Developing Evaluation Tools for Achieving a Sustainable Concrete Design and Construction

Today, the use of concrete and its production become matters of environmental concern throughout the world. One of the major problems is emission of CO₂ gas into the atmosphere during the manufacturing of cement. Hence, replacement of concrete components by alternative materials has been desired by the construction industry. In the past, flyash has been the most common replacement for cement. This study, however, suggests replacing all major components of concrete to the extent that would satisfy the standard strength requirements. The paper uses both literature review and focus group interview to develop a set of tools for evaluating a sustainable concrete design and construction. Discussion in this paper will not only give a direction to produce more sustainable concrete, but also simultaneously addresses the two important issues of economy and environmental friendliness.