Sustainable Concrete Solutions

The challenges facing humanity in the 21st century includeclimate change, population growth, overconsumption of resources,overproduction of waste and increasing energy demands. Forconstruction practitioners, responding to these challenges meanscreating a built environment that provides accommodation andinfrastructure with better whole-life performance using lowervolumes of primary materials, less non-renewable energy, wastingless and causing fewer disturbances to the naturalenvironment. Concrete is ubiquitous in the built environment.It is therefore essential that it is used in the most sustainableway so practitioners must become aware of the range of sustainableconcrete solutions available for construction. While sustainabledevelopment has been embedded into engineering curricula, it can bedifficult for students and academics to be fully aware of theinnovations in sustainable construction that are developed by theindustry. Sustainable Concrete Solutions serves as an introductionto and an overview of the latest developments in sustainableconcrete construction. It provides useful guidance, withfurther references, to students, researchers, academics andpractitioners of all construction disciplines who are faced withthe challenge of designing, specifying and constructing withconcrete.

This book, Green Concrete for a Better Sustainable Environment, aims to cover recent advances in the development of green concrete solutions and discuss the best ways to leverage opportunities in this domain. Concrete can be described as green concrete if it has one of the following features; it uses waste material as at least one of its components, its production process does not lead to environmental destruction, or it has high performance and life cycle sustainability. At present, natural resources are running out. Cement and concrete made from industrial and construction waste can be regarded as valuable resources for civil infrastructure construction. Green concrete will not only contribute to a circular economy, but can also help to reduce the amount of embodied energy and CO2 emissions associated with cement manufacturing and aggregate quarrying. Using green concrete can also mitigate the environmental threats associated with industrial waste materials. This book covers the theoretical, experimental, applied and modelling research studies on the materials, products and structures related to sustainable cement-based composites.

Concrete is by far the most common building material- accounting for twice the volume of all other such materials combined. With such a huge global economic impact, the industry has a correspondingly considerable responsibility to use it sustainably. Written by experts who pioneered research into environmental issues and concrete, Concrete and Sust

Concrete is by far the most common building material— accounting for twice the volume of all other such materials combined. With such a huge global economic impact, the industry has a correspondingly considerable responsibility to use it sustainably. Written by experts who pioneered research into environmental issues and concrete, Concrete and Sustainability examines the sustainability issues of the world’s main construction material and proposes attainable solutions. It provides a complete overview of the topic and tackles the complexity of the challenges from different angles. This book offers new data regarding the social and economic importance of concrete and proposes a discussion centered on a holistic approach in terms of resource availability, technical viability, economic feasibility, and environmental compatibility. The authors attribute a growing worldwide concern and understanding of sustainability issues, and an increased focus on climate change as the catalyst in this process. Instead of offering detailed technical advice or recommendations on sustainable issues, they provide examples showcasing sustainability efforts taking place in the concrete environment worldwide. The book includes examples and ideas for solutions from a large number of countries from across the globe. It presents a holistic and more complete overview of the emission and absorption topic, takes a look at the challenges from a combined old and new world viewing platform and offers an exploration of issues from a social and economic perspective. Concrete and Sustainability details the various rules and regulations that the industry is facing, discusses the various environmental challenges, and explores its impact. As emission, absorptions, and recycling have been the most central elements of discussion in the cement and concrete environment so far, these topics each receive their own chapters. This book also discusses other issues of concern within the various platforms in the industry, as well as future developments, and provides a comprehensive reference list.

Concrete repair continues to be a subject of major interest to engineers and technologists worldwide. The concrete repair budget for the UK alone currently runs at some UKP 220 per annum. Some estimates have indicated that, worldwide, in 2010 the expenditure for maintenance and repair work will represent about 85% of the total expenditure in the co

The book presents new technologies for easy and economical construction of light concrete structures saving materials and CO2. The new super-light technology allows a designer to place forces, where it is optimal, and save material everywhere else. The book also supports this “Direct Engineering” principle with a number of new details and structural principles. The new pearl-chain technology makes it possible to design optimal shapes such as arches, vaults, cupolas, floating tunnels, and shells etc. from inexpensive, and mass-produced components. The new super-light deck-elements presented in the book are now produced in six factories in Denmark, Finland, and USA, and the number is increasing. The book will be of interest for all structural engineers, who would like to save materials, CO2 and optimize their structures, for students learning about the new technologies, and for contractors and architects, who want to investigate new building technologies.

This book presents solutions for optimizing sustainable concrete fabrication techniques. It shows how to reinforce sustainable concrete by various waste materials such as glass waste, uncrushed cockle shell, plastic waste and ceramic tiles. It also reports on properties’ enhancement of high-strength concrete materials. The book presents an analysis of the environmental impact of waste materials’ use.

Production of Portland cement is responsible for about seven percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The pressure to make the production of concrete more sustainable, or "greener", is considerable and increasing. This requires a wholesale shift in processes, materials and methods in the concrete industry. Pure Portland cement will need to be replaced by more complex binary, tertiary or even quaternary binders, including other types of cementitious materials. We can expect an increasing use of high performance concrete, primarily because of its high sustainability and durability. Much more attention will have to be paid to the proper curing of the concrete if we want to improve its life expectancy. Presenting the latest advances in the science of concrete this book focuses particularly on sustainability, durability, and economy. It explores the potential for increased sustainability in concrete from the initial mixing right through to its behaviour in complex structures exposed to different types of loads and aggressive environments.