Also, plastic permanently deforms under stress (creeps), and is harder to nail, drill, and screw than wood. Site-specific soil analysis is recommended before construction begins. Actually plastic is used in construction, more than you may realize. There's just a bout a million different types of plastic. Structural plastics are very expensive. Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene – not the sexiest of names, however ETFE foil is fast becoming one of the most exciting materials in todays design industry and has set the construction world alight with the potential it offers.. Exterior siding. Plastic is strong, good and cheap to produce. A process that creates plastic pellets from bottles and bags and melts them into asphalt makes for stronger roads and less waste. Answer › Dismantling buildings rather than knocking them down increases the amount that can be salvaged undamaged. Even with all this durability, plastic products are not indestructible and it cannot be used as a basic building block for everything we need. The human layer of stuff, whether it’s ocean plastic, landfill, existing buildings and re-wild our natural world.’ Advertisement. There is a predominant use of glass in contemporary architecture as there is an increasing demand for transparent building elements. Plastic drinking straws. In addition to functional and economic criteria, aesthetic and design considerations together with ecological demands placed on building projects play an equally important role. 9 years ago. Wood is structurally very strong. Wood is a very important construction material. The components used include everything from plastic screws and hinges to bigger plastic parts that are used in decoration, electric wiring, flooring, wall covering, water proofing and so on. Until the latest edition of the amendments, plastic pipe was limited to buildings of combustible construction. 1. Chief executive Toby McCartney said … In automotive design, plastics have contributed to a multitude of innovations in safety, performance and fuel efficiency. The construction industry uses plastic for a wide range of applications because of its versatility, strength-to-weight ratio, durability, corrosion resistance, and so on. In addition to functional and economic criteria, aesthetic and design considerations together with ecological demands placed on building projects play an equally important role. The impacts and implications of our use of plastic in construction are just beginning to be understood. Polyvinyl chloride plastic has better chemical stability and aging resistance, but poor heat resistance. Cost. Actually plastic is used in construction, more than you may realize. Plastic is also being used to seal and shield structures on the home from the elements. If you're thinking about the next wave of construction using plastic in innovative new ways, it's already happening. Not so fast! Usually, it should be used at temperature of below 60-80°C. 'Plastic' is a general name given to a wide range of synthetic materials that are based on polymers. Building and Construction. We cannot escape the consequences of throwing away vast quantities of a material that takes hundreds of years to break down. plasterboard - see recycling plasterboard and gypsum from construction projects; plastics ... Use resources efficiently in construction and building trades. Building and construction industry – From the moment famous Bakelite appeared in the first decade of 20th century, plastic became one of the most used building blocks of modern construction industry. First of all, plastic is simply not as strong as wood, metal, or brick. Many construction companies are using plastic materials. Phthalates: Phthalates are substances used in the manufacture of PVC plastics to make them flexible – they are not used in the manufacture of PET plastic bottles. Wood is structurally very strong. Here, AD rounds up some of the most innovative buildings, some temporary and some not, that explore the many possibilities of plastic. Based on the important characteristics & properties of glass, it is considered as the best future material in building construction. Last Name. Oftentimes, companies who are producing plastic products or have a lot of scrap plastic material will sell their waste to be recycled and reused. Plastics are durable and corrosion-free They are ideal for applications such as window frames and pipes which can last for over 50 years. In buildings, you'll find plastics in things like secondary glazing, roofs, heat insulation and soundproofing, and even in the paints you slap on your walls. It’s malleable and durable, which means we’ll see it used more for insulation purposes in the future. If the strength to weight ratio of plastic is same as metals, then also we cannot give preference to plastics because of various reasons like, heavy cost, creep failure may occur, poor stiffness and sensitive against temperature. It is used widely because of the following advantages it has. Wood, cement, aggregates, metals, bricks, concrete, clay are the most common type of building material used in construction. Plastic polymers have a number of vital properties which, exploited alone or together, make a significant and expanding contribution to our needs in building and construction. Plastic may seem like a strange boat-building material, but then when you read an article like Basic Boat Construction: Resin, Fiberglass, and Cores you’ll be reminded of the fact that what we call fiberglass is, in fact, a form of plastic. Plastics strengths come from the unique and varying attributes of their molecular composition and manufacturing applications. The house across the road from me was built in 1803 the one round the corner in 1680 for example. First of all, plastic is simply not as strong as wood, metal, or brick. That’s enough energy saved over the course of a year to meet the average annual energy needs of 4.6 million U.S. households. "Non-biodegradable" does not mean "will not wear out". There are so many different types of plastic material, and a lot of them, like polyethylene , PVC, acrylic, etc., have incredibly useful and versatile properties. Electrical boxes and wall plates for light switches and electrical outlets. In many areas it's still cheaper to get lumber from Mega-Mart  than it is to source a boutique supplier who will have all the materials you need. These are increasingly being made out of plastic such as PEX because PEX is cheap, strong, and flexible. ... Choking Hazard – Plastic is one of the most popular building materials for small items. Why Plastic Bottles for Building Construction? I live in a part of the US that still has some houses going back to the early 1700's, There are older structures in Europe. c) Bamboo plastic composite is a pioneering technology in which bamboo fiber as raw material is blended with plastic as the core material. This is another main reason to use plastic in constructing industries–it is much lighter than metal. Title: Plastics in building Author: National Research Council [U.S.]