Perspective Chapter: Prefabricated Low-Carbon Panels for Exterior Walls

Abstract

The construction industry plays a relevant role in the economy but also has some major negative environmental impacts. Such impacts need to be reduced, hence the importance of guiding the industry towards the principles of sustainable construction, which allow for greater productivity, as well as for significant reductions in terms of costs and labour. In spite of the lingering popularity of on-site execution techniques, the construction site is progressively becoming a place for the assembly of prefabricated components, which are lighter and more flexible, have dry metallic connections, can be easily assembled and disassembled and are, therefore, reusable. This paper means to present an alternative method for the prefabrication of panels for exterior walls, also for use in the construction of small-scale buildings, using renewable, often local, non-polluting building materials, such as wood, cork, or straw. These have thermal insulation functions that are essential for the outer envelope of the building to achieve high energy efficiency and may be applied with the use of simple but effective mechanised technologies