Building an Eco-Friendly Home: How Green is Concrete?

Want to go green when building a house? If so, then concrete can your best option. Concrete is a sustainable, eco-friendly building material that remains sustainable in the entirety of its life span, from the production of its raw materials to the demolition process. Here are the reasons why:

Concrete is strong and durable

For thousands of years, various forms of concrete have been used by mankind to construct houses, build roads, and more due to the strength and durability of the material. Unlike other options, concrete can endure decades and even centuries of use and service, resulting in fewer replacements. When replacements are less frequent, there is less use of the energy and the raw materials involved in making the product and completing a construction project. Furthermore, the well-known durability and extended life cycle of concrete also contribute to carbon savings, making it a friend to the environment compared to other building materials.

Concrete contributes to fuel efficiency

When it comes to building roads, concrete is one of the greenest choices as it increases fuel efficiency – up to 4 per cent for cars and 7 per cent for trucks.

Concrete is highly energy efficient

The bright colour of concrete minimises what is known as the heat island effect as it reflects higher levels of solar radiation than other choices. This results in reduced ambient temperatures of a house or a building. In other words, concrete helps your house cool down by up to 8 degrees when the walls, floors, and foundation are made of the material.

Concrete buildings also have thermal mass, which refers to the inherent property or ability to absorb, retain, release, and transfer heat in significant levels, effectively insulating rooms, cutting down heat energy usage by 44 per cent, and decreasing air conditioning energy usage by 32 per cent.

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On top of the reduced heating and cooling energy usage, the reflective surface of concrete also helps brighten interiors, cutting down light usage by 30 per cent. In effect, you can conserve energy and save money on utility costs by using concrete.

Concrete is recyclable

When concrete finally gives in to the pressures of time and weather in its long lifespan, it can be crushed and recycled for other uses, such as road construction. Not only that, concrete can also be made of recycled by-products from steel mills, power plants, and other manufacturing industries. Examples of recycled content found in cement are fly ash (from burning coal) and slag (from refining metal). Thus, concrete produces less waste due to its resource efficiency.

Concrete helps water steadily pass through

Some building materials can block the natural process of water infiltration into the soil. When this happens, imbalances occur within the ecosystem, which can later lead to flash floods, soil erosion, pollution, and even depletion of water tables. On the other hand, pervious concrete can retain stormwater runoff with its sponge-like property, absorbing and making way for water to pass through into the soil to replenish surrounding water resources.

Concrete is environmentally safe

Unlike other construction materials, precast concrete does contain or dispense harmful elements. With concrete, you can ensure that the surrounding air and water will not be contaminated by toxic substances found in asphalt and other building materials.

The Verdict

All in all, concrete is significantly cost-, resource-, and energy efficient, making it an environmentally friendly building material. Use it for house building today.

We at AAA Concreting offer expert concrete solutions for your construction needs. We install concrete floors, stamped patios, foundations, repair, resurfacing, and more. To learn more about our services, contact us.  

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