Greening

Greening Concrete
Concrete
Why Green Concrete?
Huge impact on
sustainability
Most widely used material
on Earth
30% of all materials flows on
the planet

70% of all materials flows in

the built environment.
> 2.1 billion tonnes per annum.
>15 billion tonnes poured each
year.
Over 2 tonnes per person per
annum
The fine print which is there for
people to read if they download the
presentation from the web site

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Roadmap
Roadmap to
to Greening
Greening Concrete
Concrete
A. Background
Emissions, contribution and production

B. Options for Greening Concrete

1. Scale down production.

Untenable, especially to developing nations unless population growth

also attenuated

2. Use waste for fuels

OK in some circumstances, others questionable.

3. Capture and convert CO2 emissions to fuel and other materials

Very promising technology.

4. Reduce net emissions from manufacture

Increase manufacturing efficiency

Waste stream sequestration using MgO and CaO

E.g. Carbonating the Portlandite in waste concrete

Given the current price of carbon in Europe this could be viable

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Greening
Greening Concrete
Concrete
5. Increase the proportion of waste materials that
are pozzolanic

Using waste pozzolanic materials such as fly ash and

slags has the advantage of not only extending cement
reducing the embodied energy and net emissions but
also of utilizing waste.
We could run out of fly ash as coal is phasing out. (e.g.
Canada)
TecEco technology will encourage the use of pozzolans

6. Improve particle packing for binder minimisation

and carbonation

Probably the lowest cost alternative for making a big difference.

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Greening
Greening Concrete
Concrete
7. Innovative New Concrete Products

Including aggregates that improve or introduce new properties reducing

lifetime energies

E.g. Including wood fibre or Hemp hurd reduces weight and conductance
Phase change minerals to improve specific heat capacity

Use aggregates with lower embodied energy and that result in less
emissions or are themselves carbon sinks

materials that be used to make concrete have lower embodied energies.

Materials that are non fossil carbon are carbon sinks in concrete

Plastics, wood etc.

Using aggregates that extend concrete

Aluminium use questionable

Foamed Concretes

Local low impact waste aggregates

Local dirt
Recycled aggregates from building rubble
Glass cullet

Use for slabs to improve insulation

Innovative products the reduce emissions and other impacts

TecEco Eco-Cement Porous Pavement

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Greening
Greening Concrete
Concrete
8. Replace or partially replace Portland cement with
viable alternatives

There are a number of products with similar properties to

Portland cement
Carbonating Binders
Lime mixes, Eco-Cements.
Non-carbonating binders
Tec-Cements, geopolymers etc.

The research and development of these binders needs to be

accelerated

C. Conclusion
There is plenty of scope!

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Portland
Portland Cement
Cement &
& Global
Global Warming
Warming
Hansen, J
et. al.
Climate
Change
and
Trace
Gases

Third largest contributor to CO2 emissions after the

energy and transportation sectors.
Portland cement production will reach 3.5 billion
tonnes by 2020 - a three fold increase on 1990 levels.
To achieve Kyoto targets the industry will have to emit
less than 1/3 of current emissions per tonne of
concrete.
Carbon taxes and other legislative changes will
provide legislative incentive to change.
There is already strong evidence of market incentive
to change
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Emissions
Emissions from
from Cement
Cement Production
Production
Chemical Release (approx 50%)
The process of calcination involves driving off
chemically bound CO2 with heat.
CO
CaCO3 CaO + CO2
CO2

Process Energy (approx 50%)

Most energy is derived from fossil fuels.
Fuel oil, coal and natural gas are directly or indirectly burned to
produce the energy required releasing CO2.

The production of cement for concretes accounts

for around 10% of global anthropogenic CO2.
Pearce, F., "The Concrete Jungle Overheats", New Scientist,
19 July, No 2097, 1997 (page 14).

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The
The Carbon
Carbon Cycle
Cycle and
and Emissions
Emissions
Emissions
from
fossil
fuels and
cement
productio
n are the
cause of
the global
warming
problem

Source: David Schimel and Lisa Dilling, National Centre for Atmospheric Research
2003

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Cement
Cement Production
Production ~=
~= Carbon
Carbon Dioxide
Dioxide Emissions
Emissions

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Embodied
Embodied Energy
Energy of
of Building
Building Materials
Materials

Concrete is
relatively
environmentally
friendly and has
a relatively low
embodied energy

Downloaded from www.dbce.csiro.au/indserv/brochures/embodied/embodied.htm (last accessed 07

March 2000)

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Average
Average Embodied
Embodied Energy
Energy in
in Buildings
Buildings

Most of the embodied energy in

the built environment is in
concrete.

