5 Concrete Sustainability Facts

Builders looking to work with environmentally conscious materials should look no further than concrete. Concrete is abundant, locally available, and conveniently highly energy efficient and sustainable. Don’t just take our word for it, check out these five facts about concrete’s sustainability and see why concrete outshines the rest.

Thermal Mass

Thermal mass measures a materials capacity to absorb and release heat. Concrete has a high thermal mass, allowing it to absorb lots of heat and then release that heat slowly over time. This creates a consistent temperature (eliminates wild temperate fluctuations) and reduces the energy needs of the building.

Emission Free

Concrete is completely chemically inert once fully cured; thus, it does not contain any toxic chemicals nor will it release any harmful gases or toxic materials if it comes in contact with outside chemical agents.

Recyclable

Concrete can be broken down into an aggregate dust or large chunks and reused as material for roads, walls, and other applications. This, combined with a culture of recycling in the construction community, creates a situation where very little concrete ends up in landfills. This is great because concrete is not biodegradable.

Cost Effective

Given how durable, versatile, energy efficient, and low maintenance concrete is, it is one of the most cost-effective building materials to use in the long-term.

Low Carbon Footprint

Innovations in concrete, such as low carbon cement, combined with its unparalleled sustainability features listed above make concrete one of the lowest carbon footprint building materials. In fact, concrete is the building material of choice for LEED certified buildings: possibly contributing 20 points towards the minimum 26 points necessary to quality for LEED certification.

Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring expertise, experience and quality to each project.  We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for public works projects, commercial, parking structures, educational, and other construction development.