Ceramic tiles are one of the most widely used materials in both commercial and residential buildings. As environmental problems increase, the need for environment-friendly building design increases. To achieve this, architects and engineers need reliable data on the environmental impacts of various building materials®including ceramic tiles. This paper reports the results of environmental impact assessment of ceramic tile production in Thailand. Key impact categories, including fossil fuel impact, global warming, ozone depletion, ecotoxicity, and human toxicity were assessed. The results showed that when assessed by EDIP methodology, the global warming impact value of 3.73E+3 kg CO 2 -eq per megagram (Mg) of ceramic tile is quite prominent and is rather high compared with existing data in current literature. The human toxicity impact value is also significant. The values of the other impact categories were also determined and found to be relatively high. When assessed using the Eco-indicator 99 methodology, the results showed that the fossil fuel category was the most affected with a value of 8.62E+1 Pt per Mg of ceramic tile, followed by respiratory inorganics and climate change. Raw materials transportation stage yielded the highest environmental impact values. It is thought that the key factors responsible for the relatively high impact values are the process technologies employed and the long transportation distances of the raw materials. It was concluded that the environmental impact values of ceramic tile production in this study are different from, and in most cases higher than, the values presented in current literature.

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Climate change is a critical issue for all of humanity. It is predicted that Thailand is likely to have an increasing frequency and intensity of rainfall and storms which, will result in a more severe flash flood problem. Slum residents in Chiang Mai are one of the groups of people who are vulnerable to flooding impacts of climate change. The objective of this study is to analyze the flood-resilient housing style of low-income people. Data from 3 slums (146 households) which encounter different kinds of floods every year, i.e. drainage floods (Ban Sanku: 21 households), river floods (Kampang Ngam: 64 households) and flash floods (Samunkee Pattana: 61 house- holds), were collected. The study found that flood frequency, duration, depth and flow velocity caused damage to the houses, but only flood frequency, duration, and flow velocity were factors affecting the housing structure. If considering only damage to slums which frequently face shallow water depth, slow flow velocity and short duration, all 8 low-income housing styles (A-H) can be built. The high platform house with open space under the house is appropriate for slums located in flooding area where high-level, slow flow velocit y floods occur frequently but for a short duration. It may be a permanent, semi-permanent or temporary structure (D-F). For the other slums facing high flood levels with high flow velocities for a short duration, all permanent housing styles are appropriate. If the objective is not only damage prevention but also living during a flood, per- manent high platform houses with open spaces under the houses are recommended for all slums.

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