By Karim Aziz Oghly
UNIVERSITY CITY – Green concrete is likely to replace traditional Portland cement-based concrete in the near future, Prof. Mohammad AlHamaydeh from the Civil Engineering department at the American University of Sharjah said in a recent email interview.
According to AlHamaydeh, the market value of this type of sustainable concrete is expected to grow by about 13 percent annually during the 2018-2025 forecast period.
Green concrete, containing GGBS (ground granulated blast-furnace slag), produces a mere 3.5 percent of the carbon footprint of Portland concrete per ton, said AlHamaydeh.
To create this sustainable construction material, AlHamaydeh said a substantial amount of the cement content is replaced with recycled waste products such as GGBS.
To facilitate global wide adoption of green concrete, it must be as at least as strong and durable as traditional concrete. This can be achieved through careful manipulation of the water-to-cementitious material ratio, aggregate size and distribution, among other factors, Prof. AlHamaydeh said.
Senior civil engineering students have already started using the material in their capstone projects.
AlHamaydeh added that this particular research project is conducted in collaboration with Arabtec, LLC.
