Sustainable Innovation in Ceiling: Exploring the Environmental Benefits of a New Plaster–Rock Wool Layered Recycled Composite

Abstract

This paper presents a new layered plaster-based material for building purposes. First, a new manufacturing machine was designed to make the elaboration process easier. This manufacturing machine and the way it works are described. In this study, perlite and recycled glass wool (RGW) were added to traditional plaster with the aim of improving the performance of this material. Two series (with and without perlite) and three different layer configurations were developed and assessed. Recycled glass wool layered materials were subjected to both physical and mechanical characterisation to determine their suitability for precast elaboration. The addition of perlite resulted in a significant improvement in flexural strength. Moreover, the addition of RGW also gave rise to extra flexural strength when added. The two-layered samples performed better than the one-layered samples. Mechanical properties increased up to 75% when both the perlite and RGW layers were added. Potential Global Warming Potential (GWP 100) savings were also analysed, reporting up to 49% savings. A complementary cost analysis was performed, aimed at establishing potential savings in production costs; thus, 13–57% potential cost savings were reported. After that, a comparative analysis within the literature was conducted to contextualise the results obtained in this study