Innovationspotenzial Beton: Von Atomen zur Grünen Infrastruktur

Concrete Innovation Potential: From Atoms to Green Infrastructure

The sustainable development of concrete opens new possibilities for concrete engineers. This contribution aims at identifying the innovation potential of concrete for a sustainable development. It is shown that breakthroughs in Materials Science of concrete release new degrees of freedom for design and construction of concrete infrastructure that can contribute to reducing the material's ecological footprint. Integrated in a Life-Cycle Analysis of concrete structures, which considers both the embodied energy and the use phase, acomprehensive picture is obtained how molecular and nanometric modifications can contribute to a sustainable development of concrete. Given the more than 20 million tons of concrete produced annually, it is readily understood that new intellectual challenges are opening for concrete engineers to design buildings not only for function and safety but as well for ecological soundness.