See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/269393957

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE 3-D PANEL SYSTEM AS A NEW MATERIAL

IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USING LCA

Conference Paper · December 2014

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.5003.4249

CITATIONS READS

0 12,098

4 authors:

Dr Ahmed AbdelMonteleb Mohammed Ali Abdelazim M Negm

Assiut University Zagazig University
51 PUBLICATIONS 339 CITATIONS 627 PUBLICATIONS 5,244 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Mahmoud Bady Mona Gamal Eldin Ibrahim

Islamic University of Medina Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology
95 PUBLICATIONS 1,318 CITATIONS 122 PUBLICATIONS 2,026 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Dr Ahmed AbdelMonteleb Mohammed Ali on 10 December 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 ALEXANDRIA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
th
10 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
"ROLE OF ENGINEERING TOWARDS A BETTER ENVIRONMENT"
(RETBE’14)
15-17 DECEMBER 2014 ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.

ASSESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE 3-D PANEL SYSTEM

AS A NEW MATERIAL IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USING LCA

AHMED ABDELMONTELEB M. ALI, ABDELAZIM M. NEGM

PhD Student at Environmental Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of Science and
Technology (E-JUST), Alexandria, Egypt, Corresponding Author E-mail: ah-
[email protected], TEL.: 0201005490811
Chair of Environmental Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Tech-
nology (E-JUST), Alexandria, Egypt, E-mail: [email protected]

MAHMOUD F. BADY, MONA G.E. IBRAHIM

Assistant Professor at Environmental Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of Sci-
ence and Technology (E-JUST), Alexandria, Egypt, E-mail: [email protected]
Dean of School of Energy, Environment and Chemical & Petrochemical Engineering, Egypt-
Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), Alexandria, Egypt, E-mail: mo-
[email protected]

ABSTRACT: The construction industry in Egypt is a main contributor to the Egyptian economy
and one of its fastest rising sectors. The development rate is the direct result of high request for
housing as well as the state’s large infrastructure projects. The main common construction materi-
als in Egypt are the adobe/clay, cement, sand and straw/raw brick. Recently, the private manufac-
turers have commercially produced walls for low-rise structures up to three stories high by propos-
ing a new building system called a 3-D panel system (3-D PS). The 3D-PS is currently being used
in many building in Egypt, without any environmental assessment regardless of the structural
system or aesthetic. Therefore, this paper comes on line to assess the environmental impacts of
this new construction system. It compares its performance with that of the other traditional con-
struction materials/methods. The software SimaPro 8.1 is used under IMAPCT 2002+ method to
compute the environmental impact assessment of the 3D-PS. The results show that the clay brick
has largest adverse impacts than the 3D-PS with a difference of 7%. In contrast, the sand and
straw/raw brick have a lowest adverse impacts. Comparing the 3D-PS with sand brick, the latter
has lower adverse impacts by 81.40%. It is concluded that the clay brick is the worst from envi-
ronmental impact point of view while the best is the sand brick and straw/raw brick. Between the
worst and the best comes the 3D-PS. The study recommends carrying out a life cycle assessment
of any new product/material before using it.

1
INTRODUCTION

Bricks are one of the main construction industry in Egypt. Bricks may be defined as artificial ma-
terial obtained by moulding clay in rectangular blocks of uniform size, which are finally dried and
burnt at high temperature to form a dense and compact product. Bricks are chiefly employed in
building construction and architectural compositions. Easy availability, light weight, comparative
cheapness, ease in handling, flexibility of moulding into required shape and size and ease in work-
ing are the main characteristics of bricks. Clay bricks, when properly manufactured, are nearly as
good as stones [1]. Types of brick are Straw Brick, Adobe (Clay) Brick, Cement Brick; solid and
hollow brick, Brick sanding, Refractory bricks, Glass Blocks; solid and hollow brick, Brick stone
industrial, Gypsum Brick and Rubber brick. This paper will focus on the four types of bricks; are
Straw/Raw Brick, Adobe (Clay) Brick, Cement Brick and Brick sanding and their type’s solid and
hollow brick.

The fundamentals of brick manufacturing have not changed over time. However, technological
advancements have made contemporary brick plants substantially more efficient and have im-
proved the overall quality of the products. A more complete knowledge of raw materials and their
properties, better control of firing, improved kiln designs and more advanced mechanization have
all contributed to advancing the brick industry. Other Technical Notes in this series address the
classification and selection of brick considering the use, exposure and required durability of the
finished brickwork [2]. The manufacturing process has six general phases: 1) mining and storage of
raw materials, 2) preparing raw materials, 3) forming the brick by adding the water, 4) drying, 5)
firing and cooling and 6) de-hacking and storing finished products.

