Most eco-friendly building materials for 2020 revealed

Sell House Fast surveyed 582 architects, engineers and construction (AEC) professionals to identify the eco-friendly building materials they expect the property industry to increase using in 2020

Sell House Fast found that the majority of experts believe bamboo (74%) is the eco-friendly building material that will experience the greatest use in the property industry next year.

Thereafter, 69% expect straw bales to have a strong inclusion in construction projects scheduled in 2020. Whilst slightly less feel the same way about timbercrete (61%). Contrastingly, cork (38%) is the eco-friendly building material that experts predict will be utilised the least by the property industry in 2020.

Robby du Toit, managing director of Sell House Fast, commented: “The property industry is more eco-conscious than ever before. This has led to a surge in the innovation and development of eco-friendly building materials.

“As professionals become better acquainted with the properties and benefits of different eco-friendly building materials, their adoption rate in construction projects can expect to see a positive increase. This research certainly highlights the eco-friendly building materials that will have a big impact in 2020.”

Eco-friendly materials

Bamboo (74%)

Bamboo is light-weight and has tensile strength. It is the ideal replacement for expensive and heavy imported building materials and provides a great alternative to concrete.

© Rragain

Straw Bales (69%)

Straw bale is a renewable resource that can be used to replace concrete, plaster, wood, fiberglass, stone and gypsum when building walls. They naturally have high fire-retardant as well as insulating qualities.

© Pablo Hidalgo

Timbercrete (61%)

Timbercrete is eco-friendly building material that is a mix of sawdust and concrete. It is much lighter than concrete and the sawdust element replaces some of the more energy-intensive components found in normal concrete.

Recycled Plastics (56%)

Concrete can be made from ground-up rubbish and recycled plastics. By doing so, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates a new beneficial way of utilising plastic waste that would otherwise just be left clogging up landfills.

© Tatiana Sviridova

Ferrock (47%)

Ferrock combines various recycled materials such as steel dust to create a building material that not only resembles concrete but is even stronger. It also absorbs and seals carbon dioxide as part of the drying and hardening process, thus making it less CO2 intensive than concrete.

Hempcrete (44%)

Hempcrete is formed from the inner fibres of hemp plants. The hemp fibres are treated with lime to create concrete-like shapes which are not only durable but super lightweight.

© Notwishinganymore

Cork (38%)

Cork is made from the tree bark of cork oak. Cork does not absorb water or rot.  Likewise, if left uncoated – it is naturally fire resistant. Cork is ideal for flooring and insulation sheets due to its noise as well as shock adsorption attributes.