Sustainable

Concrete

for

Sustainable

Cities

Elaine Toogood

BA(HONS) Grad Dip Arch RIBA

Architect, The Concrete Centre

Rushlight Events June 2014

The Concrete Centre:

Taking concrete forward

• Free resource for specifiers

• Concrete Quarterly

• Publications: general and

technical

• Practice workshops

• Seminars and conferences

• Training courses

• Concrete Elegance Lecture

series

www.concretecentre.com www.thisisconcrete.com

www.sustainableconcrete.com

Concrete Centre publications

Wide range of publications providing guidance on the design, use

and performance of concrete

www.concretecentre.com/publications

Sustainable

Concrete

for Sustainable

Cities

• Readily available

• Cost effective

• Established form of

construction

• Also innovative

• Robust

• Materially efficient

• Versatile &

adaptable

Concrete performance

• Strength

• Robustness

• Durability

• Flood resilience and

prevention

• Acoustic Performance

• Fire resistance

• Durable airtightness

barrier

• High Thermal Mass

Hill Top House

Adrian James Architects

Above and below ground

CrossRail Arsta Bridge, Stockholm

Foster and Partners

Aldermanbury Square

Eric Parry Architects

Above and below water

Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

David Chipperfield Architects

• Various SUDS systems: Permeable hard paving solutions;

grasscrete & permeable concrete

External surfaces

East Village

Patel Taylor

Brent Civic Centre

Hopkins Architects/ URS

Structural internal finish

• Use of concrete not always evident externally

• Structure exposed internally to optimise thermal mass as

part of low energy strategy

Variety of concrete solutions

• Range of concrete structural

solutions including precast, cast

insitu and hybrid construction

• Solutions for walls, frames,

floors and surfaces inside and

out, exposed or hidden

• Self-sufficiency in UK of raw materials for concrete

• Local production is a key sustainability principal – for social,

economic and environmental sustainability

Concrete is a Local Material

• 6th pan-industry sustainability report

• Measures data and sets targets over

various sustainability criteria

Concrete industry sustainable

construction strategy

www.sustainableconcrete.org.uk

Concrete industry Sustainable

Construction Strategy

New 2020 Commitments include:

• Target continuous improvement of

Sustainability Production Performance

• Provide Life Cycle Assessment Data

• Develop a Material and Resource

Efficiency Programme to inform best

practice

• Develop a Low Carbon Freight Initiative

• Develop a Water Strategy

• The concrete industry is a

net waste provider. 63 x more

waste used than produced*

• Precast Concrete & Ready

Mix Concrete Resource

Efficiency Action plans (REAPs)

launched this year

• Recommendations, actions

and targets for improving

resource efficiency &

opportunity for recycling and

reusing recovered materials

Material and Resource Efficiency

*2011 figures

Concrete industry Sustainable

Construction Strategy

New 2020 targets:

• 90% reduction in waste to land from

2008 baseline

• 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from

concrete production from 1990

baseline

• 95% of production certified to

responsible sourcing standard BES

6001

• 100% relevant production sites with

action plans for stewardship and

biodiversity

Responsibly Sourced

• Concrete is the leading construction material for

responsible sourcing

• Around 90 % all concrete production is BES-6001

accredited

Concrete components

Approx average mix by volume

For insitu

Reinforcement

Admixtures

Low carbon cements

• Portland cement contributes

majority of ECO2 to concrete

• Carbon footprint of cement

production has reduced by over 55%

since 1990 *

• Use of cementitious replacements

can reduce ECO2 further. Eg: Ground

Granulated blast furnace slag

(GGBS) ; Fly Ash (FA) or lime

*UK Climate Change Agreement target for 2010 reached 4 years in advance

Low carbon cement blends

50% GGBS

Westminster City College

Schmidt Hammer Lassen /Buro Happold

34% Fly ash

Angel building

AHMM / AKT

Primary aggregates

& alternatives

• Abundance in low carbon,

local aggregate

• Potential use of recycled

aggregates (RA) if available

locally or using low carbon

transport

• Consistency of supply and

source material are

necessary for use in

concrete

Use of recycled (secondary)

aggregates

Granite sands and aggregates transported by train from Cornwall

for concrete at London Olympic park 2012

Alternatively Blast Furnace Slag Aggregate, or Sintered Pulverised

Fuel Ash (light weight aggregate)