Because so much concrete is used there is

a huge opportunity for sustainability by
reducing the embodied energy, reducing
the carbon debt (net emissions) and
improving properties that reduce lifetime
energies.
Downloaded from www.dbce.csiro.au/indserv/brochures/embodied/embodied.htm (last accessed 07 March 2000)

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Concrete
Concrete Industry
Industry Objectives
Objectives
PCA (USA)
Improved energy efficiency of fuels and raw
materials
Formulation improvements that:
Reduce the energy of production and minimize
the use of natural resources.
Use of crushed limestone and industrial byproducts such as fly ash and blast furnace slag.

WBCSD
Fuels and raw materials efficiencies
Emissions reduction during manufacture

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1.
1. Scale
Scale Down
Down Production?
Production?
Currently growing at around 5% a year globally. Mainly
China and India.
GDP growth = concrete poured
Can the Asian economic boom continue?
What is Africa and South America also catch up to the western
world?

Zero population growth?

Is really the amount of concrete we pour a measure of the
welfare or wellbeing of a society?

Buildings and infrastructure are only being designed to

last 50 not hundreds of years.
Will there be a shift to quality not quantity
If so when?

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2.
2. Use
Use Waste
Waste for
for Fuels
Fuels
Expanded use of alternative fuels is viewed by the
industry as the most significant opportunity to
enhance sustainability and reduce consumption of
fossil fuels
Cement kilns are being integrated into the recycling
hierarchy for some common wastes
Biomass, tires, used oils and used solvents.

Questionable emissions implications?

Do some organics have more value than as fuel?
Tyres?
Solvents that can be recycled
Oils that can be recycled

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3.
3. Capture
Capture and
and Convert
Convert CO2
CO2 Emissions
Emissions to
to Fuel
Fuel

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ACC
ACC Emissions
Emissions to
to Fuel
Fuel Project
Project
ACC, formerly Associated Cement Companies and now part of
the Holcim group have initiated a project to
Sequester CO2 generated by cement kilns
Produce high energy algal biomass
Reused as fuel in its cement kilns.
Cellulose contents could be converted to alcohols
Protein residue could be use for animal feed

The project involves

The screening of appropriate high yielding algae cultures

The development of a bioreactor on a lab bench scale
Scaling up the technology to a pilot plant and then
Demonstrating the commercial viability.

This will require

A multi disciplinary approach and
Involve microbiologists, algae experts, bio-technologists, engineers and
other professionals
Cost around $ 3m over a period of 3 years.

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4.
4. Reduce
Reduce Net
Net Emissions
Emissions from
from Manufacture
Manufacture
Increase manufacturing efficiency
Has the industry reached the point of diminishing returns?
Wet to dry process, heat exchangers etc

Combining calcination with size reduction using a new type of kiln

TecEco are developing may reduce energy consumption by 20-30%
Reason - Only about 98% of the energy of grinding actually goes into
cleaving minerals
Around 30% of the energy used to make cement is used for grinding

CO2 capture
Calcination in an oxygen atmosphere to capture pure CO2
Suggested to me by a director of ACC a few weeks ago
Would make capture of CO2 more worthwhile but cost money

Use of CO2 for carbonation of concrete seems pointless

Better to have use e.g. algal bioreactor on site (See 3)

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5.
5. Increasing
Increasing the
the Proportion
Proportion of
of Waste
Waste
Materials
Materials that
that are
are Pozzolanic
Pozzolanic
Advantages
Lower costs
More durable greener concrete

Disadvantages
Rate of strength development retarded
Resolved by TecEco technology

Potential long term durability issue due to leaching of Ca from CSH.

Glasser and others have observed leaching of Ca from CSH and this will
eventually cause long term unpredictable behavior of CSH.
Resolved by TecEco technology

Higher water demand due to fineness.

Finishing is not as easy

Supported by WBCSD and virtually all industry

associations
Driven by legislation and sentiment

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Impact
Impact of
of TecEco
TecEco Tec-Cement
Tec-Cement Technology
Technology
on
on the
the use
use of
of Pozzolans
Pozzolans
In TecEco tec-cements Portlandite is generally
consumed by the pozzolanic reaction and
replaced with brucite
Increase in rate of strength development particularly in the first
3-4 days.
concrete gells more quickly and finishers can go home!
Kosmotrophic property of the magnesium ion
Change in surface charge on MgO

Improved durability as brucite is much less soluble or reactive

Potential long term durability issue due to leaching of Ca from CSH
resolved.