. This reuse applied to building projects have gained popularity. Plastics enable sustainable, durable, long-lasting design and construction in homes, buildings, and infrastructure like bridges. Kitchen and bathroom flooring. Furthermore, their anti-corrosion properties provide them with an impressive life span, extending to more than 100 years for plastic pipes and 50 years for underground and exterior cables. These plastics too release toxic gases when heated. The reason why it seems like plastic can be used just about everywhere is that it is not actually just one material, but a group of materials. His company, Conceptos Plásticos transforms plastic and rubber waste into a construction material, and uses it to build houses for those who need it, across Colombia. The overriding concern is that the application should be grounded. Plastic is used extensively in house building, windows, insulation, wiring, fittings. He let me know the plastic pipe limitations in southern Nevada had been removed. 10 major advantages of concrete are explained below. Why is it important? Plastic flooring such as vinyl or Formica can have the look of traditional plastic, or is increasingly being made to look like hardwood or ceramic tile flooring. Sewage pipes. hydrogen cyanide and continue through to end of life. Plastics are used all the time for everything including construction, just not so much for structural components of buildings or other applications that require rigidity or high tensile or compression forces. Ok, so you know about the potential health implications of BPA in plastic and you do your best to avoid it. These impacts span across the whole life cycle from extraction, manufacturing, to toxicity and fire e.g. Think for a moment of plastic grocery bags. Plastic waste washed out during flooding often finds its way back to Accra’s beaches. Building means any structure that is used (or intended to be used) for supporting occupancy or sheltering. They wrap homes in a thin poly which acts as a vapour barrier (replacing impregnated tar-paper typically used), there's vinyl siding, synthetic carpet, melamine counter tops, plastic forms for concrete, UV-resistant window frames, interior doors with plastic facades, along with countless other smaller applications. Among the uses of plastic in home construction are: While plastic is used in various roles in home construction as listed above, it is true that pure plastic is not used for structural components. Category: Chemistry      Published: February 26, 2014. The reason you don't see more of it comes down to cost. A one-year study 1 found that the use of plastic building and construction materials saved 467.2 trillion Btu of energy over alternative construction materials. ABS does not have its own plastic number. Plastic is one of the unbreakable. They wrap homes in a thin poly which acts as a vapour barrier (replacing impregnated tar-paper typically used), there's vinyl siding, synthetic carpet, melamine counter tops, plastic forms for concrete, UV-resistant window frames, interior doors with plastic facades, along with countless other smaller applications. As a main ingredient in many composite building materials such as Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP). Why wouldn’t you use plastic materials in construction? It is used widely because of the following advantages it has. Best Answer But according to the SPI, only 9 percent of waste in landfills is plastic. Polyvinyl chloride plastic is a kind of common building plastic made from the polymerized vinyl chloride monomer. These plastic need time to cool down and harden. • Plastics are strong yet lightweight, and so they are easy to transport & manoeuvre. Some of them such as formaldehyde which emanates from paint have boiling points as low as just -19 C. VOCs usually cause irritation to eye and respiratory track, dizziness, memory impairment, damage to the kidney, liver and central nervous system. These mats are highly resistant to moisture and structurally more stable. It is definitely more costly to build homes out of concrete. Until the latest edition of the amendments, plastic pipe was limited to buildings of combustible construction. Housewarp. Plastic siding such as vinyl is often shaped to look like wood clapboard or wood shingles. “Isn’t this wonderful. There are variety of plastics made to suit different uses. The durability of plastics makes them ideal for applications such as window frames and pipes. Glass reinforced plastic (GRP), is sometimes referred to as; glass reinforced polyester, fibreglass, glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP), fibre reinforced plastic … It takes a lot less energy to move materials from one place to another. It just means that it doesn't get reused by nature. Plastic materials are used in several ways in home construction. These chemicals are building up in our bodies and in our environment. Our planet is not as large as we think it is. Written by Amy Richardson on 5th March 2009 in ETFE. The choice of these are based on their cost effectiveness for building projects. Sold on the idea of using plastic in your next home build? But what about PVC in plastics and other products? Given what we've just learned about the properties of plastics, it comes as no surprise to find them helping us out in building construction, clothing, packaging, transport, and in many other parts of everyday life. Because it’s much lighter than other materials, plexiglass acrylic is easy to install and is extremely cost effective. Collect off cuts and use first instead of new materials. Plastic has useful properties such as water resistance, corrosion resistance, electrical insulation, and durability. 2. Recent studies in this direction have shown some hope in terms of using plastic-waste in road construction i.e., Plastic roads. Savings vary by material and products. Created to be light, durable, chemically resistant, non-reactive to outside influences, and easy to manufacture, plastic was a perfect building material for countless articles that are used not only by ordinary users in their daily affairs but also in aeronautics, construction industry, electronics, packaging, transportation, energy conservation, scientific compone… Benefits of plastics in building and construction 2 Why use plastics? Post-industrial plastic is created when a company manufactures plastic goods and has plastic material or “scrap” leftover that isn’t used in the final product. steel mesh fence panels) may have a higher initial cost, but be cheaper in the long term and reduce waste. Part of this is because the materials, but part of the cost also comes from extra labor (see #2). Plastic in construction - Designing Buildings Wiki - Share your construction industry knowledge. This is only surpassed by packaging industry, which uses more plastic than construction industry. 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