1 minute read
TALLY - CONCRETE
RESULTS PER LIFE CYCLE STAGE - CONCRETE
Concrete, unfortunately, has a substantial environmental impact due to the cement causing emissions of carbon dioxide, a toxic greenhouse gas.
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The environmental unfriendliness of this essential building material starts during production and will last until after it is disposed of.
In addition to the greenhouse gas emissions, concrete requires mass amounts of energy and water to produce, pushing this notion of the unfriendliness. Be that as it may, it is important to understand that architects, designers and contractors do not stick with this building material for hundreds of years due to trivial concepts, like cost.
They have stuck with this building material for hundreds of years due to the strength and bearing capacity it allows. The aesthetic qualities, and variety of ways we can morph the visual appearance of concrete increases its appeal.
Due to the very nature of concrete, it is one of the most unsustainable building materials out there, from production to transportation to installation to drying to excavation.
This material is very harmful to our atmosphere - however, it proves itself as one of the most useful building materials, which is why we have kept it in circulation for all these years.
RESULTS PER LIFE CYCLE STAGE - CONCRETE
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The change from rural to urban settlements is often accompanied by a rapid change from the use of almost zero-energy renewable building materials such as earth, stone and thatch to higher-energy factory-made permanent materials such as brick and concrete.
Concrete comes from refining virgin ore found within the surface of the earth. Construction companies often use these refined products to build buildings, homes, vehicles and smaller products such as household goods.
Concrete has a massive carbon footprint — at least 8% of global emissions caused by humans come from the cement industry alone.
We must decarbonize its production. In industrialized countries, primary energy consumption in a typical cement plant is up to 75% fossil fuel and up to 25% electrical energy using a dry process.
