C.JAYASINGHE(1), M.T.R. JAYASINGHE(2), B. DISSANAYAKE(3), D. JAYATHILAKE(4)

(1)Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

(2)Senior Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

(3)Final year undergraduate researcher, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

(4)Postgraduate Researcher, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT Ever increasing demand for housing has placed a significant burden on the environment in terms of consumption of natural resources as building materials. At the same time the construction industry is responsible for generating a large quantity of building demolition waste (BDW) creating another set of environmental issues. In order to reduce natural resource usage, alternative building materials such as stabilized rammed earth (SRE) have been introduced as an alternative for masonry construction. Further, research has enabled alternative building materials to be developed which have the potential to improve sustainability. Further, the use of BDW, as a raw material in the construction industry would reduce dumping to landfill sites. This paper reports on research carried out into the use of recycled building demolition waste RBDW in constructing walls of buildings where RBDW was combined with cement stabilized rammed earth (CSRE). Combinations of RBDW and CSRE have been developed and used as a composite walling material. The experimental program covered in this paper includes the determination of optimum mix proportions, strength properties, assessment of durability, thermal properties and indoor performance. The research outcome has revealed that the composite material demonstrates desirable properties and comparable performance with that of similar conventional materials such as burnt clay bricks so that it can be confidently used as a load bearing wall material.

KEYWORDS: Recycled building demolition waste (RBDW), Cement Stabilized rammed earth (CSRE), Material properties, Thermal performance.