Emerging Materials and Nanotechnology

Green Materials and Technology

Green materials are materials that are local and renewable. Local materials often are unique to the place and connect whatever people make within an area or region. Materials from the ground such as clay, sand and stone are green materials as they are found underfoot. Plant materials such as grasses, straw, wood and bamboo are also materials that have been used by humans since they started building. Plant materials that grow quickly are for the most part renewable. Reclaimed materials are materials that can be reused in their existing form for new purposes. Reclaimed materials are green in the sense that they can be re-purposed and reused. Recyclable materials are materials that can move from being waste material to being reused through reprocessing or re-purposing. Green materials today are defined as materials that are non-toxic, improve occupancy health, lower cost, and conserve energy and water use and waste products. Non-toxic materials are materials that do not cause harm to the environment, to the users of the material or to the producers of the material. Green materials are also materials that have low embedded energy in their harvesting or collection, production, transportation and use. Material scientists work with chemical and biological engineers to develop new and better materials. Green Building Materials Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to be $171,475 million in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 11.9% from 2016 to 2022, to reach $377,029 million by 2022.The exterior products segment dominated the market in 2015 with one-third share, in terms of revenue.