Greening of the

Concrete Industry
for Sustainable
Development
BY P. KUMAR MEHTA

C hange is inevitable. However, it is the rapid rate of

change that often becomes disruptive. This is why, all
of a sudden, we are confronted with the present situation.
have been reductionistic, because decisions were made
based on short-term and narrow goals of an enterprise
rather than on the full range of consequences from the use
Our current ways of economic and industrial development of a technology. For instance, according to Hawken et al.,3
seem to be unsustainable. Population growth, urbaniza- only 6% of the total global flow of materials, some 500 billion
tion, technology choices, and their environmental impact tons (450 billion tonnes) a year, is actually ending up in
are unquestionably among the key forces that are shaping consumer products, whereas many of the virgin materials
today’s world.1 Although these factors are interrelated, it are being returned to the environment in the form of harmful
is useful to view them separately with regard to their solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes.
historical data and future trends. Environmental pollution is not a new phenomenon.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the world’s However, due to the rapidly growing volume of the pollutants,
population was 1.5 billion people; at the end of the the environmental challenge we face now is not regional but
twentieth century, it had grown to 6 billion people. global. According to scientists, the greatest environmental
Considering that it took 10,000 years after the end of the challenge today is that of man-made climate change due to
last ice age for the world’s population to reach the 1.5 global warming, which is caused by the steadily rising
billion mark, the rate of growth from 1.5 to 6 billion people concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere
during the short span of 100 years is truly explosive. during the past 100 years. Consequently, since the 1990s, the
Statistics show a direct correlation between population Worldwatch Institute has recorded an unusually high
growth and the urbanization of the planet. At the beginning number of extreme weather-related disasters in many parts
of the twentieth century, about 10% of the world’s of the world.4 Thus, we may not be running out of natural
population lived in cities; in 2001, nearly half of the resources, but we are running out of the environment that
world’s 6 billion inhabitants lived in and around cities. sustains life as well as the entire economy.
According to recently published statistics by the United
Nations,2 the planet hosts 19 “megacities,” each with 10 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CONCRETE
million or more people, 22 cities with populations of 5 to Portland cement, the principal hydraulic binder used in
10 million, 370 cities with 1 to 5 million inhabitants, and modern concrete, is the product of an industry that is not
430 cities with one-half to 1 million people. only energy-intensive, but is also responsible for large
Population growth and urbanization have contributed emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2 )—a greenhouse gas.
to enormous expansion of the energy, manufacturing, Typically, ordinary concrete contains about 12% cement,
and transportation sectors of the economy during the 8% mixing water, and 80% aggregate by mass. This means
twentieth century. Unfortunately, our technology choices that, in addition to the 1.6 billion tons (1.5 billion tonnes)
of cement used worldwide, the concrete industry is consuming
Originally presented as the Tuthill Commemorative Lecture at the 10 billion tons (9 billion tonnes) of sand and rock, and 1 billion
Fall 2001 ACI Convention, Dallas, Tex. tons (900 million tonnes) of mixing water annually.5 In total,

