Seminar Report

On

Green Concrete

Department of Civil Engineering

1
 1. ABTRACT

Green concrete plays a significant role in construction. It’s a concept of

thinking environment into concrete, considering raw materials, structural design,

construction and service life. Green concrete reduces the emission of carbon dioxide

by using industrial waste as cement replacement and hence reduces environmental

pollution and helps in sustainable development. Its very cheap to produce and energy

consumption in production is lower and durability is greater

The paper describes an overview of green concrete, its production and

highlights its function and applications. Green concrete also include green cement

with reduced environmental impact and green light weight aggregates,residual

products from industry. Green concrete not only considers environmental aspect but

also economical aspects.

2
 2. INTRODUCTION

Green concrete is a revolutionary topic in the history of concrete industry. This was
first invented in Denmark in the year 1998. Green concrete has nothing to do with
colour. It is a concept of thinking environment into concrete considering every aspect
from raw materials manufacture over mixture design to structural design,
construction, and service life. Green concrete is very often also cheap to produce,
because, for example, waste products are used as a partial substitute for cement,
charges for the disposal of waste are avoided, energy consumption in production is
lower, and durability is greater. Green concrete is a type of concrete which
resembles the conventional concrete but the production or usage of such concrete
requires minimum amount of energy and causes least harm to the
environment.

The CO2 emission related to concrete production, inclusive of cement production, is

between 0.1 and 0.2 t per tonne of produced concrete. However, since the total
amount of concrete produced is so vast the absolute figures for the environmental
impact are quite significant, due to the large amounts of cement and concrete
produced. Since concrete is the second most consumed entity after water it

accounts for around 5% of the world‘s total CO 2 emission (Ernst Worrell, 2001). The
solution to this environmental problem is not to substitute concrete for other materials
but to reduce the environmental impact of concrete and cement.

The potential environmental benefit to society of being able to build with green
concrete is huge. It is realistic to assume that technology can be developed, which can
halve the CO2 emission related to concrete production. With the large consumption of
concrete this will potentially reduce the world‘s total CO2 emission by 1.5-2%.
Concrete can also be the solution to environmental problems other than those related
to CO2 emission. It may be possible to use residual products from other industries in
the concrete production while still maintaining a high concrete quality. During the last
few decades society has become aware of the deposit problems connected with
residual products, and demands, restrictions and taxes have been imposed. And as it is

3
known that several residual products have properties suited for concrete production,
there is a large potential in investigating the possible use of these for concrete
production. Well-known residual products such as silica fume and fly ash may be
mentioned.

Furthermore, some companies in concrete industry have recognised that reductions in

production costs often go hand in hand with reductions in environmental impacts.
Thus, environmental aspects are not only interesting from an ideological point of
view, but also from an economic aspect.

2.1. Environmental Goals

Green Concrete is expected to fulfil the following environmental obligations:

 Reduction of CO2 emissions. This is in accordance with the Kyoto

Protocol of 1997.
 Increase the use of inorganic residual products from industries other
than the concrete industry.

 Reduce the use of fossil fuels by increasing the use of waste derived
fuels in the cement industry.

 The recycling capacity of the green concrete must not be less

compared to existing concrete types.

 The production and the use of green concrete must not deteriorate the
working environment.

 The structures do not impose much harm to the environment during

their service life.

4
 3. ADVANTAGES OF GREEN CONCRETE

Green concrete has manifold advantages over the conventional concrete. Since it uses
the recycled aggregates and materials, it reduces the extra load in landfills and
mitigates the wastage of aggregates. Thus, the net CO 2 emissions are reduced. The
reuse of materials also contributes intensively to economy. Since the waste materials
like aggregates from a nearby area and fly ash from a nearby power plant are not
much expensive and also transport costs are minimal.

