SWEDISH VIEW OF CONCRETE AND SUSTAINABILITY

• Being the most frequently used man-maid construction material with a history of more than 2000 years, concrete may be defined as a sustainable material per se. Correctly designed, properly constructed, and suitably maintained, a concrete structure may reach a life-span that substantially exceeds 100 years. Durability is the bases for sustainability. The importance of sustainability has increased successively during the last 20 years. In the concreteindustry, the focus has been on substituting Portland cement - that roughly stands for 5 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions globally - with various byproducts as slag, fly ash, and silica fume. However, there are many more aspects on sustainable concrete. The Swedish cement producer Cementa AB has a zero vision, i.e., there should be no CO2 emissions in 2030. The goal will be reached by making the kiln more energy efficient, replacing fissile fuels by renewable fuels, taking the carbon uptake through carbonization into account, and by developing carbon capture and storage. We may develop new concrete mixes that either are lean with not more cement than necessary or high strength that will reduce the cross section and thus the dead load considerably. In addition to all these measures on the material side, we must maximize the benefits of concrete during the serviceability state. The effects of energy storage capacity, brightness, and wear resistance make concrete buildings and concrete pavements competitive but by, e.g., increasing density, whiteness, and wear resistance we may save more energy for heating, cooling, illumination, and repaving. Finally, we must not forget concrete's opportunities concerning recycling.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Concrete

Research Needs

Sustainability

Sweden

User Phase

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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