Sustainable Concrete - The Environmental Benefits of Concrete

Concrete is part of the movement towards more environmentally sustainable built environments. As cities and urban centers grew throughout the 20th century and environmental impacts of the built environment became better understood, sustainable building practices have become a focus of industries and states across the country. Documented by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Certification, sustainable building practices include concrete as a major building material. Concrete’s capacity to recycle materials, its thermal properties, and other characteristics make it a sustainable choice for many building projects, including concrete contractor projects in Portland.

Reducing waste products

Concrete is made from only a few, very abundant materials: cement, sand and aggregate, and water. While creating cement is energy intensive, other aspects of the concrete life cycle make it a sustainable option. This includes the abundance of materials that require less mining or lessen the ecosystem impacts of gathering raw materials. Concrete mixing is also able to incorporate fly ash into the mixture, which is a byproduct of coal production. This reduces the amount of fly ash placed into collection areas. Concrete itself is also recyclable. Concrete collected from demolition sites is broken down and can either be used as a base of roads or can be used as a component for new concrete.

Insulating properties

Buildings need their internal climates to stay generally stable between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Insulation in buildings helps create a barrier between the indoor and outdoor climate to maintain the indoor climate. Concrete has a high thermal mass which means that it requires a lot of energy to change its temperature. Metal, for example, has a low thermal mass and a metal utensil can quickly become hot when cooking, which is why plastic handles are added to spatulas. Concrete, like plastic, changes temperature slowly, making it a good insulator. Being able to create a well-insulated building with the same material that provides structural support increases the sustainability of the building in areas with wide temperature ranges.

Urban space sustainability

Concrete has a number of additional sustainability benefits when used in urban areas. A major issue in current urban built environments is the heat island effect that causes urban spaces to be warmer than the surrounding areas. This is mainly caused by replacing trees and green areas with buildings and roads, most of which are black. Many building roofs are dark, including residential roofs, and most roads are built with black asphalt. Simply changing the color of these surfaces to white, such as with concrete, reflects significantly more light, reducing the energy absorbed by the environment and reducing the temperature. Another sustainability aspect of concrete it can be mixed to create porous concrete that allows water to pass through. This reduces the runoff that can travel throughout an urban space, minimizing flooding and pollutants that are carried by runoff.

Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring experience, expertise and quality to each project.  We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for public works projects, commercial, educational, parking structures, and other construction development.  Please contact us to learn more about our high-performance, precision-engineered fabricated rebar in the Portland area.