Specifying concrete that uses fly ash is another way of building green. Fly ash has been used for years as a partial replacement for Portland cement in the production of concrete. Fly ash is a residual created by the combustion of coal and is typically considered a waste product.
Fly ash is captured from chimneys in the power plant industry. Most fly ash is then buried in landfills. In 2005 the US produced over 71 million tons of fly ash. Almost 40% of that was reused for other applications. However, the remaining 60% was dumped in landfills requiring a staggering billion cubic feet of space!
Fly ash has properties that are similar to portland cement. In fact, fly ash is considered a pozzolanic material with cementituous properties. The creation of Portland cement is a very energy-intensive process. So replacing a portion of the Portland cement with fly ash in concrete ultimately has two benefits which are Green: reducing waste material in landfills and reducing the need for raw materials and energy in the production of cement.
Most concrete producers can supply you with fly ash concrete. The concrete industry has been using fly ash concrete for bridge structures for years so the product is readily available. So if you're looking for one more way to build green consider using fly ash concrete.
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Todd Fratzel, P.E.
I'm the Principal Engineer for a large construction company in New Hampshire. I run their design-build division that specializes in custom homes, commercial design-build projects and sub-divisions. I'm a licensed civil and structural engineer with extensive experience in civil and structural design and home construction. My hope is that I can share my experiences with green construction in the home construction, home improvement and home renovation profession with other builders and home owners. I'm also the author of Home Construction Improvement. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, suggestions or you'd like to inquire about advertising on this site.
This work is licensed under a
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States License.
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3 comments:
I used 30% fly ash concrete in my home's foundation. I found that my supplier charged me about 10% for the use of this material. Is that typical?
10% is fairly common on commercial projects so I'd say you made out well.
My local Habitat affiliate has been using high fly ash concrete for a number of years now. They're pretty progressive in terms of green building, especially for affordable housing.
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