Fernando Pacheco-Torgal – författare

Since 1930 more than 100,000 new chemical compounds have been developed and insufficient information exists on the health assessment of 95 percent of these chemicals in which a relevant percentage are used in construction products. For instance Portland cement concrete, the most used material on the Planet (10.000 million tons/year that in the next 40 years will increase around 100 %) currently used in around 15% of total concrete production contains chemicals used to modify their properties, either in the fresh or hardened state.

Biopolymers are materials that are developed from natural resources. They reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. There is a worldwide demand to replace petroleum-based materials with renewable resources.

Currently bio-admixtures represent just a small fraction of the chemical admixtures market (around 20%) but with environmental awareness for constituents in construction materials generally growing (the Construction Products Regulation is being enforced in Europe since 2013), the trend towards bio-admixtures is expected to continue.

This book provides an updated state-of-the-art review on biopolymers and their influence and use as admixtures in the development of eco-efficient construction materials.

Eco-efficient Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Infrastructures provides an updated state-of-the-art review on eco-efficient repair and rehabilitation of concrete infrastructure. The first section focuses on deterioration assessment methods, and includes chapters on stress wave assessment, ground-penetrating radar, monitoring of corrosion, SHM using acoustic emission and optical fiber sensors. Other sections discuss the development and application of several new innovative repair and rehabilitation materials, including geopolymer concrete, sulfoaluminate cement-based concrete, engineered cementitious composites (ECC) based concrete, bacteria-based concrete, concrete with encapsulated polyurethane, and concrete with super absorbent polymer (SAPs), amongst other topics.

Final sections focus on crucial design aspects, such as quality control, including lifecycle and cost analysis with several related case studies on repair and rehabilitation. The book will be an essential reference resource for materials scientists, civil and structural engineers, architects, structural designers and contractors working in the construction industry.

Covering the latest technologies, Nanotechnology in eco-efficient construction provides an authoritative guide to the role of nanotechnology in the development of eco-efficient construction materials and sustainable construction. The book contains a special focus on applications concerning concrete and cement, as nanotechnology is driving significant development in concrete technologies. The new edition has 14 new chapters, including 3 new parts: Mortars and concrete related applications; Applications for pavements and other structural materials; and Toxicity, safety handling and environmental impacts.

Civil engineers requiring an understanding of eco-efficient construction materials, as well as researchers and architects within any field of nanotechnology, eco-efficient materials or the construction industry will find this updated reference to be highly valuable.

Adapting the Built Environment for Climate Change: Design Principles for Climate Emergencies analyzes several scenarios and proposes various adaptation strategies for climate emergencies (heat waves, wildfires, floods, and storms). Divided into three themes, the book offers an organized vision of a complex and multi-factor challenge. It covers climatic resilience and building refurbishment, implications for service life prediction and maintainability, and climate adaptation in the maintenance and management of buildings. Sections cover infrastructure materials, climate emergency adaptation and building adaptation to heat waves, wildfires, floods and storms.

The book will be an essential reference resource for civil and structural engineers, architects, planners, designers and other professionals who have an interest in the adaptation of the built environment against climate change.

Eco-efficient Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Infrastructures, Second Edition provides an updated, state-of-the-art review of the latest advances in this important research field. The first section is brought fully up-to-date and focuses on deterioration assessment methods. The second section contains brand new chapters on innovative concrete repair and rehabilitation materials, including fly ash-based alkali-activated repair materials for concrete exposed to aggressive environments, retrofitting of concrete structures with biomaterials, and the assessment of concrete after repair operations and durability of concrete repair. The final section has been revised to include new chapters on climate change’s influence and life cycle assessment (LCA). These chapters include deterioration of concrete infrastructure due to climate change, influence of climate change on bridge deterioration, probabilistic modeling of chloride diffusion in repaired reinforced concrete structures, and LCA of concrete repaired with recycled aggregates.

Reuse of Plastic Waste in Eco-efficient Concrete presents the latest research findings on the application and use of recycled plastic waste in sustainable construction. Divided over four parts, the book's chapters cover various techniques for processing and separation of plastic wastes; use of recycled plastics as aggregates in modified concrete; as well as lightweight reinforced concrete applications too. There is also an entire section dedicated to asphalt mixtures. It also provides technological solutions on how recycled plastic wastes can be applied in concrete manufacturing.This will be a valuable reference source for academic and industrial researchers who are working with waste materials and the use of recycled plastics in concrete, as well as for civil and structural engineers, polymer production technologists, and concrete manufacturers.

Eco-efficient Construction and Building Materials provides essential reading about materials for the construction industry in the twenty-first century. It covers the latest findings in the field, especially the toxicity aspects, embodied energy, construction and demolition wastes, the use of wastes in concrete, masonry units, materials reinforced with vegetable fibres, earth construction, the durability aspects, and also the importance of nanotechnology to the development of more environmentally-friendly materials.

Based on more than nine hundred references, Eco-efficient Construction and Building Materials is of fundamental importance to academics, engineers and architects who are dedicated to the creation of a greener and more holistic construction industry.