Development of a Quality Assessment Model for Recycled Building Materials
Sabai, M.M.; Lichtenberg, J.J.N; Cox, M.G.D.M; Egmond E.L.C, Mato, R. R.

Abstract
Most buildings collapse because of the poor assessment of building materials which results to generate massive waste. This paper presents a quality assessment model (QAM) which can help to determine the quality of building materials like recycled concrete blocks produced from construction and demolition (C&D) waste. It differs from existing models because it uses more than one test variable. To apply the model, sensitivity analysis was first carried out. The QAM was then applied to 27 different recipes of concrete block produced from C&D waste. The results showed that 44% of recipes satisfied compressive strength and water absorption ratio requirements. The QAM contribute to a more effective approach for assessing the quality of building materials. This suggests that in applying QAM, assessing building material quality can increase the confidence of using the recycled aggregates (acceptance) in the construction industry. On the other hand, it can reduce over-extraction of building materials from natural sources of which can be reserved for future use. This makes QAM a sustainability assessment model.

Full Text: PDF