EMISSIONS FROM BRICK MANUFACTURING PROCESS:

Clay product manufacturers are required to use different production techniques for brick, other
structural clay products, pottery products, and ceramic tiles. There are four principal processes for
manufacturing brick are the extrusion, stiff mud, soft mud, and dry press methods. In the stiff mud
process, water is added to give the clay plasticity. This process forms all structural tile and most
types of brick. The soft mud process uses clay with a high moisture content. This clay is mixed
with water and the bricks are then formed in moulds. With the dry press process, clay is mixed
with a small amount of water and formed in steel mould under pressure. The dominant process in
manufacturing structural clay products is extrusion. The dry material is fed into a trough, sprayed
with water, and cut and kneaded (pugged) by rotating knives into a homogeneous mixture. The
resulting plastic mass is forced into a de-airing chamber where a vacuum is maintained. The mate-
rial is forced through a dye having the appropriate cross section (extrusion) and cut into correct
lengths. Then, the structural clay products are dried and fired in a kiln [3].

2
The emissions generated from manufacturing bricks and other structural clay products result main-
ly from the handling of raw materials, processing, plant maintenance and pollution control equip-
ment. Various phases of the clay production process generate particulate emissions. The main
source of dust is the materials handling process, including the pulverizing, screening, and storage
of raw materials [4].

Emissions to air
Air emissions may be categorized as; fugitive emissions:
These are emissions that are not released through a vent or stack. Examples of fugitive emissions
include dust from stockpiles, volatilization of vapour from vats or open vessels, and material han-
dling. Emissions emanating from ridgeline roof-vents, louvres, and open doors of a building as
well as equipment leaks, and leaks from valves and flanges are also examples of fugitive emis-
sions. Emission factor EETs are the usual method for determining losses through fugitive emis-
sions.

Point source emissions

These emissions are exhausted into a vent or stack and emitted through a single point source into
the atmosphere. An air emissions control device such as a carbon adsorption unit, scrubber,
baghouse, or afterburner may be added to the stack prior to the atmospheric release.

Emissions to water
Emissions of substances to water can be categorized as discharges to; Surface waters (eg. lakes,
rivers, dams, and estuaries) and Coastal or marine waters; and Storm water.

The main source of wastewater from this industry is usually from air pollution control equipment
such as wet scrubbers.

Emissions to land
Emissions of substances to land on-site include solid wastes, slurries, sediments, spills and leaks,
storage and distribution of liquids, and the use of chemicals to control various elements of the
environment where these emissions contain listed substances. These emission sources can be
broadly categorized as; Surface impoundments of liquids and slurries and Unintentional leaks and
spills.

In Figure 1, summarized all process of the four types of brick and it shown the fuel type which
used in the machines and heavy trucks, types of emissions and the electricity in each stage. It is
worth mentioning that in every stage may use human workers instead of machines and heavy
trucks that reduce the total emissions of brick manufacturing.
3
 Figure 1. Flowchart of all manufacturing process of the four types of brick

BUILDING MATERIALS USED IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN ASSIUT

To start paying field visits to brick plants in Assiut, a questionnaire needs to be served to engi-
neers constructing residential buildings in Assiut to find out the type of bricks which used. Figure
2. shows the questionnaire designed to the brick factories/plants in Assiut as a case study.

Figure 2. Questionnaire designed for brick facto-

ries/plants, during the field visit.
[By Author]

4
THE 3-D PANEL SYSTEM AS A SUSTAINABLE BUILDING SOLUTION FOR
EGYPT:

In Figure 3, The 3-D panels which consist of an expanded polystyrene (EPS) core with a thickness
ranging from 40 to 100 mm sandwiched between two plane-parallel welded wire mesh sheets
(cover meshes). The meshes are restrained by utilizing inclined diagonal wires in between the
meshes that go through the EPS core and welded to the cover mesh’s line wires. The cross section
of the panel is shown in Figure 3. Each surface of the wire space frame has approximately a 5 cm
by 10 cm welded mesh pattern of longitudinal and transverse wires, respectively. The average
wire diameter is 2.5 to 3.0 mm. Concrete is applied once the panels are in place by pneumatically
spraying it onto the surface (known as shotcrete) [5].

Figure 3. 3-D Panel System [5]

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of five building materials
type (four as a traditional brick, according to the collecting data from 12 Egyptian factories and
one as a new sustainable building material) by using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is
the cheapest and realist tool rather than using the direct measurement. The life cycle assessment
tool can play this role by SimaPro software under IMAPCT 2002+ method.

METHOD

LCA is a core topic in the field of environmental management. Its history goes back to the early
seventies. There are a number of international bodies that have been concerned with the develop-
ment and application of LCA [6]. This study is based on the LCA method, according to the ISO
(International Organization for Standardization) 14040 [7] and ISO 14044 [8], which consist of four
main phases; goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory analysis (LCI), life cycle impact as-
sessment (LCIA) and Interpretation. SimaPro V8.1 Software [9] was used in the analysis of the five
types of bricks using local/international inventory databases. SimaPro (PRé Consultants, Amers-
foort, The Netherlands) is a dedicated LCA software tool.

5
Goal and Scope
Functional units: The measure unit that serves as parameter to analyze the five types of bricks is
one Kilogram of each brick type.
Life cycle impact assessment: This study used the IMPACT 2002+ (version Q2.2) impact cate-
gory [10] as a calculation methods of LCIA.

