Why Concrete Makes Such a
Good Building Material
Concrete
is an enormously important resource to the construction industry and the infrastructure
of our country. There are many reasons
why building with concrete is such a great idea. It is one of the most durable materials
available and will last for decades, especially when you compared it to wood, asphalt
or other materials. Since concrete is extremely
fire resistant, it is also a much safer material to use.
Another
factor to consider of why concrete is such an excellence
building material is that it is produced locally here in the U.S. It is estimated that the concrete industry
provides over two million jobs to Americans.
Furthermore, the concrete used for a project is generally produced somewhere
near to the construction project, which cuts down on transportation and energy cost. The Portland
Cement Association (PCA) sites the regional nature of the cement industry
and that nearly 98% of U.S. cement is shipped to customers by truck with the rest by barge or train.
Even
after several decades of use, concrete can be recycled into an aggregate that has
a hundred or more different uses. The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
(NRMCA) points out the fact that concrete is “green” as it does not have any
toxic runoff as asphalt does and is produced locally from abundant local
sources. Thus the mere sustainability of
concrete makes it a good choice both environmentally and economically.
The
newer high-strength concrete can save a project time and labor cost with earlier
form stripping times and less post-tensioning required in floors. This also results in columns with less rebar congestions.
To
fully appreciate the significance of concrete, you need to know that concrete
is the single most widely used man-made material in the world. It is used to construct the skyline in cities
and to build highways, schools, hospitals, factories, entertainment venues and
public work projects.
One
of the properties of concrete is that of a natural insulator. The thermal mass of a concrete wall acts as
an efficient insulator in commercial and residential structures that helps to
save on heating and cooling expenses.
The concrete forms an integral wall that is exceedingly airtight and
solid without allowing any cracks that cause air leaks. The largest percent of energy lost in a wood
structure comes from air leaks.
Concrete
buildings offer year-round benefits by allowing the concrete to absorb energy
slowly and hold on to it for a much longer period of time than less massive
building material. This both delays and
reduces heat transfers, which slows down the temperature fluctuations in a
thermal mass building. Today, modern concrete walls utilize both external insulation and
thermal mass to form an energy-efficient structure with fewer spikes in heating
and cooling demands.
Some
construction is done using Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) that are hollow forms
or molds with built-in insulation made of foam or rastra filled with reinforced
concrete. Studies have shown that residential
buildings constructed with ICF can provide energy savings of over 20% when
compared to the same size wood-framed home in a cold climate. Structures build using ICF are very quiet,
safe buildings that can be outfitted with smaller heating and cooling units, which
again saves money.
Conco is a leading
supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. As one of the leading commercial concrete
contractors in the San Jose area, we have been involved with large-scale projects in the area
including the Mineta Airport. We have
built our reputation in the Los Angeles area
with superior concrete formwork, reinforcing, place and finish, shotcrete and
other ancillary services that benefit from our vast experience. Our concrete services include commercial, educational,
parking and other construction development as well as public works projects and
highways.
