۱- Introduction

۲- Fundamentals of piezoelectric material

۳- Advanced methods to improve the piezoelectricity of cement-based material

۴- Applications of piezoelectric material in sustainable building structures

۵- Performance of piezoelectric materials and THeir future development

۶- Conclusions

References

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials are capable of transforming mechanical strain and vibration energy into electrical energy. This property allows opportunities for implementing renewable and sustainable energy through power harvesting and self-sustained smart sensing in buildings. As the most common construction material, plain cement paste lacks satisfactory piezoelectricity and is not efficient at harvesting the electrical energy from the ambient vibrations of a building system. In recent years, many techniques have been proposed and applied to improve the piezoelectric capacity of cement-based composite, namely admixture incorporation (e.g. lead zirconate titanate, barium zirconate titanate, carbon particles, and steel fibers) and physical treatments (e.g. thermal heating and electrical field application). The successful application of piezoelectric materials for sustainable building development not only relies on understanding the mechanism of the piezoelectric properties of various building components, but also the latest developments and implementations in the building industry. Therefore, this review systematically illustrates research efforts to develop new construction materials with high piezoelectricity and energy storage capacity. In addition, this article discusses the latest techniques for utilizing the piezoelectric materials in energy harvesters, sensors, and actuators for various building systems. With advanced methods for improving the cementitious piezoelectricity and applying the material piezoelectricity for different building functions, more renewable and sustainable building systems are anticipated.

Introduction

Building structures are constructed for the purposes of residential, official, and commercial activities, all of which make great contributions to the socio-economic development of a nation. During their life cycle, buildings demand a large amount of energy, including the direct energy consumed during construction, operation, rehabilitation, and eventually demolition, as well as the indirect energy required for manufacturing the building’s materials and components [1–۳]. From recent literature [4,5], it is estimated that building energy has been reported to occupy about 35% of total energy consumption worldwide. Additionally, carbon dioxide emission from the building industry is responsible for 40% of the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted worldwide [6]. In considering the energy challenges and environmental problems associated with building construction, it is essential to balance the advantages and disadvantages of using energy in buildings and to develop various schemes of achieving sustainability. Self-sustaining building systems thus seek to minimize their negative impacts on the environment through consuming fewer resources, such as materials, energy, water and so on. Among these resources, energy consumption is the primary concern, as it is associated with the entire building lifecycle and carbon dioxide emission. Building energy consumption can be compensated by on-site generation infrastructures or reduced by selfsustained building components. Recently, timber has been increasingly recognized as an environmentally friendly resource and renewable building material. Construction of timber building is conducted within industry plants where little production and processing energy is required. Furthermore, timber buildings allow carbon dioxide storage, performance reproducibility and fast assembly, and their market trend is growing [7]. Timber building will be treated as one of the sustainable building styles, as stated in a recent ASCE report [8]. To promote the application of timber building as a robust alternative to traditional heavyweight infrastructure, acoustic and vibration emissions and management for timber building have recently been studied.