Achieving Sustainable Construction through Green Concrete Technology

M G D M Gunasekara, @00321311, Bsc.(Hons) in Quantity Surveying

Introduction
Since the concrete technology is the major technology using in construction industry, its clear
that without introducing sustainable or green concepts into the concrete technology it is difficult
to achieve sustainable construction. And also more than 12 billion tons of concrete with usage of
more than 1.6 billion tons of Portland cement are produced in each year by construction industry
(Surendra et.al, 2014)1.
In order to produce concrete, it is necessary to use some Portland cement as a binder and its
production process is responsible for the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions which leads
to global warming and climate changes in the world (One ton of CO2 is released in to the
environment while production of one ton) while consuming the huge amount of natural
resources like Lime and Sand (suhendro, 2014)2.
Also many of the conventional(Portland cement) concrete structures are suffering from corrosion
of the reinforcement, alkali-aggregate reaction, sulfate attack, etc. which result the lack of
durability of the concrete.
Not only that amount of water requirement to the concrete is so high and it is more than 1 trillion
gallons of water per year without considering the flushed and cured water. It is a huge problem
to the countries lack of fresh water resources(Middle-east and Africa).
By considering the above mentioned points it is clear that primary challenge lies on reducing the
usage of Portland cement in concrete by substituting with recycled material which can reduce
the impact on environment like Flyash which is a non-combustible by-product of coal-fired power
plants and generally ends up in a landfill. Also, Flyash consisting mostly of silica, alumina and iron
forms a compound similar to Portland cement.
Aim of the study

To investigate how the green concrete made with locally produced flyash(FA) would use
to achieve sustainable construction by minimizing the impact to the environment while
enhancing the properties of concrete.

Objectives

To study and identify the carbon footprint of the green concrete over the conventional
concrete.
To study the effect of locally produced Flyash (FA) content in the cement with regard to
strength and durability of concrete in order to achieving sustainability.
To study which mixture proportions and mechanisms enhances the properties of
concrete.
To identify the challenges and barriers to introducing Flyash(FA) concrete (Green
concrete) to local construction industry.

Methodology
This study of work based on data and information of previous researches of others, Journal
papers, Books and magazines, etc. related to the Green concrete Technology.
1

Surendra,P, Shah, Wang,K, (2014), Development of GREEN cement for Sustainable Concrete Using Cement Kiln
Dust and Flyash
2
Karma,W, Kelzang,T, Kinga,Y, Loday, (2013), Green Concrete for Sustainable Construction, International Journal of
Research in Engineering and Technology, 2(1), PP. 142-146

Research Ethical Approval

The common way of defining ethics (or morals) is that norms for conduct that distinguish
between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour (Resnik, 2011). Research ethics provides
guidelines for the responsible conduct of research, educates and monitors scientists conducting
research to ensure a high ethical standard (Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, 2003).
In research, different subject areas involve different dimensions of research ethics, for some
cases they can be very complicated to address, i.e. when a piece of research involves the use of
tissues from human or animal.
The DRP research work is secondary data based, deemed as routine project work, no further
ethical approval is required. For audit purposes, please fill the following form (your choice would
be Type 1 only):
Last Name of student:

Gunasekara

First name of student:

Dinuka Malintha

Student Roll No:

@00321311

Programme of Study:

Bsc.(Hons) in Quantity Surveying

School

School of Built Environment

Supervisor name:

Mrs. Maneka Gunarathne

Research ethic type:

Type 1

*Type 1 Routine project work, secondary research only (no formal ethical approval required
but students still need to fill the above simplified form)
Type 2 Some primary research involving human participants (questionnaire, interview and
similar) but no vulnerable groups involved (where ethical issues have been considered and
appropriately addressed supervisors need to seek approval from the module tutors
Type 3 Vulnerable or otherwise ethically significant groups involved (Projects where there is a
significant ethical dimension, students research ethics application will be considered by the
CEAPTP - College Ethical Approval Panel for Taught Programmes).