Easier to finish fly ash concretes - Mg++ contributes a strong

shear thinning property

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6.
6. Improve
Improve Particle
Particle Packing
Packing for
for Binder
Binder
Minimisation
Minimisation and
and Carbonation
Carbonation
In the past, concrete proportioning was based on experience and
estimates only.
TecSoft Pty. Ltd. are developing batching software, using theory
from the worlds best experts (F. de Larrard and Ken Day), to
optimize mix design and particularly particle packing.

Scientific knowledge of the concrete

behaviour coupled with the use of
optimization software will allow
concrete technologists to:
- Design more sustainable concrete
- Less cement of same strength
- More durable
- Use secondary aggregate and mining
wastes (poor size distribution)

Satterfield, S. G. (2001). Visualization

aggregate in high performance
concrete, National institute of standard
and technology.(NIST)

- Dramatically reduce the number of

experiment needed to design a concrete
for a special application

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Scientific
ScientificApproach
Approach to
to Concrete
Concrete Design
Design
Optimization of particle packing will improve
The strength/cost ratio and
Concrete sustainability
Less cement for the same strength

Improving packing (other parameters being equal) leads

to an increase of:
The compressive and tensile strength
The workability
The durability
And a decrease of:
The porosity
The risk of segregation
The yield stresses (easier to compact)

Could help improve the skill level in the industry

An expert in the box

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7.
7. Innovative
Innovative New
New Concrete
Concrete Products
Products
Room for innovation in the concrete industry
Demand for more sustainable materials

Need to take a more holistic view

Cementitious composites not cement

Barriers to innovation are

Low skill level
For innovation to occur the skill level will have to improve
dramatically
This could be a government initiative i.e require people in the
industry to do an apprenticeship (as for other industries)
As part of the course work alternatives would be examined.

Formula rather than performance based standards entrench

mediocrity and dogma
Better connections between market demand and production and
supply

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Technologies
Technologies that
that Introduce
Introduce New
New Properties
Properties
Introduce new components that improve
performance.
Reducing lifetime energies in use e.g.
That reduce conductance (e.g. wood fibre or hemp hurd )
That increase specific heat capacity (e.g. phase change
materials)

Reduce weight/strength ratio

Organic fibres and fillers

Many of the above components can be wastes

Improve durability
Remove lime by adding pozzolans or as in Tec-Cement
concretes

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Reduce
Reduce Embodied
Embodied Energy
Energy
Local low impact waste aggregates
Local dirt
On site excavation materials

Recycled aggregates from building rubble

Tec and Eco-Cements do not have problems associated with high
gypsum content

Glass cullet fly ash, ggbfs and other industrial

wastes
Reduce transport embodied energies by using local
materials such as low impact wastes and earth
Mud bricks and adobe.
TecEco research in the UK and with mud bricks in Australia indicate that
eco-cement formulations seem to work much better than PC for this

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Lower
Lower Net
Net Emissions
Emissions
Making Concretes that are carbon sinks
Eco-Cements - Addition of magnesium oxide which recarbonates with carbon capture technology
Materials that are non fossil carbon are carbon sinks in concrete
Plastics, wood etc.
Eco-Cements bond well to sawdust and other carbon based
aggregates.

Many of the above components can be wastes

paper and plastic have in common reasonable tensile strength, low
mass and low conductance and can be used to make cementitious
composites that assume these properties

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Extending
Extending Cement
Cement
Air used in foamed concrete is a cheap low embodied
energy aggregate and has the advantage of reducing
the conductance of concrete.
Concrete, depending on aggregates weighs in the order of
2350 Kg/m3
Concretes of over 10 mp as light as 1000 Kg/m3 can be
achieved.
At 1500 Kg/m3 25 mpa easily achieved.

From our experiments so far with Build-lite Cellular

Concrete PL Tec-Cement formulations increase
strength performance by around 5-10% for the same
mass.
Claimed use of aluminium and autoclaving to make
more sustainable blocks questionable?

