Foam Concrete, an environmentally friendly building material
If you want to rank Foam Concrete (FC) on how environmentally friendly (or damaging) it is, consider this list. Igloo made from snow. Mud bricks from locally found mud Log cabin in the woods Foam Concrete Dome shaped house Box type house made from Foam Concrete FC compared to all those other building products and “normal“ concrete, because you can make a house with less cement, is less damaging to the environment. Simply because it takes a lot of energy to make Portland Cement. About 7% of greenhouse gases come from the production of concrete. It is also one of the lowest cost building materials, and if we can equate the costs directly with energy use, or greenhouse gas production, than we are way on top of the list. Foamed concrete is simply a concrete mix with a lot of air in it and the aggregate left out. To get the air into the mortar mix, foam is mixed in. The foam is made from a special foaming agent and water and this mix is put through a foaming machine to create small bubbles. The only disadvantage of this material is that it is not as “strong” as normal concrete; however there are special mixes that come close. There are also other ways to make a “light weight concrete” such as replacing the aggregate with polystyrene foam or expanded clay pebbles, pumice, and a few others. The disadvantage of these are the cost, environmental impact and the difficulties in making the mix right. Depending on the climate and geologic conditions, the construction can vary from light and simple to cold climate and earthquake proof. I put the Dome shape into the mix as that it is the strongest form made with the minimal amount of material. This means that it […]