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Sustainable Materials without the hot air: Making buildings, vehicles and products efficiently and with less new material
Now in its second edition, Sustainable Materials shows how we can greatly reduce the amount of material demanded and used in manufacturing, while still meeting everyone's needs.
Materials, transformed from natural resources into the buildings, equipment, vehicles and goods that underpin our remarkable lifestyle, are made with amazing efficiency. But our growing demand is not sustainable. Production of just five materials – steel, aluminium, paper, plastics and cement – accounts for 55% of industrial emissions, and demand for materials will double by 2050. Can we continue to live well but use less materials?
So far people have considered the problem with only one eye open, hoping for a magic solution (such as carbon capture and storage). But with both eyes open we have a whole new set of options. Rather than making more materials, we can use them more wisely – with less material, keeping them for longer, re-using their parts and more. These options make a huge we really could set up our children with a more sustainable life, without compromising our own.
Sustainable Materials faces up to the impacts of making materials in the 21st century. Drawing on their experiences working with innovative materials as well as the facts and findings of their research, Julian Allwood and Jonathan Cullen provide an evidence-based vision of change that will allow us to make our future more sustainable. Packed with hundreds of colour photos and helpful graphs and diagrams, Sustainable Materials provides a thorough analysis of the problems that we face through wasteful attitudes and the growing demand for materials, as well as an evaluation of practical and achievable solutions for the future.
The first edition of this optimistic and richly-informed book was listed as one of Bill Gate's top reads in 2015, and was also chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title by ACRL Choice magazine. This up-to-date, revised edition is perfect for anyone with an interest in sustainability.
Materials, transformed from natural resources into the buildings, equipment, vehicles and goods that underpin our remarkable lifestyle, are made with amazing efficiency. But our growing demand is not sustainable. Production of just five materials – steel, aluminium, paper, plastics and cement – accounts for 55% of industrial emissions, and demand for materials will double by 2050. Can we continue to live well but use less materials?
So far people have considered the problem with only one eye open, hoping for a magic solution (such as carbon capture and storage). But with both eyes open we have a whole new set of options. Rather than making more materials, we can use them more wisely – with less material, keeping them for longer, re-using their parts and more. These options make a huge we really could set up our children with a more sustainable life, without compromising our own.
Sustainable Materials faces up to the impacts of making materials in the 21st century. Drawing on their experiences working with innovative materials as well as the facts and findings of their research, Julian Allwood and Jonathan Cullen provide an evidence-based vision of change that will allow us to make our future more sustainable. Packed with hundreds of colour photos and helpful graphs and diagrams, Sustainable Materials provides a thorough analysis of the problems that we face through wasteful attitudes and the growing demand for materials, as well as an evaluation of practical and achievable solutions for the future.
The first edition of this optimistic and richly-informed book was listed as one of Bill Gate's top reads in 2015, and was also chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title by ACRL Choice magazine. This up-to-date, revised edition is perfect for anyone with an interest in sustainability.
416 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2015
23 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 31, 2022
The book is about reducing the emissions of the materials industry, it identifies two main polluters Steel & Aluminium, thus most of the book focuses on how to reduce emissions in processes of making these. The beginning of the book outlines the path from ore to product and the emissions related to both of these, as well as the problems in getting accurate numbers relating to these estimates.
Firstly it looks at how to reduce the emissions by improving the processes we have today, by for example top gas recycling, and more efficient motors. The conclusion is that it is possible to reduce the emissions by a decent margin (20ish %) but not enough to hit a 50% emissions reduction target, especially not while adjusting for future demand.
This leads us onto part 2, where more radical solutions are proposed, this time for steel and aluminium consuming industries. It is proposed that designs should be more modular for 2 reasons, simpler designs tessellate more reducing scrap from metal sheets, and modular designs are easier to fix which extends lifetime of components. Furthermore it is proposed that load bearing components such as beams should come in a larger variety of shapes, so that steels use in buildings can be reduced. Additionally there is a push for lighter cars as these will have less emissions, it is also claimed that this could reduce total emissions more than electric cars. It is estimated that all of these will not reduce emissions enough though, so the most important message is to use less metal/material through longer lasting products, and intensifying use through sharing services. (and of course better recycling)
In part 3 there is some small appendices about other materials such as paper, cement, and plastics. The conclusions for these are similar to that of metal; use less of it to reduce emissions.
Part 4 sets out practical ways to implement the proposed changes, mostly through incentive programs and policy change as the free market won't adopt these solutions on their own, as it wants to maximize profits not minimize emissions. This includes adjusting from a minimum safety requirement for buildings to a target range, government programs and buildings specing for minimizing emissions etc. To incentivise the markets to reduce emissions it is proposed one should tax materials or carbon instead of labour as this would cause materials to become a larger fraction of the final price.
My take:
Overall an interesting books with a lot of interesting diagrams and overall a very complete take on the industry. A bit of an eye-opener for alternative solutions to cutting emissions, this will however require some sacrifice or lifestyle change for heavy consuming countries, as well as big changes to industry. The book should be read by more politicians, as I sadly don't see many that advocate for what is seen in the book.
