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Dear Colleagues,

Today, globally, environmentally friendly materials are being rediscovered. A sustainable approach to construction is allowing research to focus on indoor environment comfort, studying hygrothermal and air quality aspects. Recently, agro-waste materials have been used for sustainable buildings in different forms: bricks, plasters, mortars, and panels. The use of vegetable fibers is firmly connected to the significant reduction of the environmental impact of the production process.

The use or the addition of natural fibers, originating from agro-waste (i.e., straw) or industrial by-products (i.e., sawdust) helps improve the physical properties of final products, enhancing thermal, hygric and acoustic performances. Furthermore, the use of vegetable fibers, thanks to their sustainable life cycle can be considered a way to improve the whole sustainability of building materials. Studies on different uses of the agricultural waste for different applications are expected for this Special Issue.

Papers can be reviews, meta-analyses, case studies, and original research relevant in terms of technical aspects, physical properties, economic, and environmental analysis.

Dr. Stefania Liuzzi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Sustainable materials
Hygrothermal properties
Acoustic performances
Bio-based materials
Vegetable fibers

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2188 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Utilization of Crop Residues as Forest Protection: Predicting the Production of Wheat and Rapeseed Residues

by Petra Hýsková, Štěpán Hýsek and Vilém Jarský

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5828; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12145828 - 20 Jul 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1788

Abstract

Deforestation is a global threat in the form of the reduction of all of the ecosystem services provided to humans by forest ecosystems. For this reason, this article deals with the protection of forest ecosystem services by searching for a substitute for wood biomass. In recent years, the post-harvest residues of agricultural crops have been used mainly for energy and material uses. If this raw material is to be used industrially in the long term, we must have an idea of its future production. In most studies, predictions of future post-harvest residue productions are resolved in terms of the availability for energy sectors. This paper deals with the total amount of produced post-harvest residues that can be taken from the field; the post-harvest residue production for selected sectors is not subtracted from the overall prediction. Post-harvest residue production was estimated using the residue to product ratio (RPR), wherein the RPR coefficient was calculated for the monitored crops in each year, and the post-harvest residue production was subsequently calculated in each year according to the conversion rate characteristic for each year. The production of two widespread agricultural crops—wheat and rapeseed—was predicted. Linear regression models were used for the estimations. Based on these models, we predict the production of 58.3 million tonnes of post-harvest wheat residues and 22.4 million tonnes of post-harvest rapeseed residues in 2030 in the European Union. In the Czech Republic, we predict the production of 1.8 million tonnes of post-harvest wheat residues and 1.3 million tonnes of post-harvest rapeseed residues. The presented results can be used as the basis for further considerations of the material use of post-harvest residues and for the substitution of wood with these residues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Use of Agro-Wastes in Building Materials)

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Review

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20 pages, 62592 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Agro-Waste Production in Selected EUSAIR Regions and Its Potential Use for Building Applications: A Review

by Stefania Liuzzi, Chiara Rubino, Pietro Stefanizzi and Francesco Martellotta

Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 670; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14020670 - 07 Jan 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2965

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide a snapshot of the agro-waste production in Puglia, Molise, Albania and Montenegro, some of the regions belonging to EUSAIR (ADRIATIC-IONIAN REGIONS) correlating this aspect to the possible use of agro-waste in the building sector. EUSAIR is a functional area, facing the Adriatic sea, treating the marine, coastal and terrestrial areas as interconnected systems. In the first part of the paper, the state of the art about the current consumption of agricultural biomass is carried out referring to the ongoing research lines. It was shown that a great number of international studies have demonstrated that the agro-waste plays an important role in several fields. Moreover, several researchers conducted studies on hygrothermal, physical and acoustical properties of building materials made with biomass proving the potentiality to use this kind of by-product. Then, the state of the art regarding the production and current way of disposal of the agro-waste in the regions of the EUSAIR above mentioned was performed in order to outline the possible by-products which are suitable to be re-used in the building sector. The correlation existing between the agro-waste and the possible use in the building sector is finally presented, focusing on the legislative framework currently existing in each of the regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Use of Agro-Wastes in Building Materials)

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