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Concrete
Concrete Porous
Porous Pavements?
Pavements?
Perhaps the greenest concrete product in the world is a new
porous low fines concrete that is being made using recycled
aggregate and with Eco-Cements that set by absorbing CO2

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8.
8. Replace
Replace Portland
Portland Cement
Cement with
withViable
ViableAlternatives
Alternatives
The concrete industry are in the business of selling binders
Need to get away from the all that is grey is great, all we make goes out the
gate philosophy

The industry can also make money learning about and

selling alternatives
Sell knowledge as well as product
Many alternatives just as suitable

The problem is in implementation

Could be difficult given the low level of skill in the industry

We will consider two main groups of alternative cements

Carbonating alternatives
Potentially carbon neutral of carbon sinks

Non carbonating alternatives

Some have much lower embodied energies

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Replacement
Replacementof
ofPC
PCby
byCalcium
CalciumBased
BasedCarbonating
CarbonatingBinders
Binders
Lime
The most used material next to Portland cement in binders.
Generally used on a 1:3 (PC:Sand) paste basis since Roman
times
Non-hydraulic limes set by carbonation and are therefore close
to carbon neutral once set.
CaO + H2O => Ca(OH)2
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 => CaCO3
33.22 + gas 36.93 molar volumes

Very slight expansion, but shrinkage from loss of water.

Carbonates not generally fibrous so do not add as much
microstructural strength as Mg cements
Do not stick to other materials as well as Mg cements.
Low long term pH = low reactivity with wastes included

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Replacement
Replacementof
ofPC
PCwith
withMagnesium
MagnesiumBased
BasedCarbonating
CarbonatingBinders
Binders
Eco-Cement (TecEco)
Have high proportions of reactive magnesium oxide
Carbonate like lime
Generally used in a 1:2:18 (PC:MgO:Sand) paste basis because much more
carbonate binder is produced than with lime.
Like lime are carbon neutral but take up more weight of CO2 due to low weight of
Mg
Mostly
MgO + H2O <=> Mg(OH)2
CO2 and
Mg(OH)2 + CO2 + H2O <=> MgCO3.3H2O
water
58.31 + 44.01 <=> 138.32 molar mass (at least!)
24.29 + gas <=> 74.77 molar volumes (at least!)
307 % expansion (less water volume reduction) producing much more binder per
mole of MgO than lime (around 8 times) and les shrinkage
Carbonates tend to be fibrous adding significant micro structural strength
compared to lime
Can include a wider range of wastes
Stick well due to hydrogen bonding
Low long term pH = low reactivity

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Replacement
Replacement with
with Non
Non Carbonating
Carbonating Binders
Binders
There are a number of other novel cements with intrinsically
lower energy requirements and CO2 emissions than
conventional Portland cements that have been developed
High belite cements
Being research by Aberdeen and other universities

Calcium sulfoaluminate cements

Used by the Chinese for some time

Magnesium phosphate cements

Proponents argue that a lot stronger than Portland cement therefore much
less is required.
Main disadvantage is that phosphate is a limited resource

Sorel Type Cements

Stronger and more convenient to place and use (with the appropriate know
how.
Tend to break down in water

PC Magnesia blends (Tec-Cements)

Geopolymers
More research needed. I will only have time to
mention geopolymers and Tec-Cements
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Geopolymers
Geopolymers
Geopolymers consists of SiO 4 and AlO4 tetrahedra linked
alternately by sharing all the oxygens.
Positive ions (Na+, K+, Li+, Ca++, Ba++, NH4+, H3O+) must be present in the
framework cavities to balance the negative charge of Al3+ in IV fold
coordination.

Theoretically very sustainable

Unlikely to be used for pre-mix concrete or waste in the near
future because of.
process problems
Requiring a degree of skill for implementation
Skill level problem in the industry needs to be addressed

nano porosity
Causing problems with aggregates in aggressive environments

no pH control strategy for heavy metals in waste streams

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Tec
Tec -- Cements
Cements
Tec-Cements (Low MgO)
contain more Portland cement than reactive magnesia.
Reactive magnesia hydrates in the same rate order as Portland
cement forming Brucite which uses up water reducing the
voids:paste ratio, increasing density and possibly raising the
short term pH.
More pozzolans can be used. After all the Portlandite has been
consumed Brucite controls the long term pH which is lower and
due to its low solubility, mobility and reactivity results in greater
durability.
Other benefits include improvements in density, strength and
rheology, reduced permeability and shrinkage and the use of a
wider range of aggregates many of which are potentially
wastes without reaction problems.

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