A study on the color change benefits of sustainable green building materials

Environmental issues have become a topical subject in recent years. Numerous recycling resources can be found in our living environment, such as fallen leaves, wood chips, recovered iron powder, waste newspaper, waste concrete, reservoir silt, etc., which are utilizable waste materials. Related regulations stipulate that the waste blending ratio of recycling green building materials should be higher than 50%. In this study, three waste materials, including wood chips, concrete, and waste newspaper, were mixed with gypsum and dissolved in thermochromic material, which is made into bricks. The thermal radiation of sunlight can be absorbed by the bricks to change the hue. The experimental modules were divided into ABCD groups, which were mixed with allochroic powder of different specifications. The RGB values of bricks at different temperatures and hours were measured by a color analyzer. The results showed that the rate of change in the RGB values of the ABCD groups is higher than 10.9% when the day– night temperature difference exceeds 5 C. These allochroic bricks can be applied to the external walls of buildings, providing landscape, building, and interior designers with another media for artistic creation. 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.