Review on the influence of biological deterioration on the surface properties of building materials: organisms, materials, and methods

Abstract

A strong attention is recently paid to surface properties of building materials as these allows controlling solar gains of the building envelope and overheating of buildings and urban areas. In this regard, deterioration phenomena due to biological aggression can quickly damage solar-reflecting roof surfaces and thus increase sharply solar gains, discomfort, air-conditioning costs and waterproofing degradation. The same deterioration problem has deleterious effect on cultural heritage, ruining its huge historic and artistic value. This work is aimed at providing an overview on the different organisms that affect the surface of most used building materials, to support the design of new building materials with long-lasting surface properties and to find a way to preserve cultural heritage. Artificial ageing is the long-term aim of this investigation, in which what in nature happens after months or years is compressed in a very short time by forcing the growth of microorganisms through a strict control on the different conditioning factors. Both natural and artificial ageing are eventually outlined in the last part of this work to provide a comprehensive idea of what is necessary to study in a complete way biological ageing protocols on building materials. Several characterization techniques are also introduced to analyse the influence of microorganisms on the surface of different building materials.

Effects of soiling and weathering on the albedo of building envelope materials: Lessons learned from natural exposure in two European cities and tuning of a laboratory simulation practice

“…A closer scrutiny of the aged solar spectral reflectances characterizes and quantifies what the present protocol cannot reproduce: biological growth ( Figure 6), and relevant chemical and physical degradation. Biofouling became visually manifest on some membranes, almost only in Milan, between the third and fourth year of aging, after growing in the deposited organic and inorganic matter [31]. The protocol underpredicts the reflectance loss due to biological growth on the surface (e.g., by 0.04 for the TPO membrane in Figure 6b), still with an acceptable match in many cases.…”

“…Then, biofouling produces an additional significant reflectance drop [14,29,30]. Biological colonization starts only upon a layer of organic or inorganic matter is deposited on the surface of the exposed material, becoming a growing medium favorable to the development of biofilms [31,32]. Biofouling does not develop on any surface, but only on those that offer favorable surface temperature, moisture content, pH and other conditions, for a sufficient time, exceeding the minimum time for germination, depending on the type of spores [33].…”

Improvement of functional performance of concrete in livestock buildings through the use of complex admixtures

“…Steel corrosion products that have a larger volume than metal cause concrete cracking along the reinforcement bars and facilitate gas penetration. Destruction of structures caused by gas corrosion can occur both as a result of failure of reinforcement bars and concrete destruction [17,18].…”

On Bio-Deterioration of Solar Reflective Materials: An Innovative Experimental Procedure to Accelerate the Ageing Process of Surfaces

“…Building materials are affected by several aesthetical and functional issues due to ageing processes which can be related to physical, chemical or biological factors (Sleiman et al 2014). Among these factors, the biological growth represents a phenomenon in addition to physical and chemical problems due to weathering and soiling, which accelerates the fouling process of outdoor materials (Ferrari et al 2015). The biofilm changes the aesthetical appearance of materials and can even compromise the durability of structures by corrosion and biodeterioration induced by the microorganisms (Maury-Ramirez et al, 2013).…”