Development of Innovative Materials and Structural Systems for Suistainable Building Construction

Continuous development of new high performance materials is a driving force for the innovation and sustainability of building construction. In recent years, many new categories of construction materials have emerged which facilitate various possibilities to elevate the performance of the buildings from various perspectives. Such materials involved such as ultra-high performance concrete, high performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, 3D printing concrete, gepolymer concrete and so on. The integrated use of different types of innovative materials in an optimal way may pave a cost-effective solution to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of building construction. This lecture presents a summary of the recent research activities in the author’s group on the development of new materials and structural systems. The contents to be reported include: (1) use of high-performance fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites; (2) development of ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites; (3) development of multi-functional coating for surface protection and energy saving of building envelopes; (4) geopolymer cement for prefabricated construction and 3D printing. The possibility to combine these developments in prefabricated building envelopes is especially discussed.