Comparative study on building materials for the construction of refuge space

Abstract

With the effects of climate change, natural disasters are becoming more severe and more frequent, resulting in loss of lives and an impact on a country’s economy. Disaster resistant structures play a vital role in preventing loss of lives and damage to the belongings. As a consequence of a whole disaster resistant house being unaffordable, converting a part of the house to a disaster resistant refuge space could be attractive and could pave a way to build resilient communities. Selecting a suitable building material is a vital decision as they account for almost 60% of the total cost and govern the disaster resistance of the structure. There are many options to choose from alternative materials in addition to conventional building materials. One such alternative material is produced by recycling Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) wastes. It is the EPS based lightweight concrete (LWC) wall panels. This study aims at evaluating the material properties and characteristics of this construction method. A detailed comparative study was conducted in comparing the strength, durability, thermal performance, embodied energy and carbon footprint of the LWC panels to the conventional building materials: bricks and cement blocks. Furthermore, this study presents details of work study and cost analysis conducted on a full-scale model construction. The potential of LWC panels as a mainstream building material is shown with the comparative study. Moreover, this study presents the aspects of a survey conducted among experienced and young engineers, professionals, and the general public on the importance of material properties. This thesis also discusses a multi-criterion decision problem solved through the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in obtaining the most suitable material as a case study