Firstly it looks at how to reduce the emissions by improving the processes we have today, by for example top gas recycling, and more efficient motors. The conclusion is that it is possible to reduce the emissions by a decent margin (20ish %) but not enough to hit a 50% emissions reduction target, especially not while adjusting for future demand.
This leads us onto part 2, where more radical solutions are proposed, this time for steel and aluminium consuming industries. It is proposed that designs should be more modular for 2 reasons, simpler designs tessellate more reducing scrap from metal sheets, and modular designs are easier to fix which extends lifetime of components. Furthermore it is proposed that load bearing components such as beams should come in a larger variety of shapes, so that steels use in buildings can be reduced. Additionally there is a push for lighter cars as these will have less emissions, it is also claimed that this could reduce total emissions more than electric cars. It is estimated that all of these will not reduce emissions enough though, so the most important message is to use less metal/material through longer lasting products, and intensifying use through sharing services. (and of course better recycling)
In part 3 there is some small appendices about other materials such as paper, cement, and plastics. The conclusions for these are similar to that of metal; use less of it to reduce emissions.
Part 4 sets out practical ways to implement the proposed changes, mostly through incentive programs and policy change as the free market won't adopt these solutions on their own, as it wants to maximize profits not minimize emissions. This includes adjusting from a minimum safety requirement for buildings to a target range, government programs and buildings specing for minimizing emissions etc. To incentivise the markets to reduce emissions it is proposed one should tax materials or carbon instead of labour as this would cause materials to become a larger fraction of the final price.
My take:
Overall an interesting books with a lot of interesting diagrams and overall a very complete take on the industry. A bit of an eye-opener for alternative solutions to cutting emissions, this will however require some sacrifice or lifestyle change for heavy consuming countries, as well as big changes to industry. The book should be read by more politicians, as I sadly don't see many that advocate for what is seen in the book.
August 8, 2020
This is the epitome of materials efficiency notion!
Filled with well-researched facts and scientific claims, I find them enjoyable to read. The beginning premise start off lightly, by throwing some of the metaphors for the laymen. It all ultimately boils down to these measures:
- No questions about demand growth in the future (at least in the next half century). Most of the energy efficiency measures are almost reaching its natural limits, so we should play different games in looking at how we value materials. For instance, attaching historical or emotional value on our products.
- However, as perplexing as it sounds, there's a conflict between producing goods at massive scale vs. uniquely design product. We reduce production costs from economies of scale. Then how to shift paradigms? An excerpt continues in the next bullet point...
- I personally like the business model transformation aspect. In the end, what we want is the service that materials provide, not the phsysical being per se. We would pick any relevant choices as long as it satisfies our needs (ex: commuting to a particular destination with a ride-sharing service against driving alone)
The only heavy parts might be encountered in Part 2 and Part 3 of the book. To me personally, they contain the most advanced assessments it can be in the field of industrial ecology and materials science, but could require more time to absorb. Just be patient, and carry on because the last parts (other materials such as cement, paper, and plastics) are much more acceptable, especially part 5 (i.e. pragmatic approaches and policy options) when the authors put into pit the economic metrics (GDP) with others in social, religious and political ones.
In overall, they have done a very great job in popularizing this theme!
Filled with well-researched facts and scientific claims, I find them enjoyable to read. The beginning premise start off lightly, by throwing some of the metaphors for the laymen. It all ultimately boils down to these measures:
- No questions about demand growth in the future (at least in the next half century). Most of the energy efficiency measures are almost reaching its natural limits, so we should play different games in looking at how we value materials. For instance, attaching historical or emotional value on our products.
- However, as perplexing as it sounds, there's a conflict between producing goods at massive scale vs. uniquely design product. We reduce production costs from economies of scale. Then how to shift paradigms? An excerpt continues in the next bullet point...
- I personally like the business model transformation aspect. In the end, what we want is the service that materials provide, not the phsysical being per se. We would pick any relevant choices as long as it satisfies our needs (ex: commuting to a particular destination with a ride-sharing service against driving alone)
The only heavy parts might be encountered in Part 2 and Part 3 of the book. To me personally, they contain the most advanced assessments it can be in the field of industrial ecology and materials science, but could require more time to absorb. Just be patient, and carry on because the last parts (other materials such as cement, paper, and plastics) are much more acceptable, especially part 5 (i.e. pragmatic approaches and policy options) when the authors put into pit the economic metrics (GDP) with others in social, religious and political ones.
In overall, they have done a very great job in popularizing this theme!
February 17, 2021
This had very good reviews and I've read their papers (that I found great), so I thought it was going to be nice to have it as a reference. However, they go from a very plain language and metaphors to academic figures. In my opinion the basic explanations were annoying. Also, it says materials in the title but it is basically about steel and aluminium in general, they don't even analyse the different alloys. There are only about 40 pages out of 385 devoted to other materials, which are cement, plastic and paper.
December 8, 2019
The authors acknowledge the real solution - use nuclear for carbon free electricity - at the beginning of the book, then proceed to make many unrealistic or impractical suggestions. As they themselves point out, most processes are already within 2x of theoretical efficiency limits, so the only sustainable way is to switch to large scale carbon free electricity.
November 3, 2016
Very good companion to MacKay's energy without hot air.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews