the wood going into HDF is harvested directly. In the
absence of available data, HDF manufacturing is represented, by proxy, with oriented strand
board (OSB) production data provided by the U.S. LCI Database and described in more
detail under Generic Oriented Strand Board Sheathing. The binder for Natural Cork flooring
is a moisture-cured urethane, produced from a reaction between polyisocyanate and
moisture present in the atmosphere.

Manufacturing

Energy Requirements. The manufacturing processes for the two cork floor products are
essentially the same. Cork waste is ground and blended with the urethane binder, then
cured. For the floating floor plank, the HDF is sandwiched between two cork sheet layers
and then cured. Electricity and an on-site boiler are used to blend and cure both products.
The boiler uses cork powder generated during the production process to produce steam and
electricity. Manufacturing the parquet flooring requires about 0.8 MJ (0.02 kWh) of both
thermal and electrical energy per unit produced (0.09 m2 , or 1 ft2 ); the floating floor plank
requires about 1 MJ (0.28 kWh) of electricity and 0.9 MJ (0.25 kWh) of thermal energy per
unit. Water is also used in the production process, but it is recycled and recovered by the
plant. Producing each unit of product generates about 1 kg (2.2 lb) of waste, 94 % of which
is used to produce energy and 3 % of which is recycled.

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 LEGO BRICKS

Figure 10b. A row of houses built for poor Figure 10c. A house complete made of
Figure 20a. L ego sill with log recycled plastic

Oscar and his colleagues Henry Cañon and Isabel Cristina started out with an aim of
reducing the environmental impact of plastic by reusing it in construction. Once they were
joined by Fernando Llanos (and later, Jesus Mendez) Conceptos Plásticos was born, and
they’ve gone from strength to strength since. The company aims to tackle two problems:
one, the growing mountain of plastic in landfills; and two, booming populations in cities
across Latin America. To be honest, it’s tough to say which could have the most serious
implications for the environment. A recent report from TECHO showed that a staggering
80% of Latin America's population now live in cities. And a report launched at the World
Economic Forum in January said that around 309 million tons of plastic was manufactured
in 2014. Neither of these is the sole concern of one country though; as Oscar told me
himself, “Plastic is a problem everywhere, and people will always need a roof over their
head.” So how do they turn a waste product into a construction material?

Conceptos Plásticos works with both recycling groups and enterprises in Bogotá which
accumulate plastic waste that is then melted and poured into a mould to form the bricks, via
a process called extrusion. Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-
sectional profile. A material is pushed through a die of the desired cross-section. The two
main advantages of this process over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create
very complex cross-sections, and to work materials that are brittle, because the material
only encounters compressive and shear stresses. It also forms parts with an excellent surface
finish By avoiding the transfer of used plastics to refuse sites, water and energy costs are
reduced, along with CO2 emissions. Based on a lego model, the bricks have a simple
structure which allows them to slot together easily, in order to both facilitate and accelerate
the construction process. Having already found ways to install bathrooms and electricity
into the houses, the company continues to work with designers in order to develop a method
of manufacturing bricks for multi-level constructions

Well, firstly they work closely with those who will benefit from the housing – visiting
schools and community groups to encourage them to collect various waste plastics and old
tires. The materials are thoroughly cleaned, before being ground into a rough power, mixed,

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melted and extruded into a range of shapes – mostly beams, blocks and pillars – which lock
together to form buildings. Importantly, the company also trains communities in how to
build these structures, giving them ownership over their homes and providing skills they can
take elsewhere. Oscar’s plastic homes can be assembled remarkably quickly – a 40 m2
house divided into two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, dining room and kitchen, and
can be built by four people in just five days. The cost is considerably lower than traditional
systems used in rural areas too – their standard house mentioned above can be built for
$5,200.

Like LEGO blocks, these interlocking structures don’t need adhesive to be strong and
sturdy, which makes them a good option for mobile shelters. And yes, the plastic mix will
eventually biodegrade, but not for more than 500 years. Until then, it offers residents a
durable shelter that, thanks to its construction and materials, is fireproof and earthquake-
resistant, and requires minimal maintenance. So far, Conceptos Plásticos have built a
temporary shelter for 42 families displaced by violence, three smaller permanent shelters
(each one measuring 1,100 square meters), and eight houses. Next month, they’ll also build
20 more houses in Cartagena – a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

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