Green concrete in the news again

The new product, called Geo-Green Crete^TM is made from widely available post-industrial waste and naturally occurring aluminosilicate materials. Although, obviously, the production process has not been publicised, the company’s Director of Communications, Dr. Elaine Duval, has indicated that it is much less energy intensive, and close to carbon zero.

'Geo-Green Crete^TM stands out as a high performance, low-carbon emission cement that has the capacity to serve as a true alternative to Portland cement,' she said in a statement issued by the company. 'Over the millennia, concrete prepared by the ancient Egyptians and Romans using lime, pozzolona and aggregates is still in existence, giving proof of its durability. The Roman cement and the small artifacts they produced were made using knowledge of geopolymer techniques. The Geo-Green Crete^TM product is very similar to these ancient cementitious materials,' she added.

The new product, developed by the company’s team of scientists, contains no limestone, meaning there is no need for the energy-intensive calcination process. Instead, Geo-Green Crete^TM combines post-industrial waste with alluminosilicate materials and a binding agent at ambient temperature. The result is an eco-friendly cementitious material that qualifies for international carbon credits. It has been independently tested by laboratories in the US and abroad. It meets ASTM standards for compressive strengths that are ideal for use in non-structural and structural constructions such as sidewalks, driveways, roads, bridges, dams, ports, marinas, and commercial and residential building constructions. The company is also working to make the manufacturing process portable, so that it can be produced on site, where needed.

This is the latest in a string of new cementitious products that aim to improve on OPC’s environmental footprint. Last month we reported on advances in sustainable concrete in the US, including using kaolin as a supplement to cement and partial replacement with flyash. GGBS concrete has received a lot of coverage lately, both online and in the magazine, again claiming reduced emissions and longer life – and with an increasing number of applications proving both. The question is, will any of these replace cement (as we currently know) it in the long term. The answer will depend on whether the technology can be proven on a grand scale, and whether the construction industry is willing to put its faith in new products.