Materials & Sustainability

 Materials and Sustainability 

I'll be researching materials and sustainability for my project in this post. For my Hospital i need to use different materials. Healthcare facilities experience a lot of wear and tear, so durability and maintenance are critical. When Interior are used more often, exteriors should also be designed with durability. Durable building envelopes, such as concrete, brick and metal cladding, require little maintenance and hold up well to weather conditions. (Krieger, 2023)  It is important to have good acoustic in the hospital.  Loud noise can increase stress levels, slow healing time and compromise confidentiality between patients and doctors.  But doing something like this in a public building can be challenging . Smooth, easy-to-clean materials tend to reflect noise, while more absorptive materials are difficult to sanitize. (Krieger, 2023)  In hospital is important to have wheelchair accessible or facilities for those using crutches and think more when making material selections.  

Tempered glass

The building will use tempered glass because it is locally sourced and tempered for durability, safety. It is sustainable because it can be recycled. This will give the building a modern and transparent look. Tempered glass is about 2.5 times stronger than standard glass of the same thickness in terms of physical or thermal shock and it is typically used for safety and strength. (Stephan, 2023) Tempered glass has a very high edge strength, allowing it to withstand thermal breakage. (What is tempered glass 2022) Tempered glass often used in architectural design like windows due to this glass is a high risk of contact, temperature changes, high temperatures, and breakage. Also tempered glass is safe glass product as if it will be break in smaller piece so it reduce the risk of injury.  So this glass suit for public building where glass could break around people. 

Long Span Beams

 Long span structures are more frequently used in buildings and civil engineering construction as they offer full flexibility, adaptability, life cycle assets, cost savings, and reduced the environmental footprint.(Constructalia, nd)  Using of long span beams often means that you can use minimum columns, so optimal column placement should be part of the conceptual design process.

Concreate Cladding

Precast concrete cladding offers a cost-effective means of providing a robust, high-quality facade, with a great variety of durable textures and colours including a range of facing materials such as stone and brick. (Cladding, nd) Concrete cladding using to the inside or outside of a building for improving the aesthetic design or to improve the building's durability. The advantages of this material is inexpensive to install. It is resistance to rust, fire and termites. Concrete cladding panels not only weather the elements during the cold and wet seasons, they also have insulating properties which help to keep the room temperature at a reasonable level, no matter what the time of year.(Admin, 2019)  This material do not require special care. The only maintenance required is regular clean or repaint of the panels to improve the appearance of building.

References:

Healthcare buildings (no date) steelconstruction.info. Available at: https://www.steelconstruction.info/Healthcare_buildings#Forms_of_construction (Accessed: 28 May 2024). 

Krieger, M. (2023) Building materials for healthcare projects: Considerations and best practices, Architectural Design Services in Iowa. Available at: https://neumannmonson.com/blog/building-materials-healthcare-projects-considerations-best-practices#:~:text=Durable%20building%20skins%20like%20concrete,low%2Dmaintenance%20and%20weather%20well (Accessed: 29 May 2024).

Stephan, S. (2023) Novum Structures. Available at: https://novumstructures.com/news_and_insights/types-of-architectural-glass/#:~:text=Tempered%20Glass%2FToughened%20Glass,cooled%20to%20strengthen%20the%20glass. (Accessed: 28 May 2024).

What is tempered glass & what are its benefits? (2022) FGD Glass Solutions. Available at: https://www.fgdglass.com/blog/what-is-tempered-glass/ (Accessed: 28 May 2024).

Constructalia, A. (no date) Long Span Steel Structure Solutions - Constructalia for construction, Long span steel structure solutions - Constructalia for construction. Available at: https://constructalia.arcelormittal.com/en/solutions_by_application/long_span_structures#:~:text=Long%20span%20structures%20are%20more,and%20reduced%20the%20environmental%20footprint. (Accessed: 28 May 2024). 

Cladding (no date) Concrete Centre. Available at: https://www.concretecentre.com/Structural-design/Building-Elements/Cladding.aspx#:~:text=Precast%20concrete%20cladding%20offers%20a,such%20as%20stone%20and%20brick. (Accessed: 29 May 2024).

Admin (2019) Concrete cladding panels, what are the top five advantages?, JP Concrete. Available at: https://www.jpconcrete.co.uk/concrete-cladding-panels-what-are-the-top-five-advantages/#:~:text=Concrete%20cladding%20panels%20are%20made,to%20improve%20the%20building%27s%20durability. (Accessed: 29 May 2024).