Towards greener concrete: The challenges of sus-con project

Agnese Attanasio, Alessandro Largo, Raffaele Vinai, Marios Soutsos, Jeanette Visser, René van Gijlswijk, Chrysanthi Panagiotopoulou , Maria Taxiarchou, Francesco Sonzogni, Marco Preda, Massimo Pugliese

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)
44 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Portland cement production is an energy-intensive process respon-sible for a significant share of the total CO2 production. Its replacement with low carbon binders from by-products of industrial processes is a sustainable alter-native for innovative construction materials. In addition, the combination of low carbon binders with recycled aggregates results in a more sustainable concrete, also contributing to reduce waste amounts sent to landfills or incinerators. SUS-CON (SUStainable, innovative and energy-efficient CONcrete, based on the integration of all-waste materials) project (Funded by EC under FP7 (call EeB-NMP.2011-1/3, grant agreement no. 285463).), aimed at developing new concepts and technologies to integrate secondary raw materials in the concrete production cycle, resulting in cost-effective, lightweight and insulating concretes with reduced embodied energy and CO2 footprint. This paper presents a com-prehensive overview of the technical work carried out during the Project. The work was structured in three major phases: 1. material research, leading to set-up and assess eco-sustainable concretes with recycled aggregates (e.g. waste polyurethane foams, mixed plastic scraps, end-of-life tyres and plastics from electrical and electronic equipment) and low carbon alkali activated binders (e.g. pulverized fly ash from power stations and blast furnace slags from steel plants); 2. industrial implementation, validating the developed technologies in industrially relevant environment through pre-cast components and ready-mixed concrete production and pilot buildings construction; 3. industrial uptake, cre-ating the bases for transferring results and methodologies by environmental and economical assessments (LCA, LCC, HSE) and certification issues. Mechanical, insulation and fire resistance properties of SUS-CON components were tested; energy efficiency performances of SUS-CON pilot buildings were also monitored.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHigh Tech Concrete: Where Technology and Engineering Meet - Proceedings of the 2017 fib Symposium, held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, June 12-14, 2017
EditorsD.A. Hordijk, M. Lukovic
PublisherSpringer
Pages2373-2381
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9783319594712
ISBN (Print)9783319594705
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 06 Aug 2017
EventInternational fib Symposium on High Tech Concrete: Where Technology and Engineering Meet, 2017 - Maastricht, Netherlands
Duration: 12 Jun 201714 Jun 2017

Publication series

Namefib Symposium
ISSN (Print)2617-4820

Conference

ConferenceInternational fib Symposium on High Tech Concrete: Where Technology and Engineering Meet, 2017
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityMaastricht
Period12/06/201714/06/2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018.

Keywords

  • Alkali activated binders
  • Industrial scale up
  • Recycled aggregates
  • Secondary raw materials (SRM)
  • Sustainable concrete

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Materials Science (miscellaneous)

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