Concrete Materials and Sustainable Development in the USA

Concrete is by far the most important, the most versatile, and the most widely used building material worldwide. It is purpose of this article to discuss some aspects of the concrete industry, particularly in the USA, because it has a large impact on sustainability. The author suggests that one way to make the construction industry more compatible with the requirements of sustainable development would be to use as much concrete as possible, but with the least amount of the environmentally unfriendly Portland cement as possible. It can be replaced by byproducts of industrial processes with excellent cementitious properties. The other strategy to improve the environmental friendliness of the concrete industry is the large-scale utilization of waste products such as construction debris, post-consumer glass, dredged material, recycled carpets, tires, etc. The key lies in the identification and exploitation of properties inherent in recyclable materials, which improve certain properties of the concrete and thereby create value through beneficiation.