Use of Green Concrete to Promote Sustainable Construction

Use of Green Concrete to Promote Sustainable Construction 1
INVESTIGATING THE USAGE OF GREEN CONCRETE IN CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY: STEP TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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Use of Green Concrete to Promote Sustainable Construction 2
Executive Summary
Concrete is a widely used construction material but has devastating impacts on the environment.
This has made the need to find alternative materials to conventional concrete inevitable. Green
concrete is one of these alternatives. The material has mechanical properties similar to those of
conventional concrete but it is cheaper and more sustainable. However, adoption of green
concrete is still low in many parts of the world. The main aim of this project is to investigate
factors/challenges hinders adoption of green concrete and establish if combination of two or
more types of green concrete can improve its mechanical properties, performance and
sustainability. Data will be collected using questionnaires and interviews from 150 respondents
(experts and stakeholders in the construction industry who have adequate knowledge and
experience in use of green concrete). The respondents will be from nine different countries.
Findings from this research will help relevant stakeholders in the construction industry and
government agencies to develop strategies of overcoming the identified challenges thus
improving utilization of green concrete. This will play a key role in reducing construction costs
and environmental impacts.

Use of Green Concrete to Promote Sustainable Construction 3
1. Introduction
Construction industry has continued to expand all over the world due to rapid global
population growth and increased urbanization and industrialization. However, this expansion has
come with a fair share of challenges. Some of these challenges are depletion of natural resources,
construction waste, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and air and water pollution. One of the
materials that is commonly used in the construction industry is concrete (Agarwal & Garg,
2018). The primary ingredients of concrete are cement, aggregates (coarse and fine aggregates)
and water (Raki, et al., 2010). Production and transportation of cement are associated with
release of large volumes of GHGs, making conventional concrete a hindrance to promotion and
achievement of sustainable development in the construction industry (Blaszczynski & Krol,
2015). A combination of GHG emissions from cement industry and large volumes of
construction waste has made construction industry a major contributor to global warming and
climate change. However, this can be reversed with use of alternative construction materials such
as green concrete (Suhendro, 2014). Scientists, engineers and researchers in the construction
industry are now looking for alternative materials to conventional concrete so as to minimize the
industry’s environmental impacts.
Green concrete is any type of concrete that is made from eco-friendly materials or
conventional concrete wastes (such as slag, quarrying & mining wastes, recycled concrete,
power plant wastes, incinerator residue, burnt clay, red mud, waste glass, foundry sand, recycled
waste, combustor and sludge ash, silica fume, and sawdust) (Al-Gahtani, et al., 2017). The
concrete can be made from most of the locally available materials in any part of the world. This
minimizes the need to exploit, process and transport natural resources for cement production and
the costs and the negative environmental impacts associated with these processes. Using green

Use of Green Concrete to Promote Sustainable Construction 4
concrete saves energy, waste water and emissions. Production of green concrete is also cheaper
because waste products are used as partial substitutes for cement, thus saving the energy and
costs of producing one unit of cement. This concrete is used for the construction and repair of
different structures such as buildings, bridges, dams, piers or columns and roads. Therefore the
main advantages of green concrete are: reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from the concrete
industry by 30%; increased use of waste from the concrete industry by 20%; zero environmental
pollution; green concrete structures have less maintenance and repair needs; promotes
sustainable development; good fire and thermal resistance properties; better workability than
conventional concrete; has compressive strength and flexural strength similar to that of
conventional concrete; and is cheaper than conventional concrete (Baikerikar, 2014).
Use of green concrete is being promoted all over the world as it has the potential of
transforming the construction industry by reducing its environmental impacts. The main
objectives of using green concrete are to: reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from
production of cement (as production of one ton of cement releases one ton of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere) (Parbat, et al., 2015), reduce exploitation and utilization of natural resources
(such as natural rocks, natural river sand, shale, limestone and clay), minimize construction
waste and size of landfills used for storing this waste, reduce air and water pollution associated
with production and use of conventional concrete, and reduce embodied energy of new
structures. In other words, the general goal of green concrete is to minimize the impact of
concrete on the environment. Some of the types of green concrete are: geo-polymer concrete,
lightweight concrete, ultra-high performance concrete and fly ash concrete (Liew, et al.,
2017).