Green concrete can be considered elemental to sustainable development since it is

eco-friendly itself. Green concrete is being widely used in green building practices. It
also helps the green buildings achieve LEED and Golden Globe certifications. Use
of fly ash in the concrete also increases its workability and many other properties like
durability to an appreciable extent. One of the practices to manufacture green concrete
involves reduction of amount cement in the mix, this practice helps in reducing the
consumption of cement overall. The use waste materials also solve the problem of
disposing the excessive amount industrial wastes.

There are several other advantages related to green concrete and can be summarized
as below:
a) Reduced CO2 emissions.
b) Low production costs as wastes directly substitute the cement.
c) Saves energy, emissions and waste water.
d) Helps in recycling industry wastes.
e) Reduces the consumption of cement overall.

5
f) Better workability.
g) Sustainable development.
h) Greater strength and durability than normal concrete.

i) Compressive strength and Flexural behaviour is fairly equal to that of

the conventional concrete.
j) Green concrete might solve some of the societies‘ problems with the
use of inorganic, residual products which should otherwise be deposited.

6
4 METHODS TO PRODUCE GREEN CONCRETE
4.1 Desirable properties in green concrete

Today, it is already possible to produce and cast very green concrete. Even a super
green type of concrete without cement but with, for example, 300 kg of fly ash instead
can be produced and cast without any changes in the production equipment. But this
concrete will not develop strength, and it will of course not be durable. Therefore, the
concrete must include aspects of performance like:
a) Mechanical properties (strength, shrinkage, creep, static behaviour etc.)
b) Fire resistance (heat transfer, etc.)
c) Workmanship (workability, strength development, curing, etc.)
d) Durability (corrosion protection, frost, new deterioration mechanisms,
etc.)
e) Environmental impact (how green is the new concrete?).

Meeting these requirements is not an easy task, and all must be reached at the same
time if constructors are to be tempted to prescribe green concrete. A constructor would
not normally prescribe green concrete if the performance is lower than normal, for
example, a reduced service life. The new technology will therefore need to develop
concretes with all properties as near normal as possible.

4.2. Energy consumption during the production

4.2.1. Energy consumption in concrete mix design

The type and amount of cement has a major influence on the environmental properties
of a concrete. The energy consumption of cement production make up more than
90% of the total energy consumption of all constituent materials and approximately

7
one-third of the total life cycle energy consumption. By selecting a cement type
with reduced environmental impact, and by minimizing the amount of cement, the
environmental properties of the concrete are drastically changed. This must, however,
be done while still taking account of the technical requirements of the concrete for the
type and amount of cement. One method of minimizing the cement content in a
concrete mix is by using packing calculations to determine the optimum
composition of the aggregate. A high level of aggregate packing reduces the cavities
between the aggregates, and thereby the need for cement paste. This results in better
concrete properties.

Another way of minimising the cement content in a concrete is to substitute parts of

the cement with other pozzolanic materials. It is common to produce concrete with
fly ash and/or micro silica. Both of these materials are residual products (from
production of electricity and production of silicon, respectively) and both have a
pozzolanic effect. Thus, a material with large environmental impact, i.e. the cement,
is substituted with materials with reduced environmental impacts.

4.2.2. Energy consumption during cement and concrete production

It is also possible to reduce the environmental impact of concrete by reducing the

environmental impact of cement and concrete production. As regards concrete
production, experience with the reduction of primarily water consumption, energy
consumption and waste production is available. Even though the contribution of
concrete production to the environmental profile of concrete is minor, it does
contribute, and is important environmentally and economically to the single
concrete producer. By selecting a cement type with reduced environmental impacts
and by minimising the amount of cement the concrete‘s environmental properties
are drastically changed. This must, however, be done whilst still taking account
of the technical requirements of the concrete for the type and amount of
cement.

Denmark‘s cement manufacturer, Aalborg Portland, prioritises development of

cements with reduced environmental impacts.

