Replacing Concrete With More Sustainable Choices

One of the most secretly energetic and common building materials is concrete. Made of Portland Cement and fill rocks, this material requires a great deal of heat and electricity to transform from its constituent components into something that is the foundation of most homes in North America.

Replacing this weather-proof substance that is such a common sight will be one of the biggest challenges of sustainable development. Thankfully there are sill plenty of alternatives that are just coming available. There has always been the option of simply using rock already available on the building site and using very little cement to keep it all together.

Another innovative approach is to use different materials entirely. For instance, one company is replacing concrete blocks with a far more porous material that uses a fraction of the embedded energy of concrete. This innovation is just as strong and much easier to handle. It is also a good way to save on the shipping costs of the finished “bricks.”