Estimating the environmental suitability of wall materials: preliminary results from Sri Lanka

Despite rapid increases in the building industryʹs contribution to resource depletion, waste generation and energy consumption, the creation of built environment remains vital to a countryʹs economic development. This makes the building industry a prime candidate for sustainable development. Tools that help estimate the environmental suitability of building products can advance the cause of sustainable development. In this study, we estimate the environmental suitability of five of the most commonly used wall materials in Sri Lanka (brick, cement masonry unit, cabook, rubble AND wattle and daub). An “Environmental Suitability Index” is developed based on three parameters: embodied energy, life-cycle costs and re-usability. The possibility of using similar indices for other materials in Sri Lanka as well as elsewhere are explored.