Fibre cement is commonly used in commercial buildings and residential homes, with solutions including external cladding, internal lining, wet areas, floors and ceilings, eaves and fencing.  
Over the last five years, the use of fibre cement as an external facade material has grown for both commercial and residential building. While we expect this trend to continue, what is interesting is that awareness of the environmental benefits which fibre cement based products, particularly in lightweight construction, is lesser known. 
One of the reasons for this growth is there has been a industry wide shift in focus to achieving a reduction in building weight, by substituting heavyweight masonry with lightweight systems.  
From a residential perspective, Australia is traditionally a brick market, however recently we have seen a strong move towards a greater use of different materials on the exterior of homes. New products now need to both complement the use of brick as well as provide alternatives, and fibre cement is an optimum product to take advantage of this trend. 
 
One of the key drivers in the growth of fibre cement as a facade material has been an increasing focus on sustainability. This has had a major effect on the type of houses built and the materials used to construct them. 
In the mid 2000s there was a backlash against what was described as the 'McMansion'. A key proponent of this was architecture critic Elizabeth Farrelly, who found that the environmental impact of building huge houses that used a large amount of energy was 'alarming'. These traditional large brick homes lacked eaves and had big internal voids, single glazing and minimal insulation, which led to an increasing reliance on air conditioning to cool housing. 
The result has been a move to a greater variety of housing types in the Australian market including smaller, courtyard, terrace and subdividable houses. 
With its lightweight nature, ease of installation and flexible design options, fibre cement and associated cement composite products have increasingly been used in these new styles of Australian homes. This is enabling designers to create modern, composite, affordable designs that create the point of difference that the Australian homeowner is demanding in today's market. 
Another aspect when considering the sustainability of today's homes is the energy used to construct and live in them. As a main contributor to the construction of a home, the energy required to manufacture a building product, or embodied energy, is increasingly being scrutinised.  
Fibre cement has a significantly lower embodied energy than traditional masonry materials. According to Dr Bill Lawson in his study into Building Materials, Energy and The Environment, the embodied energy of a timber frame, fibre cement weatherboard wall is 169 MJ/sqm, whilst the embodied energy of a cavity clay brick wall is 860MJ/sqm Such factors are recognised worldwide and have led the Building Research Establishment in the UK to award wall systems using fibre cement cladding an A+ rating in its Green Guide to Specification. 
One means of improving the energy efficiency of the home is the use of an appropriate insulation system. The impact of this is often measured by looking at the resistance to heat flow, known as an R-Value. By utilising a suitable insulation system, fibre cement clad walls can achieve an R-value of 3.4 in winter and 3.1 in summer, comparable to brick veneer systems. 
The incorporation of a ventilated cavity in many lightweight cladding systems, such our new Cemintel Designer Series, a cement-bonded wood fibrous particle panelised system, also improves insulation. This ventilated second skin provides the advantage of an air gap between the structure and the outside façade, thus reducing heat gain through to the internal spaces. 
Fibre cement is a composite material made of ground sand, cement, cellulose fibres and water. This combination results in a highly durable product. Ultimately this results in low maintenance, low cost of repair and a longer life expectancy, which are all key factors in long term environmental impact of building materials.  
When you add all these attributes up, fibre cement really makes a solid case as a green product of choice. 
 
Ben Thompson is the Senior Product Manager at CSR Cemintel Fibre Cement Systems. Cemintel manufactures and markets a full range of system solutions for Residential and Commercial applications and is focused on providing innovation through design.