Woodhead Publishing Bio-based Materials and Biotechnologies for Eco-efficient Construction (Woodhead Publishing Series in Civil and Structural Engineering)

Bio-based Materials and Biotechnologies for Eco-efficient Construction fills a gap in the published literature, discussing bio-based materials and biotechnologies that are crucial for a more sustainable construction industry. With comprehensive coverage and contributions from leading experts in the field, the book includes sections on Bio-based materials and biotechnologies for infrastructure applications, Bio-based materials and biotechnologies for building energy efficiency, and other applications, such as using biotechnology to reduce indoor air pollution, for water treatment, and in soil decontamination. The book will be an essential reference resource for academic researchers, civil engineers, contractors working in construction works, postgraduate students and other professionals. Review Discusses recent trends in the application and use of bio-based materials and biotechnologies for eco-efficient construction From the Back Cover <p>Over the past few years there has been a marked increase of interest in the bio-based economy. Biotechnology is one of the world's fastest growing industries, with it being one of the ‘six’ Key Enabling Technologies funded by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020. As such, it is likely to become a hot topic area of research in the future, allowing for radical changes in the eco-efficiency of construction materials and technologies. </p> <p>The last few years have witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of citations given for papers published on bio-based polymers (around 1000% in the last 10 years). One area that has received increased attention is Biotech admixtures that are made in fermentation processes by employing bacteria or fungi. Their biosynthesis rate is about 2-4 times higher than that of plant-based biopolymers. The advancements that have occurred in the last decade in nanotechnology will also allow for the development of new and improved biotech-based materials. Investigations on cellulose nanocrystals (cellulose elements having at least one dimension in the 1-100nm range) constitute an important and recent research field that will enable the development of more eco-efficient high-performance materials. The future potential of nanocellulose materials can also be witnessed from the exponential increase in the number of papers published in this important scientific field. </p> <p><i>Bio-based Materials and Biotechnologies for Eco-efficient Construction</i> fills a gap in the published literature discussing bio-based materials and biotechnologies that are crucial for a more sustainable construction industry. With comprehensive coverage and contributions from leading experts in the field of eco-efficient and bio-based materials the contents are divided over three parts. Part One discusses Bio-based materials and biotechnologies for infrastructure applications; Part Two focuses on bio-based materials and biotechnologies for building energy efficiency and Part Three looks at other applications such as using biotechnology to reduce indoor air pollution, for water treatment and soil decontamination. </p> <p>The book will be an essential reference resource for academic researchers, civil engineers, contractors working in construction works, postgraduate students and other professionals interested in eco-efficient construction.</p> About the Author F. Pacheco-Torgal is a Principal Investigator at the University of Minho, Portugal. He holds the title Counsellor from the Portuguese Engineers Association. He has authored more than 300 publications, 119 in Scopus and 107 in Web of Science-WoS. His publications have been viewed or downloaded almost 500,000 times. He currently holds the record for the highest Platinum SCI h-index and the highest K-index in the field of Civil Engineering in Portugal. He is in the Top 10 Platinum SCI h-index in the world for the field of construction and building materials. He is a member of the