8
 4.3 Evaluation of inorganic wastes

The materials, which have been judged as useable for concrete production and
selected for further development, are shown in Figure 1. The judgement was based
on an evaluation concerning both concrete technology and environmental aspects.
Inorganic residual products from the concrete industry (e.g. stone dust and concrete
slurry) and products which pose a huge waste problem to society and which are in
political focus (e.g. combustion ash from water-purifying plants, smoke waste from
waste combustion and fly ash from sugar production) have been given highest
priority.

Stone dust. Stone dust is a residual product from the crushing of aggregates. It is an
inert material with a particle size between that of cement and sand particles. Stone
dust is expected to substitute part of the sand.

Concrete slurry. Concrete slurry is a residual product from concrete production, i.e.
washing mixers and other equipment. The concrete slurry is can be either a dry or wet
substance, and can be recycled either as a dry powder or with water. In the case of
recycling of the dry material, it is necessary to process it to powder. The concrete
slurry can have some pozzolanic effect, and might therefore be used as a substitute for
part of the cement or for other types of pozzolanic materials such as fly ash.

Combustion ash from water-purifying plants. This type of combustion ash has the
same particle size and shape as fly ash particles. The content of heavy metals in the
slurry is expected to be approximately at the same level as for fly ash. The slurry can
also have some pozzolanic effect.

Smoke waste from waste combustion. This smoke waste can have some pozzolanic
effect. The content of heavy metals is significantly higher than that of ordinary fly
ash. Furthermore, the content of chlorides, fluorides and sulphates can result in
negative effects in connection with reinforcement corrosion, retardation and possible
thaumasite reactions. Further processing will be necessary before its use in concrete.

9
 4.4. Different ways to produce Green concrete
1. To increase the use of conventional residual products:

To minimise the clinker content, i.e. by replacing cement with fly ash, micro
silica in larger amounts than are allowed today
2. By developing new green cements and binding materials, i.e. by
increasing the use of alternative raw materials and alternative fuels, and by
developing/improving cement with low energy consumption
3. Concrete with inorganic residual products :(stone dust, crushed
concrete as aggregate in quantities and for areas that are not allowed today)
and cement stabilised foundation with waste incinerator slag, low quality fly
ash or other inorganic residual products. Firstly, an information-screening
of potential inorganic residual products is carried out. The products are
described
by origin, amounts, particle size and geometry, chemical composition and
possible environmental impacts.

A pictorial representation of the methods is shown as below,

•sewage sludge. incineration ash

•stone dust, concrete slurry
residual products frm other industries •combustion ash from water purifying plants

Conventio
Conventional concrete, nal •large qty of fly ash
conventio cement, fly
nal cement, fly ash, micro
Silica

•mineralised cement
cement with reduced environmental
impact •limestone addition

Fig. 1 A chart depicting the methods to develop green concret

10
e
5 Comparison between Conventional and Green Concrete

After enough development of Green concrete, the question arose about its relevance
before conventional concrete. Lesser environmental impact was one thing but other
properties like durability and resistance to fire etcetera were suspected and under
heavy scrutiny. Several tests thus carried out clearly showed that green concrete was
not a bad bargain indeed.

 Conventional concrete used restricted amount of fly ash and micro

silica while
green concrete has high amount of fly ash and silica.

 Conventional concrete has good tensile strength compared to green

concrete.

 Green concrete is more durable with stainless steel reinforcement than

conventional concrete.

 Green concrete produces less amount of carbon di oxide whereas

conventional concrete produces large amount of green house gases

 6. LIMITATIONS OF GREEN CONCRETE

Although green concrete seems very promising when it comes to an environment

friendly sustainable development, the cardinal concern is its durability. Refutations
are being constantly raised regarding the service life of structures made with green
concrete. Further the split tension of green concrete has been found much less than
that of conventional concrete. Another challenge before green concrete is that of a
market. Until the properties of green concrete are at par with the conventional
concrete, green concrete is unlikely to find many customers.

