We present a new perspective for the role of Termitomyces fungi in the mutualism with fungus-growing termites. According to the predominant view, this mutualism is as an example of agriculture with termites as farmers of a domesticated fungus crop, which is used for degradation of plant-material and production of fungal biomass. However, a detailed study of the literature indicates that the ter...

The management of construction waste is important today. The scarcity in the availability of aggregate for the production of concrete is one of the important problems facing by the construction industry. Appropriate use of the construction waste is a solution to the fast degradation of virgin raw materials in the construction industry. This paper enlightens the importance of reduce, reuse and r...

Beeswax is a multicomponent material used by bees in the genus Apis to house larvae and store honey and pollen. We characterized the mechanical properties of waxes from four honeybee species: Apis mellifera L., Apis andreniformis L., Apis dorsata L. and two subspecies of Apis cerana L. In order to isolate the material effects from the architectural properties of nest comb, we formed raw wax in ...

The paper presents the development of a method that determines building material and surface properties using relative simple and low-budget experiments, with the following conditions: (I) Constrained: the material is located in building constructions and only non destructive measurements are allowed. (II) Unconstrained: the material if is freely available for optimal testing. The latter compre...

This paper evaluated CSLBs as a building material for sustainable housing construction. The study focused primarily on evaluating its physical properties as a building material as well as a measure of its level of acceptability for housing construction among the populace. The study was carried out in four local governments namely; Ogbomoso North, Ibadan Southwest, (in Oyo State) Ado-Odo Ota, (O...

JCI/UPCYCLE Associates' technological and commercial approach focuses on the utilization of dredged material as a feedstock in the manufacture of a value added building material, lightweight aggregate (LWA). Our approach, based on proven unit operations, is capable of yielding an "upcycled" product with a demonstrated market demand. Key to the success of the approach is the incorporation of exi...

The article discusses directions of utilization of mining industry wastes from the Murmansk region in the building industry. The Murmansk region is an industrially developed area and possesses a huge potential for production of local building materials. There is proposed a number of measures to improve methodological basis for evaluation of efficiency of wastes utilization and economic stimulat...

The excessive wastage of materials, improper management on site and low awareness of the need for waste reduction are common in the local construction sites in India. Today, in most European countries, it is economically feasible to recycle up to 80–90% of the total amount of construction waste and most demolition and recycling technologies are generally easy to implement and control (Lauritzen...

Exposure to wood dust was measured among 26 carpenters at 13 building projects. Sampling days were chosen randomly. Individual tasks, based on technology applied and material used during a working day, were sampled separately. From these task-based measurements, 8 h time-weighted average concentrations were calculated. Sampling was performed in accordance with a protocol that was developed by t...

More production equals more waste, more waste creates environmental concerns of toxic threat. An economical viable solution to this problem should include utilization of waste materials for new products which in turn minimize the heavy burden on the nation’s landfills. Recycling of waste construction materials saves natural resources, saves energy, reduces solid waste, reduces air and water pol...