Concrete is a remarkably versatile building material. It is strong, durable, fire and weather resistant, and it holds up well under high stress. Concrete can also be formed into many different shapes and colors.
Concrete combines two ingredients – an aggregate (stones or sand) and a paste (water mixed with cement). The paste hardens and binds the aggregates together to form strong stone-like building materials that are used in everything from sidewalks to skyscrapers.
The Benefits of Concrete
Many of the benefits of concrete are not always fully appreciated. Below is a brief outline of some of the principal benefits.
1. Concrete structures have very long lives and rarely need replacing (100 years plus).
2. The embodied energy in concrete is lower than most other building materials (particularly steel).
3. The production of ready-mixed concrete generates far less waste than other commonly used building materials.
4. Concrete has a high fire rating (4 hours and higher).
5. Concrete has very good thermal properties which lead to comfortable internal environment and lower energy consumption for heating and cooling.
6. Concrete is a durable material that does not rust, rot, or burn, and also resists wind, water, rodents, and insects.
7. Concrete does not require painting or sealing with toxic chemicals, reducing maintenance costs and eliminating chemical run-off into soil and water systems.
The use of concrete dates back to the Romans, who used it as a building material for structures such as the Colosseum and Pantheon. This long history of use has led to its popularity as one of the most widely available materials used in construction today.
The Benefits of Concrete
Concrete can be made with locally-sourced, natural material including sand, rock and water, which makes it an abundant resource. The production process itself is also very efficient.
The production of portland cement — the most common type used in concrete production — requires a lot of energy and produces carbon dioxide. However, less than 10 percent of the total energy used in concrete production is required to manufacture portland cement; the remainder is used for producing aggregates and mixing concrete. In comparison to other building materials, concrete offers significant energy savings throughout its life cycle.
Concrete is also a sustainable building material because it can be made with byproducts such as fly ash and slag cement, which are both produced when coal is burned at electric power generation facilities. The use of these byproducts helps reduce emissions from these industrial processes while also providing a sustainable alternative to other materials that would otherwise need to be mined.
Concrete is the construction material of choice for a wide range of reasons. First and foremost are its physical properties. Concrete is strong, durable, has good fire resistance, low maintenance requirements, high thermal mass, and can be cast in a variety of shapes. Concrete can also be produced in a variety of colors and textures and can be given a polished finish.
Concrete also provides significant benefits to the environment as well as the economy. The production of concrete uses less energy than any other construction material. It also requires less energy to produce than asphalt, steel, or wood framing. Because it is so durable, concrete reduces the need to rebuild or replace components—saving money and resources over time.
Once in place, concrete offers excellent insulation values which help reduce the cost of heating and cooling buildings. Concrete’s ability to store thermal energy makes it an ideal material for thermal mass systems such as floors that use solar heat gain during the day to help moderate room temperatures at night.
Concrete is also recyclable; waste concrete can be crushed and used for road sub-base or re-used as aggregates in new concrete mixes.
Concrete’s versatility makes it one of today’s most common building materials—the most widely used man-made product
Concrete, the most widely used man-made product in existence, is second only to water as the most-consumed resource on the planet. Yet its environmental impact is often overlooked by consumers and industry professionals alike.
The cement industry alone produces more than 2.8 billion tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to 8 percent of worldwide emissions from fossil fuel combustion. But concrete offers significant environmental benefits compared with other building materials, especially wood. By using wood instead of concrete, we could see a rise in deforestation, which would have devastating consequences for the environment.
Concrete also offers superior fire resistance compared with wood construction and requires less maintenance and replacement over time. In addition to its inherent durability, concrete can be recycled into aggregate at the end of its service life, offering a sustainable solution to disposal problems and resulting in additional environmental benefits by reducing landfill waste.
More than 50 percent of the entire volume of concrete produced today is used in buildings, which are responsible for nearly 40 percent of global energy consumption and 25 percent of total carbon emissions. The U.S. Green Building Council estimates that buildings account for 39 percent of total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States each year. That’s why choosing green building products can make a big difference in reducing a
Green concrete is a type of concrete that is environment-friendly, and thus, it can be used for a number of purposes. It is made from materials such as slag cement, fly ash, silica fume or recycled concrete. It is also a building material that can be made up of different kinds of products or materials such as Portland cement.
Since the time green concrete was first launched in the market, it has been used for several applications including roads, bridges and buildings. As a matter of fact, it has become one of the most popular materials used by construction companies today due to its durability and cost efficiency.
There are various types of green concrete available today including ready mix concrete, which is one of the most commonly used forms of this product. However, there are some things you need to consider before choosing a particular type since there are many different types available.
Concrete is one of the most widely used building materials in the world, yet people still find it mysterious. Why concrete turns into hard stone, why it gets hot and how we make it in different colors, strengths and textures remains an interesting mystery to many people.
The concept of concrete dates back to at least 6500 BC when lime mortar was used to plaster houses during the Stone Age. Within a few hundred years, ancient builders were using mud mixed with straw to strengthen sun-dried bricks. The first true concrete was made by the Nabatean traders who occupied what we now know as Syria and Jordan around 6500 BC. They discovered that when you mix a cementing material (like limestone) with an aggregate like sand and water, you can create a material that hardens over time.
The Romans made improvements to this cementing technique, but it wasn’t until 1824 that a British bricklayer named Joseph Aspdin invented Portland cement that could be mixed with water and kept its strength even when submerged in water. This discovery lead to the creation of modern concrete.