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Waste valorization of rice straw as a building material in Valencia and its implications for local and global ecosystems

Publicado en:Journal Of Cleaner Production. 318 128507- - 2021-10-10 318(), DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128507

Autores: Quintana-Gallardo, Alberto; Clausell, Joan Romero; Guillen-Guillamon, I; Mendiguchia, Fernando A

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The environmental implications of rice straw cultivation in the Spanish city of Valencia have generated controversy in recent decades. The paddy fields surround a natural park called Albufera, and the need to protect the local environment requires the cultivation to be as sustainable as possible. Every year over 75000 tons of rice straw generated after the harvest are burned or mixed with the soil. Both practices emit greenhouse gases and have huge effects on the surrounding areas' population and environment. One way to avoid those emissions is to use rice straw as a raw material for building products. A building facade panel using rice straw as its main component is presented as an alternative to the conventional double-layered brick facades widely used in this area. This article describes the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the acoustic and thermal insulation of the rice straw facade compared to those of a conventional brick facade. Additionally, the surface and interstitial condensation have also been studied through a simulation. The LCA, conducted using the Environmental Footprint methodology, indicates that the rice straw facade has a lower impact on the environment in every studied category. The rice straw facade emits 78 % less CO(2)e than the benchmark typology. If the emissions of either burning the straw or mixing the straw with the soil are subtracted, each square meter of rice straw facade prevents the emission of 18.85 kg of CO(2)e and 52.64 kg of CO(2)e, respectively. The measured acoustic insulation is similar in both studied facades. The sound reduction index of the brick facade is 49 dB and the obtained with the rice straw facade is 47 +/- 1.93 dB. Both results comply with the local building regulations. The thermal insulation of the rice straw facade (as measured by thermal transmittance) is 0.29 +/- 0.08 W/m(2)degrees C, which doubles that of the benchmark typology (0.629 W/m(2)degrees C). The hygrothermal behavior also complies with the local building regulations. The straw facade shows no signs of Surface condensation since the interior surface temperature factor of the facade is 0.927, higher than the required by the conditions of the most restrictive month (0.430). Also, there is no risk of interstitial condensations in any month. These results indicate that the rice straw panels can be both a suitable sustainable alternative for the building industry in Spain and a viable solution to the environmental problems caused by rice straw mismanagement.

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