Three Alternative Concretes To Improve Sustainability
Concrete is one of the most-used construction materials on the planet, and to help improve sustainability in construction, a range of bespoke concrete alternatives have been developed to reduce its use and make the type of concrete used more environmentally friendly.
These alternative concretes take wildly different approaches, use different materials and focus on different parts of the problem, but all have the same goal of helping to reduce the world’s carbon footprint before it is too late.
Here are three alternative concretes, how they work and how they have been created.
Mushroom Bricks
One of the most promising alternative concretes is mycelium-based building materials, which use a mix of organic waste and the dried root fibres from mushrooms to create an incredibly strong, fire resistant, waterproof material that despite being made from mould can also resist it as well as absorb toxins.
What makes this such a promising material is that mushrooms are exceptionally versatile and can grow in near-darkness, in both cold and hot conditions and with varying levels of moisture.
Ferrock
Created by accident by the appropriately named David Stone, Ferrock is made from a combination of the waste byproduct steel powder combined with ground-up glass, both of which harden when exposed to huge amounts of carbon dioxide.
This means that, if it can be produced at scale, the material is actually carbon negative and five times stronger than Portland cement, as well as having that distinct reddish-hue that iron oxide has.
Finite
Also known as “sandcrete”, Finite uses a complex binding process to meld desert sand grains together to create a concrete-like material that can be easily moulded, melted down, reused or allowed to biodegrade.
The main concern with Finite, however, is the potential for sand scarcity to be an issue, and whether the amount of sand we have in the world is enough to transition fully away from concrete.
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