Life cycle Inventory (LCI) database

From previous authors literature which published in [11], Egypt suffered from shortage of life cycle
inventory database, thus, the researchers used the available collected database of 12 Egyptian
brick plants (Straw/Raw collecting the data from literature studies, three Sand brick factories, four
clay brick factories and five cement brick factories) and any missing data is taken from literature
review, international papers, assumptions and Ecoinvent Database. Regarding to the LCI of the 3-
D PS, the researchers composed it from the Ecoinvent database elements, which involved into the
SimaPro software.

Results, Interpretation and Discussions

Figure 4, shows the results of LCA by midpoint method. The clay brick has the largest adverse
environmental impact. The straw/raw brick results in a difference of 170 Eco-point by 68% in-
creasing compared to the clay brick, and especially the non-renewable energy impact category due
to clay levelling process. The cement brick comes after the clay brick and it is worth mentioning,
that it has the largest global warming impact compared with others. This due to the cement manu-
facturing process, despite the lack of burning stage in the brick manufacturing process (see figure
(1)), a difference of 75 Eco-point by 70% increasing from the straw/raw cement brick compared to
clay brick. Follow to clay brick, cement brick come the straw/raw brick and the sand brick. Re-
garding to the 3-D PS, recorded the second highest adverse impacts after the clay brick. That
means, the 3-D PS is not the best solution as a Sustainable Building Solution for Egypt.

Figure 4. Environmental impact outflows for the usable one KG of the building materials under
Midpoint impact using SimaPro software.

6
Considering the LCA by Endpoint Method, the results presented in Figure 5 confirm those pre-
sented in Figure 4. The clay brick has the largest human health damage and resources depletion
while the straw/raw brick is the most friendly to the environment with a difference of 75 Eco-point
and 75% decreasing. The cement brick comes after the sand brick by 15 Eco-point. Interestingly,
the cement brick has the largest climate change damage, this because it has the largest global
warming impact in the midpoint method. Furthermore, there is a slight increase in the Ecosystem
quality of the cement and sand brick manufacturing compared with the clay brick. Regarding to
the 3-D PS, recorded the second highest adverse impacts after the clay brick.

Figure 5. Environmental impact outflows for the usable one KG of the building materials under
Endpoint impact using SimaPro software.

CONCLUSIONS

• Although sand brick is the oldest type, it is the most friendly to the environment, but it
does not bear the structural loads of the new and tower buildings, however, after the addi-
tion of chemicals.
• The clay brick (red brick) produces the largest adverse environmental impacts and the
largest human health damage based on Midpoint and Endpoint Methods respectively.
• The cement brick produces lower adverse environmental impacts than the clay brick but
it is higher than other types due to cement manufacturing process embedded in the ce-
ment brick manufacturing.
• Comparing the 3D-PS with sand brick, the latter has lower adverse impacts by 81.40%. It
is concluded that the clay brick is the worst from environmental impact point of view.
Between the worst and the best comes the 3D-PS.
• The non-renewable energy impact in (Mega Joule) appears in the clay brick impacts due
to the land leveling of clay or silt.
It is recommended to use the LCA tool to assess the footprint of all industries in Egypt to
help the decision maker which industry is more friendly to the environment.

7
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The first author would like to thank Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE)
for providing him the financial support (PhD scholarship) for this research as well as the
Egypt Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) for offering the facility and
tools needed to conduct this work.

REFERENCES

[1] American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide. The American Institute
of Architects, Canada, 1998.

[2] W. . Campbell, J. W. P. and Pryce, Brick, A World History. New York, NY: Thames and
Hudson, 2003.

[3] E. Baum, “Black Carbon From Brick Kilns Brick Making Summary,” Clean Air (Task
Force), 2010.

[4] National Pollutant Inventory Agency, Emissions Estimation Technique Manual for Bricks,
Ceramics, & Clay Product Manufacturing. 1998.

[5] A. Mousa and A. Zidan, “3-D Panel System : A Sustainable Building Solution for Egypt,”
in International Conference on Industry Academia Collaboration- IAC 2014, 2014, pp. 2–
5.

[6] Arnold Tukker, Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 7. United States of America:
Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 10–15.

[7] EN ISO 14040, Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment – Principlesand

Framework. 2006.

[8] EN ISO 14044, Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment – Require-ments and
Guidelines. 2006.

[9] “SimaPro (PRé Consultants, Amersfoort, The Netherlands).” [Online]. Available:

http://www.pre-sustainability.com/all-about-simapro.

[10] X. Bengoa and M. Margni, “IMPACT 2002 + : User Guide Prepared by :,” vol. 21, 2002.

[11] A. A. M. Ali, A. M. Negm, M. F. Bady, and M. G. E. Ibrahim, “Moving towards an

Egyptian national life cycle inventory database,” Int. J. Life Cycle Assess., vol. 19, no. 8,
pp. 1551–1558, Jun. 2014.

View publication stats