An environmentally friendly approach to concrete

An environmentally friendly approach to concrete

A blog written by Sika.

Efforts to achieve more sustainability across the built environment should be focused on areas where there is much to improve. When you consider that the manufacture of cement – the binding material used in the production of concrete – causes 6% of global CO2 emissions, what can be done to make this building material more environmentally friendly? Concrete admixtures can improve the carbon footprint of concrete by half and can make a decisive contribution toward conserving nature and resources.

If this quantum leap is to be made, concrete has to be optimised over its entire life cycle. It begins with cement production, where Sika has the special chemicals to reduce energy requirements.

Major improvements are also brought about by replacing cement with alternative materials such as fly ash from coal fired power plants or slag from the steel industry. This can reduce the cement content of concrete by a quarter to create ecological as well as financial benefits.

Sika is a global leader here thanks to Sika® ViscoCrete®. It is also technologically feasible to bind lower-quality aggregates such as sand and gravel to form a homogeneous, premium-grade concrete.

Improvements are also possible in the area of processing. Sika® ViscoCrete® and Sika® ViscoFlow® can be used to produce concrete with extremely small quantities of water. They also guarantee a very long workability as well as concrete deliveries that are constantly within the defined specifications. Production waste can thus be reduced to a minimum.

The significantly higher concrete strengths attributable to the additives also help to reduce concrete consumption as thinner constructions are possible.

Sika’s use of accelerators also plays a part in substantially improving the carbon footprint. Since they cure concrete faster, this either partly or fully eliminates the need for high-intensity heat treatments to increase the early strengths of prefabricated products.

Durability perfected
Concrete is only sustainable when it is durable. Sika makes it possible for a building to be functional for 100 years without major refurbishments.

During this time, the concrete must withstand all environmental influences and mechanical stress, as well as salt water or friction caused by suspended particles when a building is exposed to ebb and flow.

When a building reaches its end of life, the concrete it contains is not lost. It can be recycled and – thanks to suitable Sika products – processed as an aggregate for new concrete.

Given the high demand for concrete, its sustainable production and application has gained increasing importance across the UK construction industry. From Hinkley Point Nuclear Power station to Gatwick Airport and Crossrail, Sika concrete admixtures were integral in achieving a significant energy reduction of the concreting process and will continue to play an important role in respect to sustainability both now and in the future.

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