Green concrete can refer to uncured concrete or environmentally friendly concrete products. Standard concrete is made of sand, rock, Portland cement, and water, and hardens through a chemical reaction during the curing process. Curing takes seven days and protecting the concrete from drying too quickly is important. Concrete production releases significant amounts of CO2, but new formulations and recycled industrial products can reduce emissions. Stanford professor Brent Constantz has invented a green cement that generates no CO2 and reduces emissions by trapping CO2 in the concrete.
Green concrete has two meanings. The term most often refers to concrete that has not gone through the curing process whereby it becomes a hardened and durable building material used throughout the world. More recently, the term green concrete has come to refer to new types of concrete and concrete products designed to be environmentally friendly.
Sand, rock, Portland cement, and water are the usual ingredients of standard concrete. The strength of concrete is determined by the ratios, or mix design, of these components and can vary widely. Concrete hardens as a result of a chemical reaction between the water and the cement in the mix. What many people consider drying is actually called hardening.
The curing process produces heat, which can cause the concrete to release its moisture too quickly and result in an inferior quality product. Freshly poured concrete must be protected from drying out too quickly. Often the sides and bottom of the concrete are protected by formwork and the surface it was poured onto, but the top must be covered with a plastic sheet, spray plastic sheet or traditional canvas, which is kept moist until completion of the polymerization. Typically, curing concrete takes seven days.
Concrete can harden or become hard to the touch in a short time. Foot traffic is usually safe within three to four hours. Concrete is usually considered green for a day or two. During this green period, joints can be cut and shapes easily removed. After a week, light car traffic may be permitted, and after a month, the concrete should have reached the point where heavy traffic is permitted.
The most widely used manufactured building material in the world is concrete. It is used for roads, bridges, buildings, swimming pools and parking lots. Unfortunately, it has one major drawback. The production of Portland cement, which is a major component of concrete, requires heating limestone and other elements to high temperatures. This process releases significant amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Some architects, builders and engineers are moving towards environmentally responsible green concrete construction with new concrete formulations that help conserve non-renewable resources and reduce CO2 emissions. Another benefit of green concrete products is that they are made from recycled industrial products that would otherwise have gone to landfill. Stanford professor Brent Constantz says he has invented a green cement that will eliminate the problem altogether. Constantz says his new process generates no CO2 and reduces the plant’s emissions by trapping CO2 in the concrete.
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