Material Considerations in Architectural Design: A Study of the Aspects Identified by Architects for Selecting Materials

Material selection in architecture is not only about choosing the strongest, cheapest, or most obvious materials available. Architects also choose warm, formal, functional, or local materials for buildings. And the material options are not limited by only these considerations. The material selection process is a complex process that is influenced and determined by numerous preconditions, decisions and considerations. The current material selection tools, however, focus mainly on the technical aspects of materials. In order to make well-considered and justifiable material choices, architects have a need for information on the whole spectrum of aspects considered during the design and selection process. Earlier work presented a framework, based on a literature study and the analysis of in-depth interviews, in which the different attributes of materials that contribute to a design project were identified and organized. To refine this framework and make it available for architects during the material selection process, a group of architects was selected and assembled into a focus group. This study presents how the focus group identified, classified and commented on the considerations that are made by architects while selecting materials for a project. The evaluation of the collected data, and the discussion within the group, permitted the formulation of comments and resulted in a revised framework of material considerations, useful during the design and selection process of a material. Material properties (1), Experience (2), Manufacturing process (3), and Context (4) were identified as the different elements that are related to the material selection process. The four groups are presented here in detail. Keywords: Material Selection; Design Aspects; Architectural Experience; Material Attributes; Focus Group; Design Process</p

IEA EBC Annex 72: Assessing Life Cycle Related Environmental Impacts Caused by Buildings: Guidelines for design decision-makers:Energy in Buildings and Communities Technology Collaboration Programme

The purpose of this report is to provide support to the design decisions-makers during the design process. For each of the defined design step decision the important topics to consider were identified, the key stakeholders are declared and the purpose of LCA at the selected design step is defined. The report covers: The definition of the design steps, the definition of the tasks in each design step and an overview of the relevant milestones for performing LCA; An overview of the systematic building decomposition methods and the appropriate levels at each design step; An overview of the tools that can be used for LCA and a selection process for choosing the right LCA tool. A special emphasize is given to the topic of Building Information Modelling (BIM), how the BIM tools can facilitate the LCA assessment and what information should be implemented in the BIM model; Strategies on how to reduce the design-related uncertainties; An overview of the visualization of the LCA results and which are appropriate in the selected design steps

Architects' considerations while selecting materials

When selecting materials for a building, architects are guided not only by structural and functional requirements but also consider aspects relating to the sensory effect and experience. The material information and selection tools available for architects are, however, often dominated by technical material data without providing systematic knowledge on experience aspects of materials. Hence, no comprehensive material information is available to the architect. This paper aims to identify, organize, and map the different elements contributing to the material selection process for buildings, and generate a schematic of basic material selection considerations for an architectural design project. The paper discusses the findings of three studies investigating architects’ materials selection process at different stages of the design process. As a result, architects’ materials selection considerations are identified and organized according to four categories: Context, Manufacturing, Material aspects, and Experience. These considerations are discussed in relation to each other as well as in reference to material selection research in architecture and industrial design. The results confirm the importance of aspects relating to experience in an architectural material context and emphasize the need for further research and information on the topic of material experience in architecture.status: publishe

Framework of Material Considerations in Architectural Design: The interaction between context, manufacturing, experience and material aspects

Material selection in architecture is not always based on conscious and well-considered decisions. This paper aims to get a better insight in the aspects that contribute to these decisions taken during the material selection process. A focus group study and in-depth interviews allowed to identify ‘context’, ‘manufacturing process’, ‘experience’, and ‘material aspects’ as the elements that are considered by architects when selecting materials. In this paper, the interaction between the different aspects is investigated and discussed. The context will create a set of preconditions to start from or to frame and guide decisions in the other fields. Aspects concerning the experience, manufacturing process, and the material behavior, will interact and influence each other and will be considered based on the given context. In order to make justifiable material choices, the architect will run through all four considerations before making a final material decision

Environmental impact of concrete with recycled aggregates an evaluation through 4 case studies

The use of recycled aggregates in new structural concrete is generally considered as a measure for lowering the environmental impact of concrete. Existing literature considers transport distances and the final performance of the concrete (linked to its composition) as main influencing factors to evaluate the environmental burdens or gains when using recycled aggregates. However, these studies are generally based on generic data and/or on theoretical assumptions (e.g. higher cement content). Between 2013 and 2015, 10 pilot construction projects using concrete with recycled aggregates were executed in Belgium. On the one hand, these cases provided insights in the equivalency in technical performance of concrete with and without recycled aggregates. On the other hand, the collection of actual data on transportation distances and modes, allowed to refine the LCA model based on specific data. This paper presents the results of 4 case studies, where the environmental impact of using recycled aggregates versus natural aggregates is evaluated by use of LCA calculations according to the European standards EN 15804 and EN 15978. Throughout the cases, different aspects related to the recycling of aggregates are evaluated by consideration of multiple scenarios and comparisons (different replacement ratios, use of concrete aggregates & slags, impact of actual transport distances versus general data). In addition several methodological choices, such as the definition of the end-of-waste-point and the choice of impact indicators and weighting rules, are being discussed

Relating material experience to technical parameters: A case study on visual and tactile warmth perception of indoor wall materials

Experiential aspects of materials are addressed rather intuitively by architects during the material selection process for buildings. This paper explores the possibilities of relating material experience in architecture to technical material parameters and uses the perceived warmth of indoor wall materials as a case study. Various building materials were assessed technically and their perceived warmth was evaluated by participants. As people experience a building and its materials through multiple senses, the separate effects of vision and touch were considered. Results show that the senses used for evaluation have a major impact on the perception of warmth, and that a distinction should be made between the visual warmth and tactile warmth of a material. The overall perception of warmth was shown to correspond to its visual perception. Furthermore, the perception of material warmth was correlated with several technical material parameters, such as the thermal effusivity, the surface gloss and the hue and saturation of the material color. The color study suggested that the material color has a larger effect on the perceived warmth than other material parameters. An indication of the relationships between the perceived material warmth and measurable technical material parameters offers architects insights on how to change the experience of warmth by changing specific technical parameters and thus allows to select materials in a better informed way.status: publishe

Touching materials visually: About the dominance of vision in building material assessment

Designers’ visual way of knowing and working tends to be highly valued in design research. In architecture such an approach is increasingly criticized. Since people experience buildings with all their senses, architects’ visual focus is said to the run the risk of disregarding non-visual aspects. This study focuses on the visual and tactile assessment of building materials. Analyses show that architecture students assess several experiential qualities differently by touch than by vision. Vision dominates the overall assessment, yet does not always anticipate touch correctly. Moreover architecture students seem to be unaware of how common building materials feel, and are unable to identify them by touch only. This identifies the need for a more elaborate consideration of non-visual aspects during design in general and design education in particular.status: publishe

LCA supporting the design of circular biobased wall panels

One of the numerous objectives of the European CBCI project is to develop a circular biobased wall element. As part of the design process, the first prototypes are analysed using life cycle assessment (LCA) and compared to a more traditional wood-skeleton element. The results indicate that the prototypes have a significantly higher impact than the reference solution, mainly because of the specific selection of biobased finishing materials. Also, considering an in-use service life of 60 years, the use of metal connectors to enable dismantling and reuse of the structure is not justifiable from an environmental perspective as their impact is about as high as the structure itself. In conclusion, the case study illustrates how LCA allows to evaluate the environmental relevance of specific circular building solutions and can be used to identify optimization strategies