Sustainable concrete building methods and practices

Sustainable concrete building methods and practices,

Sustainable concrete buildings are a step towards green and environmentally friendly concrete construction practices, to solve global environmental problems.

Concrete is a building material that has been widely used all over the world,

and the amount and impact of concrete produced, used, is an important part of the entire global environmental problem.

Where the effect of concrete occurs in different stages of extraction of raw materials until the end of the life of the structure,

the increase in global temperature due to the emission of CO 2, the increase in landfill volumes,

and pollution, as a result of these effects.

The high population density and increased demand for concrete has exacerbated the situation,

and therefore it is necessary to go for sustainable concrete construction practices.

 

 

Concrete Life Cycle Assessment:

Life Cycle Assessment is used to better understand and evaluate tangible environmental impacts,

it is necessary to take all life stages of concrete in order to assess the environmental impacts.

1.      Concrete industry

Cement, aggregate and water are the basic components of concrete,

and each of them consists of raw materials with energy consumption and waste generation.

From the foregoing it is quite clear that the industrialization stage can be considered the most important stage from an environmental point of view,

which has caught the attention of both the government and the public.

Cement is produced by proper mixing with clay, and the resulting mixture is heated in a rotary kiln about 1450°C.

It is at this chemical temperature that a basic fundamental change is made to clinker,

and after cooling it is ground in a rolling mill to produce cement powder.

Energy is consumed in all these processes intensively with the emission of CO 2 .

Limestone, which consists primarily of CaCO3, is produced through mining,

by heating cracking CaCO3 and releasing emissions from clinker production and the combustion of fossil fuels to generate the energy required for the production process.

Aggregate and sand are responsible for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions during concrete production.

The average concrete usage is 1 ton/year/capita, with 1 ton of CO2 emitted/1 ton of cement produced which is 7% of global emissions.

2.      Concrete construction

This stage may release less greenhouse emissions than industrialization,

yet the effectiveness of this stage cannot be neglected.

Where concrete mixing is one of the influencing factors, electrical energy is used to mix the concrete components in a high-fixed container.

This is in addition to a small amount of fuel consumed by small trucks to transport raw materials,

as diesel fuel is used to transport concrete.

On-site activities such as pumping, vibration, and termination of used fuel contribute to the largest CO2 emissions.

A large amount of water is used to wash the machines and treat concrete to achieve the strength required in difficult situations.

This results in a large amount of polluted water being discharged,

and pure water is used to prevent chemical reactions.

3.      Age of concrete

The biggest disadvantage of concrete is the deterioration that has appeared in many countries;

it not only affects the production of society, but also has a significant adverse effect on resources, the environment and safety.

The lack of adequate and controlled durability, as well as the maintenance of the concrete structure,

leads to a lot of energy consumption and a large amount of waste.

From this it is clear that the continuation of maintenance and repair affects the economy and the environment.

4.    Demolition of concrete buildings

Demolition of concrete structures and transportation consumes about 0.2% of the total energy consumption for all life cycle assessments, demolishing a concrete structure can be a costly process.

 

 

Methods of achieving sustainable concrete buildings

First: the use of mixed cement

Most of the carbon dioxide is released during clinker production due to calcium calcination and energy consumption,

this emission can be reduced by using blended cement, in which industrial product such as slag is used,

which replaces part of the clinker.

Blended cement not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the calcining process,

but also reduces energy consumption.

Second: improve energy efficiency

Emissions from electricity and fuel use can be reduced by improving energy efficiency which leads to lower production cost as well.

Equipment can also be developed, modified and replaced to make it more efficient in cement production,

as a large proportion of energy is used during cement production, and comes from fuel combustion.

Therefore, it is possible to obtain a significant reduction in energy use by reducing fuel efficiency.

Changing cement production technology is another way to improve energy efficiency.

Third: carbon dioxide removal

Carbon dioxide emission can be reduced by using carbon dioxide removal. In this method,

which can occur during or after the production process, the carbon dioxide is separated and then removed from the atmosphere.

The procedure for this technique is divided into three stages:

  1. Drying and compressing carbon dioxide
  2. Transport of recovered carbon dioxide
  3. Store or dispose of it

This is done by achieving a low carbon rather than a high carbon fuel, by using a fuel with low carbon dioxide content.

Therefore, using waste-derived fuel or natural gas instead of coal fuel reduces the amount of carbon dioxide and reduces waste disposal.

There are a number of alternative fuels that can be used for this purpose such as refined gases,

mineral oils and wood waste.

The service life of concrete should also be extended, because it is the most important factor,

it not only reduces the amount of demolition waste for existing buildings but also preserves raw materials.

Waste must also be recycled, as waste consists of rubble and construction that is It can be used as a coarse and fine aggregate.

 

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