Concrete is one of the most durable and versatile building materials, but it is also the most carbon-intensive. The carbon “embodied” in its production, transportation and installation accounts for about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions from the global building sector. The industry Bendigo Concreting Solutions must find new and innovative ways to reduce its impact, without sacrificing material or financial performance. This is the purpose of this guide: to provide a concise overview of proven and scalable solutions, which will help concrete purchasers, designers and contractors advance climate-conscious innovation.
The concrete industry has been hard at work for many years to find low-emission pathways in production, but since 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, the focus on carbon reduction has spiked, and the industry is under pressure like never before. The good news is that there are now a number of new concrete formulas, carbon capture technologies and circular concrete with recycled aggregates, all entering the market. Other innovations such as design and materials optimization, 3D-printed concrete, and techniques to minimize waste of formwork and support infrastructure also offer opportunities.
Self-healing bio-concrete, for example, uses a type of bacteria that fills cracks, sealing the leaks and thus extending the life of the structure by up to 50 percent. This could cut repair costs, which are estimated to have cost the construction industry US$600 million in 2018 alone. Similarly, self-healing concrete would reduce the need for transporting asphalt for road repairs, which currently consumes more than 1.20 billion gallons of diesel fuel nationally every year and emits more than 13.8 million tons of CO2.
Another solution that is gaining traction is the use of wood pulp fibres to replace sand in concrete mixes. FPInnovations, a not-for-profit organization that supports Canada’s forestry industry, has developed a way to introduce the material into concrete recipes with an added benefit of reducing carbon in the atmosphere, as well as lowering energy consumption during production.
However, it will take more than innovation to make concrete truly sustainable. The key is to align the interests of all stakeholders in the construction value chain to drive changes in practice. For example, newer concrete products that have lower embodied carbon may be at odds with traditional or boilerplate specifications, but when the appropriate level of performance is demonstrated, it must be possible to work them into the specification stream.