Sustainable
Concrete
for
Sustainable
Cities
Elaine Toogood
BA(HONS) Grad Dip Arch RIBA
Architect, The Concrete Centre
Rushlight Events June 2014
The Concrete Centre:
Taking concrete forward
• Free resource for specifiers
• Concrete Quarterly
• Publications: general and
technical
• Practice workshops
• Seminars and conferences
• Training courses
• Concrete Elegance Lecture
series
www.concretecentre.com www.thisisconcrete.com
www.sustainableconcrete.com
Concrete Centre publications
Wide range of publications providing guidance on the design, use
and performance of concrete
www.concretecentre.com/publications
• Readily available
• Cost effective
• Established form of
construction
• Also innovative
• Robust
• Materially efficient
• Versatile &
adaptable
Concrete performance
• Strength
• Robustness
• Durability
• Flood resilience and
prevention
• Acoustic Performance
• Fire resistance
• Durable airtightness
barrier
• High Thermal Mass
Hill Top House
Adrian James Architects
Aldermanbury Square
Eric Parry Architects
Above and below water
Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield
David Chipperfield Architects
• Various SUDS systems: Permeable hard paving solutions;
grasscrete & permeable concrete
External surfaces
East Village
Patel Taylor
Brent Civic Centre
Hopkins Architects/ URS
Structural internal finish
• Use of concrete not always evident externally
• Structure exposed internally to optimise thermal mass as
part of low energy strategy
Variety of concrete solutions
• Range of concrete structural
solutions including precast, cast
insitu and hybrid construction
• Solutions for walls, frames,
floors and surfaces inside and
out, exposed or hidden
• Self-sufficiency in UK of raw materials for concrete
• Local production is a key sustainability principal – for social,
economic and environmental sustainability
Concrete is a Local Material
• 6th pan-industry sustainability report
• Measures data and sets targets over
various sustainability criteria
Concrete industry sustainable
construction strategy
www.sustainableconcrete.org.uk
Concrete industry Sustainable
Construction Strategy
New 2020 Commitments include:
• Target continuous improvement of
Sustainability Production Performance
• Provide Life Cycle Assessment Data
• Develop a Material and Resource
Efficiency Programme to inform best
practice
• Develop a Low Carbon Freight Initiative
• Develop a Water Strategy
• The concrete industry is a
net waste provider. 63 x more
waste used than produced*
• Precast Concrete & Ready
Mix Concrete Resource
Efficiency Action plans (REAPs)
launched this year
• Recommendations, actions
and targets for improving
resource efficiency &
opportunity for recycling and
reusing recovered materials
Material and Resource Efficiency
*2011 figures
Concrete industry Sustainable
Construction Strategy
New 2020 targets:
• 90% reduction in waste to land from
2008 baseline
• 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from
concrete production from 1990
baseline
• 95% of production certified to
responsible sourcing standard BES
6001
• 100% relevant production sites with
action plans for stewardship and
biodiversity
Responsibly Sourced
• Concrete is the leading construction material for
responsible sourcing
• Around 90 % all concrete production is BES-6001
accredited
Low carbon cements
• Portland cement contributes
majority of ECO2 to concrete
• Carbon footprint of cement
production has reduced by over 55%
since 1990 *
• Use of cementitious replacements
can reduce ECO2 further. Eg: Ground
Granulated blast furnace slag
(GGBS) ; Fly Ash (FA) or lime
*UK Climate Change Agreement target for 2010 reached 4 years in advance
Low carbon cement blends
50% GGBS
Westminster City College
Schmidt Hammer Lassen /Buro Happold
34% Fly ash
Angel building
AHMM / AKT
Primary aggregates
& alternatives
• Abundance in low carbon,
local aggregate
• Potential use of recycled
aggregates (RA) if available
locally or using low carbon
transport
• Consistency of supply and
source material are
necessary for use in
concrete
Use of recycled (secondary)
aggregates
Granite sands and aggregates transported by train from Cornwall
for concrete at London Olympic park 2012
Alternatively Blast Furnace Slag Aggregate, or Sintered Pulverised
Fuel Ash (light weight aggregate)
Innovations in Reinforcement
and Admixtures
• CARES or ECO reinforcement
responsible sourcing
standards
• Fibre reinforcement/ post
tensioning alternatives
• Admixtures can improve
properties of concrete
• Including: reduced water,
increased strength,
durability, water resistance,
self compacting
Innovative products
• Many innovative products to facilitate high performance
construction in concrete and masonry
Thermally broken thin joint lintels
Low conductivity wall ties
Loadbearing insulation
Thermal breaks for concrete slabs Thin joint blockwork
Insulated concrete formwork
Resource Efficient Construction
Solutions
‘Off site’ low waste construction
solutions eg:
• Prefabricated cavity walls
• Whole build crosswall systems
• Insulated sandwich panels
• Hybrid solutions eg Twin wall
• Permanent concrete formwork
Resource Efficient Construction
solutions
Resource Efficient Construction
solutions
• Void formers or hollow core to
reduce amount of material in
floors
Post tensioned slabs: Resource & land efficient
• Large spans = fewer columns
• Over 10 stories, thinner slabs permits additional storey within
same height
• Flat soffit for efficient services installation and operation
Resource Efficient Construction
solutions
The Forum, Norwich
Hopkins Architects
Visual concrete structure can provide a
durable, attractive finish, thermal mass
AND exceed minimum standards for fire
and acoustic separation
Material Efficiency
• Thermal mass, natural
ventilation and daylight
are integral to low energy
strategy
• Painted cast insitu
concrete floors, with
exposed precast columns
providing thermal mass
• Set to be highest BREEAM
Outstanding rating for
offices in UK
5 Pancras Square, Kings Cross
Bennetts Associates./AKT II
Low energy offices using
thermal mass of concrete
• Low energy offices
• Includes water cooled
‘active’ concrete slabs
• Greater occupancy
potential /m2 = resource
efficiency
CAFOD HQ, Southwark
Black Architects.
Enhanced
thermal mass performance
Water cooled concrete
The Hive
Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios. Tate Modern Extension
Herzog and De Meuron MMU Business School
Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios
Air cooled concrete
55 Gee Street
Munkenbeck and Partners. Brighton Library
Bennetts Associates 4West Blg, Bath University
Stride Treglown Tektus
Breathing new life into old
Elizabeth II Court, Winchester
Energy Efficient refurbishment
Bennetts Associates Architects
• Re-using an existing
structure is often the
optimum sustainable
solution
• ECO2 effectively reduced
by extending life of building
• Concrete frames are
durable and robust and can
be designed to last over 100
years
Park Hill refurbishment, Sheffield,
Urban Splash
Reuse and refurbishment
• Robust structural frame
• Adaptable layouts
• Reclad or over clad
• Simple maintenance
solutions
• Tall floor to ceiling heights
• Long life = low carbon
Design for long life &
future adaption
New Square, London
Bennetts Associates
Robert Graves and Didier Madoc-Jones
Future climatic conditions?
Flood prevention and flood resilience
• Various SUDS systems: Permeable hard paving solutions;
grasscrete & permeable concrete
Sustainable Urban Drainage
More frequent incidents of
extreme weather
Robust materials for facades and external surfaces
Higher average temperatures
Avoidance of overheating and low energy cooling
strategies using thermal mass
‘Living concrete’
Future developments of concrete?
Photo luminescence
Pollution ‘eating’ & Self cleaning
Fabric Formwork Thermal insulation