Concrete international / JULY 2002 23

the concrete industry, which uses 12.6 billion tons generation, nations can achieve a tenfold increase in
(11.4 billion tonnes) of raw materials each year, is the their resource efficiency through a 90% reduction in its use
largest user of natural resources in the world. Mining, of energy and materials. Obviously, large future savings in
processing, and transporting huge quantities of aggregate, materials can result if we produce products that are much
in addition to about 3 billion tons (2.7 billion tonnes) of the more durable. For example, the resource efficiency of the
raw materials needed every year for cement manufacturing, concrete industry would increase by a factor of five if the
consume considerable energy and adversely affect the service lives of most structures built today were 250 years
ecology of the planet. instead of the conventional 50.
How can we reduce the environmental impact of the First, let’s review the state of durability of modern
concrete industry? The long-term approach to lower the concrete structures built during the second half of the
environmental impact of using any material is to reduce its twentieth century. Then, let’s determine what steps can be
rate of consumption. For reasons that are discussed in the taken to enhance the durability of the structures that are
following sections, the rate of concrete consumption being built today.
probably cannot be reduced for some 50 years. In the In the April 1998 issue of ASCE News, the American Society
short-term, we must begin practicing industrial ecology for of Civil Engineers assigned a “D grade” to the nation’s infra-
sustainable industrial development. Simply stated, the structure and estimated that $1.3 trillion (in U.S. dollars) was
practice of industrial ecology involves recycling the waste required to fix the problem. Published literature1 contains
products of one industry by substituting them for the virgin references to numerous reports describing the premature
raw materials of another industry, thereby reducing the deterioration of concrete, especially in those structures that
environmental impact of both. are exposed to industrial and urban environments, de-icing
Reportedly, over 1 billion tons (900 million tonnes) of chemicals, and seawater. In most cases, the degradation of
construction and demolition wastes are generated every concrete is associated with the corrosion of reinforcing steel;
year. Cost-effective technologies are available to recycle in a few cases, deterioration is due to alkali-aggregate reaction
most of these wastes as partial replacement for the coarse or sulfate attack.
aggregate in fresh concrete mixtures.5 Similarly, industrial Why do reinforced concrete structures begin to deterio-
wastewaters and nonpotable waters can be substituted for rate much earlier than their designed service life? Many
municipal water for mixing concrete, unless they are researchers, including Burrows,10 have pointed out that
proven harmful by testing. Blended portland cements modern portland cement concrete mixtures, which are
containing fly ash from coal-fired power plants and ground- usually designed to attain high strength at an early age, are
granulated slag from the blast-furnace iron industry prone to cracking. Interconnections between the cracks,
provide excellent examples of industrial ecology because microcracks, and voids in concrete provide pathways for
they offer a holistic solution for reducing the environmental the penetration of water and harmful ions necessary for the
impact of several industries. initiation of several types of durability problems.
The concrete construction industry already uses From a comprehensive review of the durability of field
concrete mixtures containing cementitious material concrete during the twentieth century, Mehta and
replacements with 15 to 20% fly ash or 30 to 40% slag by Burrows11 concluded that today’s reductionistic concreting
mass. Malhotra and his colleagues6-8 have shown that, practice, driven solely by demand for high-speed construction,
with conventional materials and technology, it is is generally responsible for excessive cracking and the
possible to produce high-performance concrete mixtures reported epidemic of durability problems with bridge
containing 50 to 60% fly ash by mass of the blended decks and parking garages built during the 1980s and
cementitious material. An article in this issue of Concrete 1990s. Since the 1930s, the tricalcium silicate (C3 S) content
International, written by V. M. Malhotra, describes the and fineness of ordinary portland cement have been
high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete technology. Note steadily increasing. Present-day concrete mixtures contain
that fly ash is readily available in most parts of the a greater content of a highly reactive portland cement that
world. China and India, the two countries that consume produces high strength at an early age. But, this type of
large amounts of cement, produce over 300 million tons concrete also undergoes high thermal contraction and high
(270 million tonnes) of fly ash per year.9 drying shrinkage. Consequently, it cracks and loses
watertightness much earlier than the concrete mixtures
DURABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY used 50 to 60 years ago.
In the long run, sustainable development will happen I believe that, in regard to concrete durability, instead
only if we are able to make dramatic improvements to of reductionistic methods that have been tried without
our resource efficiency. Hawken et al.3 describe a move- great success, we need to pursue an approach based on
ment launched in 1994 by the Factor Ten Club, a group of a holistic model of concrete deterioration. This approach
scientists, economists, and businesspeople. The declara- will bring about a fundamental shift in our current
tion of the Factor Ten Club states that, within one concreting practice, by seeking a better end product that

