Ecological and Health Effects of Building Materials

This book deals with the present adverse effects of using precarious building materials on the ecology and human health. Also, the detailed discussions on the novel and greener construction materials and their utilization as an alternative to the conventional harmful existing methods and materials are also presented in the subsequent chapters. This book helps to fill the research gaps in the existing prior-art knowledge in the field of sustainable construction and green building materials and methods giving due importance to ecology and health, specifically to the fields of sustainable structural engineering, sustainable geotechnical engineering, sustainable road engineering, etc.

This book helps in achieving a sustainable environment through possible adoption of innovative and ecological construction practices. Hence, this book acts as a practical workbook, mainly for the academicians and practicing engineers who are willing to work toward the consecrated building industry.

It is a well-established fact that the constructions of the engineering structures consume more and more earth resources than any other human activities in the world. In addition, the construction-related activities will produce several million tons of greenhouse gases, toxic emissions, water pollutants, and solid wastes. This creates a huge impact on environment and causes severe health issues on humans and animals. It is thus important to create an eco-friendly construction environment which can satisfy the ecological and health requirements.

Dr. Malik received B.Sc. (2008) Science from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K; M.Sc. (2010) in Zoology from Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; and PhD (2015) in Zoology from the same university. He completed his B.Ed program in 2017 from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K. He started his career as Lecturer in School Education Department, Govt. of J&K for 2 years. Dr. Malik is now working as a Lecturer in Department of Zoology, Govt. Degree College, Bijbehara, Kashmir (J&K) and actively involved in teaching and research activities. He has more than 8 years of research experience. His areas of interest are ecology, soil macrofauna, wildlife biology, conservation biology etc. Dr. Malik has published more than 20 research papers in various national and international peer-reviewed journals. He has authored 4 books, 16 book chapters, edited 7 books, and more than 10 popular editorial articles. He is also serving as editor and reviewer of several journals with a reasonable repute. He has participated in several State, National, and International conferences, seminars, workshops, and symposia and more than 20 conference papers are to his credit. He is the life member of SBBS (Society for Bioinformatics and Biological Sciences) with membership id LMJ-243.

Dr. Shriram Marathe is serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at NMAM Institute of Technology NITTE. He completed his Ph.D. degree at VTU Belagavi in the area of Alkali Activated Concrete Pavements. He accomplished his M.Tech (Transportation Engineering) from National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, Karnataka, and Master Facilitator Degree (MFLHRD) in Human Resources Development from CLHRD, Mangalore. His areas of research include Alkali-activated Concrete applications to pavements, Stabilization of Sub-grade soil, Road Safety, Pavement Material characterization, and Pavement Design. He has guided several projects for B.E. and M.Tech dissertations. He also successfully executed one funded research project on "Study and to Develop Cost-Effective and Green Masonry Block Using Industrial Waste Materials", funded by NITTE Education Trust. Till date, he has published a total of 50 research papers out of which 10 articles are published in Scopus indexed journals (Three Q1 articles). Out of his research contribution 24 research articles are published in international journals, 06 technical papers in national journals, and also conference proceedings papers at 13 National/International conferences and 5 papers are under review. Further, he also filed a patent on his invention entitled, "Sustainable Pervious Alkali Activated Concrete Paver Block Pavement for Ground water Recharge" on 29-07-2020. He also served as the conference secretary and successfully completed the CTCS-2020, International Conference held at NMAMIT Nitte during Decemeber 2020. Further, he is also serving as a potential reviewer for "International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology" published by Springer Nature Singapore, "Construction and Building Materials" published by Elsevier B V, "Case Studies in Construction Materials" published by Elsevier B V. and "Cogent Environmental Science" published by Taylor & Francis Online. Being a resource person, he had delivered several technical talks at various graduate schools. He is a life member of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) New Delhi, Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) New Delhi, Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), Indian Society of Systems for Science and Engineering (ISSE), Technical Institute for Engineers (India), and Kannada Sahithya Parishadh, Karnataka. He worked as Departmental Co-ordinator (Civil Engineering) for NAAC, NBA, IQAC, Industry Institute Interaction, ISTE, IE(I), and IOV related works.