Experimental research in design of construction elements using recycled materials to be used in social housing. Doctoral thesis synthesis

Abstract

This article is a synthesis of a Doctoral Thesis of the Doctorate in Design Science at the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Design of the National University of Córdoba, presented in 2009. It is about the development of a new material for construction: mortar made with recycled plastics and cement. With this material, bricks, blocks, plates and big bricks have been manufactured to be used as nonbearing enclosures in homes. These construction elements are more ecological than traditional ones because waste material is used as the main raw material, thus collaborating with the decontamination of the environment. Most of these residues up to the present are buried in the municipal land without any use; or accumulated and burned in landfills, causing degradation of the environment. From the technical point of view, construction elements are obtained with advantages over traditional ones (such as earth bricks and concrete blocks) in terms of lightness and thermal insulation. The economic importance of the implementation of this technology is that it will reduce costs for municipalities in waste collection and final disposal; and in general, in the decontamination of the environment.