24 JULY 2002 / Concrete international

is free from cracks rather than pushing the envelope for generally characterized by low carbon content and high
higher construction speeds. fineness—is able to impart excellent workability to
concrete at a water content that is 15 to 20% lower than
AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY FOR concrete without the fly ash. Further reductions in the
GREEN CONCRETE mixing water content can be achieved with better
The high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete originally aggregate grading and with the help of superplasticizing
developed by Malhotra and his colleagues6-8 provides admixtures. As described next, a large reduction in the
the most promising example of how we can build mixing water content has a highly beneficial effect on the
concrete structures that are more durable and cracking and durability characteristics of concrete.
resource-efficient than those made of conventional The typical proportions of two concrete mixtures
portland cement concrete. Whether as a component shown in Table 1 help to illustrate why HVFA concrete
of blended portland cement, or as a mineral admixture resists cracks better. The mixtures are designed to
added to concrete during mixing, the fly ash content achieve a 25-MPa (3600 psi) strength and a 125- to
of HVFA concrete mixtures is typically between 50 150-mm (5 to 6 in.) slump. Compared to the conventional
and 60% by mass of the total cementitious material. concrete mixture, the HVFA system contains one-third
The sidebar on p. 26 contains two examples of field less mixing water. As a result, the water-cementitious
application of the HVFA concrete technology. materials ratio (w/cm) of the HVFA concrete is lower and
In the past, the HVFA concrete mixtures generally did the total volume of the cement paste is nearly 16% less.
not perform well with respect to strength development, Consequently, the drying shrinkage, which is directly
drying shrinkage, and durability. This is because the fly related both to the w/cm and the proportion of the
ash produced by old thermal power plants was coarser cement paste present in concrete, is greatly reduced. At
and usually contained more carbon. Laboratory and field the same time, due to a drastic reduction in the amount
experience have shown that, when used in a large of portland cement, the HVFA concrete generates nearly
volume, fly ash from modern thermal power plants— 40% less heat of hydration at an early age and, therefore,
the potential for thermal cracking in massive structural
TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF MIXTURE PROPORTIONS FOR 25-MPA members is also greatly reduced.
(3600 PSI) CONCRETE
BARRIERS TO
Conventional concrete HVFA concrete GREEN CONCRETE
Architects and engineers are increas-
By mass By volume By mass By volume ingly getting involved with building
lb/yd3(kg/m3) ft3(m3) lb/yd3(kg/m3) ft3(m3) “green” structures that are more energy-
and resource-efficient. Greening of the
Cement 517 (307) 2.65 (0.075) 260 (154) 1.33 (0.037) building industry cannot be complete
until the materials used for construction
Fly ash — — 260 (154) 1.73 (0.049) are also green. Despite the fact that cost-
effective and proven technologies are
Water 300 (178) 4.81 (0.136) 200 (120) 3.21 (0.091) already available for producing green
concrete, the rate at which these tech-
Entrapped nologies are being adopted by the con-
— 0.54 (0.015) — 0.54 (0.015)
air (2%) crete construction industry is extremely
slow. We must identify and address the
Coarse
1750 (1040) 10.40 (0.294) 2030 (1210) 12.10 (0.343) barriers to green concrete before we can
aggregate
expect any change in the situation.
Fine Current construction business practice
1390 (825) 8.60 (0.244) 1300 (775) 8.00 (0.228) is the first formidable institutional barrier.
aggregate
The building industry’s profitability is
Total 3957 (2350) 27.00 (0.764) 4050 (2413) 27.00 (0.764) largely determined by fast construction
schedules, not by the life-cycle cost
w/cm 0.58 — 0.38 — savings from the conservation of energy
and materials. Experience shows that
Paste faster construction is not always less
volume: 8.00 (0.226) 6.81 (0.192) expensive. Poor-quality concrete, with its
percent: — 29.6% — 25.0% honeycombs and many cracks, frequently
requires costly repairs and results in

Concrete international / JULY 2002 25

litigation. Poorly built structures have a tendency to and drying-shrinkage cracking, which has made them
deteriorate faster, especially when exposed to today’s vulnerable to early deterioration from physical and chemical
industrial and polluted environments. Thus, owners attacks. A holistic approach to durability of concrete
must pay a high life-cycle cost. Furthermore, we know of recognizes that it is not the strength and the impermeability
concrete structures that have failed prematurely during of laboratory-size specimens, but that of the entire structure
heavy storms or severe earthquakes due to pre-existing that is essential for long-term durability. Therefore, the
cracks and microcracks. It is evident, therefore, that durability of concrete would not be enhanced by prescribing
today’s construction economy is afflicted with a low w/cm unless, at the same time, both the water content
considerable waste of capital and materials, and and the cement content of the concrete mixture were lowered.
requires a fundamental restructuring. A third institutional barrier is the lack of a holistic
Building codes are another institutional barrier approach in engineering education and research. The shift
discouraging the use of recycled materials. Out-of-date from reductionistic to holistic construction practices must
codes specify the use of particular materials and mixture begin by reforming the present system of education and
proportions for a job rather than specifying a particular research in the fields of concrete science and technology.9
standard of performance. For instance, federal, state, Clearly, greening of the entire concrete construction
and municipal codes for concrete mixtures often prescribe industry will have to proceed before green concrete
a maximum fly ash content (typically 15 to 25% by mass replaces conventional concrete as the material of choice
of the cementitious material) or a minimum cement for general construction.
content. High-performance concrete mixtures being
produced with HVFA concrete prove that prescriptive LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?
specifications are obsolete and must be replaced with How much time do we have before the global climate
performance-based standards. situation becomes irreversible? This discussion requires a
As discussed in earlier papers,9,11 the present-day review of the future impact of population growth, urban-
codes of recommended practice imply that low-w/cm ization, and wasteful consumption of natural resources.
concrete, irrespective of the cement content, is a cure According to the latest population forecasts, the
for most durability problems, in spite of the fact that populations of Europe and North America have stabi-
many recently built structures have suffered severe thermal lized, while the growth rate in Asia, Africa, and South

