Organic materials for sustainable construction

edited by Yves Mouton

Organic materials for sustainable construction provides an inventory of organic materials and products, the major components of all civil engineering projects, in terms of their scientific and technical background, including the regulations that cover their use and their predicted useful life.

Such materials include bitumen on the roads; geotextiles for retaining walls; membranes for bridges; tunnel and reservoir waterproofing; paint binders to protect metallic and concrete structures or to realize road markings; injection resins; gluing products; concrete admixtures; and composite materials.

The presentation is based on a physicochemical approach, which is essential if these products are to be considered as part of sustainable development: as such, those studying or working in these fields will find this an invaluable source of information.

In the building trade, for the majority of those involved, organic materials are still considered to be mere accessories, as products of secondary importance. However, they have proved to be omnipresent and therefore essential to the trade.

This vision also explains in Organic materials for sustainable construction why these organic materials have only been of interest to those authors of science and technology in the application’s restricted framework, in the trade where each one of these materials is needed.

Experience in the civil engineering domain has shown us that the “plastics”, sometimes called soft materials, have many characteristics in common. All taken together, these characteristics may be interesting to compare, with the aim both to teach, and to stimulate research in Organic materials for sustainable construction.