A Comparative Study between the Environmental Pollutions Of Straw Bale Systems and Bricks

The brick indusrty shares a significant amount to the global environmental pollution. In the production stages of this indusrty, pollutants such as particulates, CO2, NOX, CO and SOX get released into the atmosphere. Considering the increase of pollution and also the production rate of bricks in the country, replacing bricks with another type of material can lead to reduction of these pollutants.

In order to achieve the goals of the study, review study method was used and library resources, databases, scientific and research journals, related books and available data (Statistical yearbooks of Ministry of Agriculture, Energy balance sheet of Ministry of Energy and statistics of State Management and Planning Organization over the past few years) were employed.

Findings reveal that straw could be an appropriate replacement for bricks from the environmental and economic points of view; although it's widely available and has useful features; concerns such as moisture, insects and combustion have made the application of straw bales in building industry very insignificant. Straw bale systems consist of compressed panels that can replace bricks in building industry without any environmental pollution and with high economic efficiency.

Brick is the most used building material in the world. Considering its large effect on pollution, findings show that straw bale systems, which are completely renewable, can reduce this pollution significantly; such that straw bale buildings can be seen all over the world in places such as USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and China.