HVFA CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE

Note that the HVFA concrete system is not a contractor was to build a crack-free, green-concrete
laboratory curiosity. Mixture proportions, field structure. The HVFA mixtures for the shearwalls, as
practice, and properties of concrete used for the well as that for the foundation, were designed to have
construction of several structures in North America a 150-mm (6 in.) slump and a 35-MPa (5 ksi) strength at
are described in various publications.12-13 I have been 56 days. Additionally, to facilitate the reuse of form-
associated with two recently built structures in the work, the wall concrete was designed to obtain a
western United States that are discussed herein. The 20-MPa (3 ksi) strength in 7 days. In the case of the
first structure, designed to endure for at least 1,000 foundation concrete, the primary concern was thermal
years, consists of a massive, unreinforced, monolith cracking; therefore, the goal was to keep the temperature
foundation composed of two parallel slabs, each difference between the interior and the surface of the
measuring 36 x 17 x 0.62 m (120 x 56 x 2 ft). The slabs concrete within the desired limit of 25 oC (77 oF).
were built with a 20-MPa (3 ksi) HVFA concrete Superplasticized HVFA concrete mixtures, with
mixture containing 106 kg/m3 (180 lb/yd3) ASTM Type I 0.32 w/cm, 195 kg/m3 (329 lb/yd3) Type I portland
cement and 142 kg/m3 (240 lb/yd3) Class F fly ash.13 cement, and 195 kg/m3 (329 lb/yd3) Class F fly ash, met
When inspected last—two years after the construc- the shearwall concrete requirements satisfactorily.
tion—the exposed surfaces did not reveal a single However, for the foundation mixture, the cement
crack in the concrete and the strength was nearly content was reduced to 160 kg/m3 (270 lb/yd3) to
double the specified value. control the heat of hydration. Due to the excellent
Representing the other end of the strength spectrum, workability of the HVFA concrete, the finished surface
the second structure is composed of heavily reinforced of the walls and the foundation showed no honey-
shearwalls and a massive, post-tensioned, reinforced combing and no bug holes. Also, the most recent
concrete foundation, 11 ft deep and 6 ft wide (3.4 x 1.8 m). inspection of the walls, 9 months after the construction,
The primary goal of the structural designer and the has revealed no cracks.

26 JULY 2002 / Concrete international

America is slowing. Experts now believe that,
by the year 2050, the world’s population will
increase to about 10 billion before it enters a
stable phase. Due to the direct linkage
between population growth and urbanization,
it is projected that about three-quarters of
those 10 billion people will live in urban
areas. The most recent United Nations’ “State
of the World Cities”2 reported that, in the
year 1980, almost half of the largest 20 cities
in the world were located in developed
countries. Today, except for four cities
(Tokyo, Osaka, New York, and Los Angeles),
all of the megacities (those with more than
10 million people) are located in the developing
world. This rise of megacities in developing Fig. 1: Forecast of future population growth and concrete consumption
countries has created tremendous pressure
on their building and infrastructure needs, which are yet ■ As the largest consumer of natural resources and a
to be met. major consumer of energy, the cement and concrete
If we assume a 50% increase in population and industry is one of the primary contributors to
urbanization during the next 50 years, then, at the current unsustainability. However, cost-effective and ecological
rate of concrete consumption, the demand for concrete will technologies are now available that will allow the
rise to about 18 billion tons (16 billion tonnes) a year by substitution of substantial amounts of industrial
2050. Thereafter, the consumption may drop, depending on by-products into conventional concrete mixtures;
how seriously we pursue the principles of industrial ■ Major improvements in the resource efficiency of the
ecology and enhancement of the durability of structures concrete industry are possible if, in the long run, we
during the next 50 years. reduce the rate of concrete consumption by lengthening
Suppose that, without delay, we implement the the service life of newly built structures. However, this
steps needed for the conservation of portland cement, will require a fundamental restructuring of the
virgin aggregates, and fresh water. By this action construction business. A radical enhancement in the
alone, the concrete industry can nearly double its durability of concrete cannot be achieved easily
resource productivity. At the same time, suppose that because of several institutional barriers; and
we also start building concrete structures that will not ■ According to the future demographic and urban growth
need replacement or major repairs during the next patterns, the demand for concrete is expected to grow
several hundred years. Then, 50 years from now, this to 18 billion tons (16 billion tonnes) a year during the
step would have the effect of considerably reducing next 50 years, but can start to decline thereafter if we
the concrete consumption. By the year 2050, if most of take immediate steps to greatly enhance the durability
the building and infrastructure needs of the developing of structures that are being built now. Whether or not
countries have also been met, then we can expect the the concrete construction industry shall find the light of
rate of concrete consumption to show a downward sustainability at the end of this 50-year-long tunnel
trend, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Yes, it is possible to see depends upon how quickly we can accomplish the task
the light of sustainability of the concrete industry at of greening the entire industry.
the end of the 50-year-long tunnel. However, this will
happen only if various segments of the construction References
industry overcome the institutional barriers 1. Mehta, P. K., “Concrete Technology at the Crossroads—
mentioned previously and embrace the task of greening Problems and Opportunities,” Concrete Technology: Past, Present,
the entire industry. and Future, SP-144, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills,
Mich., 1993, pp. 1-31.
MOVING TOWARDS THE LIGHT 2. “The State of the World’s Cities Report 2001,” United Nations
■ Scientists believe that an era of unsustainable develop- Center for Human Settlements, New York, June 2001.
ment began approximately 100 years ago. At that time, 3. Hawken, P.; Lovins, E.; and Lovins, H., Natural Capitalism—Creating
we entered into an extraordinary period of population the Next Industrial Revolution, Little Brown and Co., 1999, 369 pp.
explosion, rapid urbanization, and technology choices 4. Flavin, C., and Tunali, O., “Climate of Hope: New Strategies for
that have resulted in the highly wasteful consumption Stabilizing the World’s Atmosphere,” Paper No. 130, Worldwatch
of energy and resources; Institute, Washington, D.C., 1996, 84 pp.