Several researchers have argued that green concrete can be made durable by using
stainless steel reinforcements, but the predicament is that by using stainless steel
concrete the cost of the construction increases considerably. Even after this, green
concrete is not as durable as the conventional concrete.

The limitations of using green concrete can be summarized as below:

a) By using stainless steel, cost of reinforcement increases.

b) Structures constructed with green concrete have comparatively

less life than structures with conventional concrete.
c) Split tension of green concrete is less than that of conventional
concrete.
d) Not as durable as conventional concrete.

Given these limitations coupled with the urgent need of reduction in green house
gas emissions, has sparked off a number of researches across the globe to make
green concrete more durable and bring it up to the mark with conventional concrete.
7. CASE STUDY

First residential project in Asia made of green concrete

Singapore -- Amerald Land has unveiled its eco-friendly condominium project

called Gaia which is constructed entirely from green concrete and complies
with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum
standards.

Launched on May 2012, Amerald Land said it consulted extensively with the
BCA on the various aspects of the project, from Green Mark assessment to
methods of enhancing construction productivity and sustainable construction
methods or materials

Green concrete is increasingly recognised for its strong environmental benefits

of reducing wastage and over-reliance on raw materials.

“Through raising awareness on sustainable living among the mainstream

community, Amerald Land aims to influence other boutique developers and
even the Housing Development Board (HDB)

Gaia is projected to result in energy savings of S$1, 222 (US$960.61) per

household per year (or 3, 995 kWh of electricity saved) and water savings of
S$246 (US$193.38) per household per year (or 83, 000 liters of water saved).

Gaia comprises 28 exclusive freehold units located at 33 Jalan Dusun.

8. SCOPE IN INDIA

Green concrete is a revolutionary topic in the history of concrete industry. Concrete

is an indispensible entity for a developing country like India which desperately
needs a continuously expanding infrastructure. India is the second largest
producer of cement in the world. Further India would be facing an exponential
growth in the concrete demand by 2011 (Schumacher, 1999).
Table ; Projected Cement Demand

Cement Demand (Mt/annum)

Year GDPtotal GDPindustry GDPconstruction GDPaverage
2001 103.0 107.6 106.2 105.6
2006 139.5 148.7 150.8 146.3
2011 186.9 204.2 210.4 200.5
Source: Shumacher (1999)

Being produced in voluminous quantities in India, the concrete industry has a

considerable part in the net CO2 emissions from the country. The net CO2 emissions
from the construction agency are greater than any other industry.
 Operation of
Operation of Business
building, 10.20% facilities, 9.90%

Construction
work, 1.30%

Transportation for
construction, 5.00
%
Other
Industries, 62.70%
Production of
materials for
construction, 10.9
0%

Figure Energy consumption of construction and building in India

Source: Carbon di oxide Information Analysis Centre

In order to act in a responsible manner towards a sustainable development of the

nation, Green concrete is the need of the hour. India being a developing country
produces concrete in gargantuan quantities which result in huge volumes of CO 2
being emitted into the atmosphere each year. The total energy consumption (a rough
estimate of the net CO2 emissions) during the manufacture of cement in India is
tabulated as below:

Table ; Fuel Consumption in the Indian Cement Industry 1991-1993

Fuel Units 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94

Electricity GWh 4800.52 6420.97 6754.60
Coal Mt 10.8 11.7 11.1
Petroleum
Mt 0.293 0.296 0.291
Products
Total Cement
Mt 53.6 54.1 58.0
Production
Source: TERI (1996)

The above statistics, though old, can be used as a guideline since the technological
advancements have been scarce. As not much has been done and not much can be
done to reduce these consumptions, the only alternative left is that of a green concrete,
which will reduce the net CO2 emissions in the whole life cycle of concrete.
Thus we can deduce that, for a greener future, India needs to adopt Green concrete
into practise as soon as possible. The other advantageous factor is its economy. As
green concrete is made with concrete wastes and recycled aggregates, which are
cheaper than conventional substitutes, and also with most of the industries facing
problems with their waste disposal, put it out of the question to discard it.

