A Review of the Application of Synthetic and Natural Polymers as Construction and Building Materials for Achieving Sustainable Construction

• Published in: Buildings (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 8; p. 2569
• Main Authors: Tamošaitienė, Jolanta, Parham, Shokoh, Sarvari, Hadi, Chan, Daniel W. M, Edwards, David J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Addition polymerization; Biopolymers; Building materials; Carbon; Chemical bonds; Comparative analysis; Composite materials; Concrete; Construction; Construction industry; Construction materials; Energy consumption; Green building (Construction); Inorganic materials; Insulation; Materials selection; Multiple criteria decision making; natural polymer; Natural polymers; Natural resources; Netherlands; Plastics; Polymers; Production processes; Publishing industry; Sustainability; sustainable construction; Sustainable development; Sustainable materials; Sustainable production; synthetic polymer; United Kingdom; United States; United States; United Kingdom; Netherlands
• ISSN: 2075-5309; 2075-5309
• DOI: 10.3390/buildings14082569

With the advancement of human society, more construction and building materials are required to produce sustainable construction. The advancement of polymer materials and their use in building construction has been improved. Compared to inorganic materials, polymer materials offer numerous superior qualities and may also be modified to increase their usefulness. Additionally, although bio-polymeric materials have effectively supplanted many conventional materials in various relevant disciplines, their applications in construction, including building façades and so on, have been quite limited up to now. Nowadays, most architects and engineers find it challenging to choose materials due to the proliferation of new materials and the market availability of various manufacturing techniques. This emphasizes the necessity of adopting a unique scientific strategy for the materials selection process to assist in picking the most suitable materials for the necessary civil application rather than following an obsolete traditional selection path that depends mostly on prior subjective personal experiences. This review article has identified critical concerns, inspired more study, and provided crucial insights into the prospective field of synthetic and natural construction and building polymeric materials towards sustainable construction.