Advantages of Timber over Concrete - Literature review Example

LITERATURE REVIEW Advantages of timber over Concrete In the history of man on earth, wood has been widely used in building in all ages. Timber provides people with a wide range of products and construction materials. Some of the products of timber include bridges, houses and various types of tools (Müller and Favet, 2002, p. 33). The construction industry has however become so modernized that other materials of construction are now in use. Artificial materials that are widely used in construction are steel and concrete. Concrete is used for construction despite its effects on the environment. Compared to concrete, timber is far much better in terms of sustainability and green house emissions. Research has shown that timber is more sustainable and that its green house effects when used in constructions is lower. Concrete is more dangerous to the environment because of the green house gases emitted in the process of preparing its constituent materials and the concrete itself. A study done by Amposah (2008, p. 117) assessed various types of buildings on green house gas emissions for the construction materials. The results of the study indicated that the use of timber in these buildings lowered the green house emissions that are associated to the embodied energy of construction. The researchers concluded that there is a possibility of reducing green house emissions from the construction of the buildings by 86 percent through the increase of the quantity of timber used on the buildings (Amposah 2008, p. 180). These reductions in emission of green house gases were achieved when timber came in to replace building materials with high carbon intensity in this case concrete and steel. Concrete has high emission of green house gases considering extraction, refining processes, processing and the manufacture of its constituent materials. Preparing concrete also results in green house emissions. On the other hand, the carbon intensity of wood is negative because during the growth of a tree there is sequestering and storage of carbon. The implication is that, instead of carbon dioxide being emitted to pollute the atmosphere in the production of wood, it is absorbed from the atmosphere. However, it is important to note that reducing emissions from timber used in construction can be realized if the timber is obtained from a source that is under sustainable management. For timber to have the lowest amount of green house emissions, it should be locally sourced (Amponsah 2008, p. 200). The advantage of timber over concrete in green house emissions can be realized in three major areas: production, lifetime consumption of energy and recycling and reuse. Production Embodied energy is that type of energy consumed during the process of extraction and production of a particular material. Gray energy is the energy used in product manufacturing. Considering these two energy use types, wood is far much better than concrete. According to Berge (2012, p. 51) timber does not need a lot of energy during felling, milling and transportation. This is a huge contrast to concrete which requires a lot of energy. For example, concrete beams need 5 times the energy consumed in wood. Overall, buildings made of timber release approximately 50 percent of the CO2 produced when concrete is used. Lifetime and Energy Consumption In terms of thermal efficiency, timber is far much better when compared to concrete. Wood has a natural thermal efficiency that saves CO2 and energy as well. Research has shown that wood has a thermal efficiency that is 15 times more than that of concrete. For example, a timber board two and a half centimeters long is better in thermal resistance than a brick wall of 11.4 cm (Berge 2012, p. 112). The third advantage is in recycling and reuse. When timber reaches a time when its time of use is over, its carbon storage remains intact until decay or burning. Timber takes so many years before it becomes utterly useless. Concrete may not take this long because once a building is demolished, it cannot be reused or recycled. This calls for the production of new concrete which means more CO2 is released into the atmosphere (Berge 2012, p. 115). When a wooden building is demolished, the timber can be reused and therefore it will take loner before the carbon stored in it is released into the atmosphere as CO2. In a study done on green house gas emissions, Müller and Favet (2002, pp. 87-93) calculated the basic energy used and emissions of CO2 and methane from the use of concrete frames or wood in a multi-storey building under construction. The calculation took the perspective of forest land use and life-cycles. Considering the fossil fuels, they found that the energy used in producing raw materials for building was approximately between 60 and 80 percent higher in concrete than in wood frames (Amponsah 2008, p. 56). The net balance of green houses gases for timber is determined by what happens to the wood when a building has been demolished. The results of the study showed that net balance in green house gases would go slightly on the positive side if all wood obtained from a demolished building is used in place of fossil fuels. The net balance would move slightly to the negative side if wood from the demolition is re-used and truly positive is every piece of wood went into land fills since it would produce methane. However, the net production of green house gases would be negligible if the methane gas is collected and used as fuel in place of fossil fuels. In case the building is made of concrete, the net emissions of green house gases is approximately the same when wood from the demolition of the building is put in a landfill and the gas methane is not collected (Amponsah 2008, p. 23). The researchers assumed that the CO2 produced in the manufacture of cement is rebound to concrete through the process of carbonization. If not so, the net production of green house gases would double with the use of concrete frames. Methodology This section details the methodology used in this research for collection of data and analysis of that data. This study is a secondary research within involved desktop research as the only method of gathering information (Kothari 2008 p. 48). Information or data was collected from secondary sources in this case; journals, the internet, books and media reports. In gathering relevant information on the advantages of timber over concrete, specific subtopics and search words were used. The use of particular search words helped the researcher to focus on the subject matter. The method of narrowing down on data collected helped a lot because without it, the materials accessed on timber and its advantages over concrete would make the researcher not to address the topic because of its vastness (Kothari 2008 p. 31). Collecting information from secondary sources only required the use of stationery and the availability of a credible library with the required materials. The method was easier compared to primary research which requires a lot of expenditure and many movements. It therefore gave the researcher ample time to concentrate of data collection and analysis. The researcher focused on the latest publications since they provide up to date information (Kothari 2008 p. 33). Data analysis was done by qualitative means. Therefore, the researcher carried out a careful scrutiny of all the data sources to ascertain their relevance to the topic under investigation. Analysis therefore involved separation of data between the relevant and the irrelevant or useless. A proper understanding of the topic was necessary to know which material was important and which one was not. The process of analysis took in skills such as comparing and contrasting, discerning and interpreting different patterns. The quality of data collected was ascertained using a number of goals and objectives laid down at the beginning of the study (Kothari 2008 p. 37). Data condensation was also applied in the analysis. The process involved minimization, placement of emphasis on certain concepts, or retaining some information for the study. Considering the principles of selectivity, the researcher was required to set apart certain data for description (Kothari 2008 p. 34). To achieve this, the researcher applied deductive and inductive analysis. The study questions were very crucial in guiding the process of categorization. To complete the analysis process, the researcher drew conclusions about the information collected. Conclusion drawing involved investigating the meaning behind the data and making an informed assessment about the deductions made on the research topic. Verifying the information was also applied since the researcher had to refer to the data counter check the conclusions arrived at. The information was checked to see if it is valid, valid and sturdy. The data was only valid if it contained the meaning it is supposed to have. In order to be valid, the conclusions had to be credible (Kothari 2008 p. 68). To finalize the process, the researcher checked if the data was defensive in that it could withstand other views separate from the ones in the study. Bibliography Amponsah, I., 2008. Emerging Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Sustainability. London: ProQuest. Berge, B. 2012. The Ecology of Building Materials. New York: Routledge. Kothari, C. R. 2008. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International. Müller, D.G., Favet, N. 2002. Sustainable architecture and Urbanism: Design, Construction Examples. London: Springer. Read More