Another type of green concrete, pervious concrete, is also a precious entity when it
comes to storm water management and rain water harvesting. Using pervious concrete
we can easily tame the run-off and harness it for future uses in relatively dry areas,
which would have otherwise drained away. With the alarmingly increasing cases of
droughts each year pervious concrete would prove to be a utilitarian tool. (Wikipedia)

The above facts clearly state a wide and promising scope of Green Concrete in the
near future.

9. CONCLUSIONS
The overview of the present state of affairs regarding concrete types with reduced
environmental impact has shown that there is considerable knowledge and experience
on the subject. The Danish and European environmental policies have motivated the
concrete industry to react, and will probably also motivate further development of the
production and use of concrete with reduced environmental impact. The somewhat
vague environmental requirements that exist have resulted in a need for more specific
technical requirements, and the most important goal is to develop the technology
necessary to produce and use resource saving concrete structures, i.e. green concrete.
This applies to structure design, specification, manufacturing, performance, operation,
and maintenance.

In 1994 cement industry consumed 6.6 EJ of primary energy, corresponding with 2%

of world energy consumption. Worldwide 1126 Mt CO2 or 5% of the CO2 production
originates from cement production. The carbon intensity of cement making amounts
to 0.81 kg CO2/kg cement. In India, North America, and China the carbon intensity is
about 10% higher than on average. Specific carbon emissions range from 0.36 kg to
1.09 kg CO2/kg cement mainly depending on type of process, clinker/cement ratio
and fuel use.

The potential environmental benefit to society of being able to build with green
concrete is huge. It is realistic to assume that the technology can be developed, which
can halve the CO2 emission related to concrete production, and with the large energy
consumption of concrete and the following large emission of CO2 this will mean a
potential reduction of total CO2 emission by 2% (Obla 2009).
Seventeen different energy efficiency improvement options are identified. The
improvement ranges from a small percentage to more than 25% per option, depending
on the reference case (i.e type of process, fuel used) and local situation. The use of
waste instead of fossil fuel may reduce CO2 emissions by 0.1 to 0.5 kg/kg cement
(varying from 20 to 40%). An end-of-pipe technology to reduce carbon emissions may
be CO2 removal. Probably the main technique is combustion under oxygen while
recycling CO2 (Hendriks, 2004). However, considerably research is required to all
unknown aspects of this technique.

It is important to keep a holistic cradle to cradle perspective when it comes to the use
of a material. Based on a research Gajda et al. concluded that occupant energy use
accounts for 99% of life cycle energy use of a single family home. Less than 1% of
the life cycle energy used in that home was due to manufacturing cement and
producing concrete. The global cement industry accounts for approximately 5% of
global CO2 emissions. So whatever way one looks at it focusing on just the production
of concrete accounts for a very small percent of overall CO 2 emissions. This is not to
say that progress should not be made in reducing the CO 2 emissions from concrete as
produced. However one should keep in mind that whatever CO2 emission reductions
that are possible will still account for at best a 2% global CO 2 reduction (assuming a
challenging 21% reduction in global CO 2 emissions from cement manufacture from
now on).
10. REFERENCES:

1. Green Globes, The Green Building Initiative, Portland, Oregon,

http://www.thegbi.org/

2. http://www.greenconcretedenmark.dk/

3. Obla, K. H., ―What is Green Concrete?‖, Point of view, The Indian

Concrete Journal, 24(4):26-28, April 2009.

4. C.Meyer. “Concrete as a green building material”, Columbia

University, New York

5. Mehta, P.K.(2002). “Greening of the Concrete Industry for Sustainable

Development”. Concrete International, July, 23-28

6. Chitlange M.R., Pajgade P.S, 2008. Artificial sand as fine aggregate for
concrete

7. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), U.S. Green

Building Council, Washington, DC, http://www.usgbc.org/

8. www.wikipedia.org