Concrete international / JULY 2002 27

 5. Mehta, P. K., “Reducing the Environmental Impact of Concrete,” SP-178, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich.,
Concrete International, V. 23, No. 10, Oct. 2001, pp. 61-66. 1998, pp. 545-574.
6. Malhotra, V. M., “Superplasticized Fly Ash Concrete for Structural 13. Mehta, P.K.; and Langley, W.S., “Monolith Foundation: Built to Last
Applications,” Concrete International, V. 8, No. 12, Dec. 1986, pp. 28-31. ‘1000’ Years,” Concrete International, V. 22, No. 7, July 2000, pp. 27-32.
7. Bisaillon, A.; Livest, M.; and Malhotra, V. M., “Performance of
High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete in Large Experimental Monoliths,” Selected for reader interest by the editors.
ACI Materials Journal, V. 19, No. 2, Mar.-Apr. 1994, pp. 178-187.
8. Bouzoubaa, N.; Zhang, M. H.; Bilodeau, A.; and Malhotra, V. M.,
“Mechanical Properties and Durability of Concrete Made with High-
Volume Fly Ash Blended Cements,” Sixth CANMET/ACI/JCI Confer-
ence: Fly Ash, Silica Fume, Slag, and Natural Pozzolans in Concrete,
P. Kumar Mehta, FACI, is Professor
SP-178, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich., 1998, Emeritus in the Civil and Environmental
pp. 575-603. Engineering Department at the University
9. Mehta, P. K., “Concrete Technology for Sustainable Develop- of California at Berkeley. An author or
ment,” Concrete International, V. 21, No. 11, Nov. 1999, pp. 47-53. coauthor of numerous papers and three
10. Burrows, R. W., The Visible and Invisible Cracking of Concrete, texts in the field of concrete technology,
ACI Monograph No. 11, American Concrete Institute, Farmington he has received several awards, includ-
Hills, Mich., 1998, 78 pp.
ing ACI’s Wason Medal for Materials
Research, and Construction Practice
11. Mehta, P. K., and Burrows, R. W., “Building Durable Structures in
Award. He held the Roy Carlson
the 21st Century,” Concrete International, V. 23, No. 3, Mar. 2001, pp. 57-63.
Distinguished Professorship in Civil Engineering at Berkeley
12. Langley, W. S.; and Leaman, G. H., “Practical Uses for High- and, upon his retirement, received the Berkeley Citation, the
Volume Fly Ash Concrete,” Sixth CANMET/ACI/JCI Conference: highest campus honor, for exceptional contributions to his field
Fly Ash, Silica Fume, Slag, and Natural Pozzolans in Concrete, and to the university.

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