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Durability: Importance of Durable Materials for Green Building

What is it that enables some structures to survive a hundred years or longer, while others don’t even last a few decades? 

This article highlights the importance of durable materials for green building, what it means and why it’s important. 

What Is Durability?

Durability is the ability for something to withstand changes in the environment to maintain its usefulness.  This can be a difficult property to assess – whilst a hard material may be hard to touch but it may also be non-durable if it decomposes or is eroded in a relatively short period. Many factors determine the durability of a material, from the kind of material it is to how it was assembled with other materials.

What Is Green Building?

A green building is a building that, through its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts on the climate and the natural environment.  Green buildings conserve natural resources and improve the quality of life.

Many features can make a building green. These include:

  • Efficient use of energy, water, and other resources
  • Use renewable energy, such as solar
  • Measures to reduce pollution and waste, and achieve reuse and recycling
  • Good indoor ambient air quality
  • Use non-toxic, ethical, and sustainable materials
  • Consider the environment in design, construction, and operation
  • Consider the quality of life of residents in design, construction, and operation

Why Is Durability Important?


It seems fairly obvious that there are environmental and economic benefits to durability.  A durable building lasts a long time and allows for the costs of building it to be spread over a long period.  The materials used in construction won’t need to be replaced or repaired as frequently, so the materials, energy, and environmental impacts invested in them can be spread out over more time.
A house or commercial office building designed and built to last 100 years offers significant resource advantages over a comparable building that will last just 50 years (assuming similar energy performance and indoor environmental quality).  The longer-lasting building’s higher economic and environmental costs can usually be justified by its durability.  Investments in increased durability should not be carried too far, however.  Building life expectancy is often shortened or lengthened for reasons that are unrelated to the structural integrity of the building.

Durability often goes hand-in-hand with low maintenance. Durable material is a material that is not hard to maintain. Low maintenance and durable products are key features of a good product.  Exterior materials that need to be repainted or stripped and re-waxed regularly will not be durable unless they are maintained properly and that maintenance becomes part of the material’s life-cycle environmental and economic burdens.

One of the most common causes of durability issues is the use of damaged and low-quality materials. Low-quality materials will always lead to low-quality outputs. Like how bad ingredients cannot make a good dish. 

Poor quality building materials will not last as long as high-quality building materials, and this decreases the durability of the entire construction project. For example, if you opt for a high-quality wiremesh as a base for your concrete project, that base will be more reinforced and durable than one made with poor-quality building material. Using high-quality materials will make your construction project last longer and you’ll also know that your construction project is safer to use. 

While your project can save money on the project by choosing for poor quality building materials, chances are it will cost you more in the long run. These poor-quality building materials may rust, wash out, warp, fade, break, chip, or corrode and may cause safety issues and quality issues, and it may result in warranty and repair work, which will impact your profit margins and incur even more costs. After you’re done replacing everything, you’ll probably end up spending just as much as you would if you would have used high-quality materials in the first place, if not more than that.

Instead of skimping out on high-quality building materials and opting for low-quality building materials on your next project, make the right choice and choose high-quality building materials that are durable, sustainable, and will last for a long time. That’s why you must choose the right supplier for your quality Toko Besi, Bahan Bangunan, dan Perkakas because compromising the quality to save a few bucks will bring you more cons than pros.


The Bottom Line

Economic considerations will play a significant part in determining the durability of construction. Many factors go into deciding what materials are best for construction, including quality and durability. These two factors are inextricably linked.  

With more frequent extreme weather events, the durability of buildings is becoming more of a concern.  In some cases, buildings may be designed to be deconstructed, as well as being durable, so that at the end of their lives, they can be easily recycled or repurposed.

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Edna Webb

I am Edna Webb and I love technology. I have always been fascinated by anything that has to do with computers, gadgets, and software. This led me to study Computer Science in college and eventually become a full-stack developer and editor at GforGadget.com. I love to write about technology and share my thoughts with others. I also enjoy photography, eating different delicacies, and following tech closely.

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