Innovations in Reinforcement

and Admixtures

• CARES or ECO reinforcement

responsible sourcing

standards

• Fibre reinforcement/ post

tensioning alternatives

• Admixtures can improve

properties of concrete

• Including: reduced water,

increased strength,

durability, water resistance,

self compacting

Ultra High Performance Concrete

Innovative products

• Many innovative products to facilitate high performance

construction in concrete and masonry

Thermally broken thin joint lintels

Low conductivity wall ties

Loadbearing insulation

Thermal breaks for concrete slabs Thin joint blockwork

Insulated concrete formwork

Resource Efficient Construction

Solutions

‘Off site’ low waste construction

solutions eg:

• Prefabricated cavity walls

• Whole build crosswall systems

• Insulated sandwich panels

• Hybrid solutions eg Twin wall

• Permanent concrete formwork

Resource Efficient Construction

solutions

Resource Efficient Construction

solutions

• Void formers or hollow core to

reduce amount of material in

floors

Post tensioned slabs: Resource & land efficient

• Large spans = fewer columns

• Over 10 stories, thinner slabs permits additional storey within

same height

• Flat soffit for efficient services installation and operation

Resource Efficient Construction

solutions

The Forum, Norwich

Hopkins Architects

Visual concrete structure can provide a

durable, attractive finish, thermal mass

AND exceed minimum standards for fire

and acoustic separation

Material Efficiency

• Thermal mass, natural

ventilation and daylight

are integral to low energy

strategy

• Painted cast insitu

concrete floors, with

exposed precast columns

providing thermal mass

• Set to be highest BREEAM

Outstanding rating for

offices in UK

5 Pancras Square, Kings Cross

Bennetts Associates./AKT II

Low energy offices using

thermal mass of concrete

• Low energy offices

• Includes water cooled

‘active’ concrete slabs

• Greater occupancy

potential /m2 = resource

efficiency

CAFOD HQ, Southwark

Black Architects.

Enhanced

thermal mass performance

Water cooled concrete

The Hive

Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios. Tate Modern Extension

Herzog and De Meuron MMU Business School

Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios

Air cooled concrete

55 Gee Street

Munkenbeck and Partners. Brighton Library

Bennetts Associates 4West Blg, Bath University

Stride Treglown Tektus

Breathing new life into old

Elizabeth II Court, Winchester

Energy Efficient refurbishment

Bennetts Associates Architects

• Re-using an existing

structure is often the

optimum sustainable

solution

• ECO2 effectively reduced

by extending life of building

• Concrete frames are

durable and robust and can

be designed to last over 100

years

Park Hill refurbishment, Sheffield,

Urban Splash

Reuse and refurbishment

• Robust structural frame

• Adaptable layouts

• Reclad or over clad

• Simple maintenance

solutions

• Tall floor to ceiling heights

• Long life = low carbon

Design for long life &

future adaption

New Square, London

Bennetts Associates

Sustainable city of the future?

Winning design for a Korean City centre

MVDRV

Robert Graves and Didier Madoc-Jones

Future climatic conditions?

Flood prevention and flood resilience

• Various SUDS systems: Permeable hard paving solutions;

grasscrete & permeable concrete

Sustainable Urban Drainage

More frequent incidents of

extreme weather

Robust materials for facades and external surfaces

Higher average temperatures

Avoidance of overheating and low energy cooling

strategies using thermal mass

Higher density of

residential development?

Noise attenuation and insulation

‘Living concrete’

Future developments of concrete?

Photo luminescence

Pollution ‘eating’ & Self cleaning

Fabric Formwork Thermal insulation

THANK YOU

etoogood@concretecentre.com

@elainetoogood