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Concrete has a total embodied energy of 1.69 GJ/tonne, lower per unit mass than most common building materials besides wood. However, concrete structures often have high masses, so this comparison is not always directly relevant to decision making. Additionally, this value is based only on mix proportions of up to 20% fly ash.
A single concrete block, as used for construction. Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, [1] and is the most widely used building material. [2]
Concrete is the most widely used material in existence and is behind only water as the planet's most-consumed resource. [ 2 ] Cements used in construction are usually inorganic , often lime - or calcium silicate -based, and are either hydraulic or less commonly non-hydraulic , depending on the ability of the cement to set in the presence of ...
Roman concrete, also called opus caementicium, was used in construction in ancient Rome. Like its modern equivalent , Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement added to an aggregate . Many buildings and structures still standing today, such as bridges, reservoirs and aqueducts, were built with this material, which attests to both ...
Concrete has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion, and as it matures concrete shrinks. All concrete structures will crack to some extent, due to shrinkage and tension. Concrete which is subjected to long-duration forces is prone to creep. The density of concrete varies, but is around 2,400 kilograms per cubic metre (150 lb/cu ft). [1]
Prestressed concrete is a highly versatile construction material as a result of it being an almost ideal combination of its two main constituents: high-strength steel, pre-stretched to allow its full strength to be easily realised; and modern concrete, pre-compressed to minimise cracking under tensile forces.
Building impacts belong to two distinct but interrelated types of carbon emissions: operational and embodied carbon.Operational carbon includes emissions related to the building's functioning, such as lighting and heating; embodied carbon encompasses emissions resulting from the physical construction of buildings, including the processing of materials, material waste, transportation, assembly ...
It is the longest-lasting building material available, and is usually readily available. There are many types of rock, with differing attributes that make them better or worse for particular uses. Rock is a very dense material so it gives a lot of protection; its main drawback as a building material is its weight and the difficulty of working it.