Big Green: "greener" concrete

[Robert Field]

The ideal is to encourage readymix plants to reuse greywater from their processes (e.g., cleaning out the trucks).  My firm's concrete specifications replace the more common requirement for potable water with something like:
 
Water:  Free from oils, acids, alkali, organic matter and other deleterious material, and conforming to ASTM C94.
 
That's why we have ASTM standards, right?
 





Robert C. Field, P.E., LEED AP
Associate 

ROBERT SILMAN ASSOCIATES


STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS


 


1053 31st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-333-6230
Fax: 202-318-3015
field at silman.com


 


www.silman.com
.


--- On Mon, 7/7/08, Goldblum, Gary <ggoldblum at hedev.com> wrote:
From: Goldblum, Gary <ggoldblum at hedev.com>
Subject: RE: Big Green: "greener" concrete
To: "VanGeem, Martha" <mvangeem at ctlgroup.com>, "Lisa Goodwin Robbins" <lisa at kalinassociates.com>, "Big Green" <biggreen at lists.biggreen.org>
Date: Monday, July 7, 2008, 4:03 PM









Anyone have experience with using non-potable water in concrete mix?
 
Gary Goldblum, AIA, LEED® AP  |  Associate  |  Architecture  |  Direct: 213.542.4538
ggoldblum at hedev.com
Harley Ellis Devereaux
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From: biggreen-bounces at lists.biggreen.org [mailto:biggreen-bounces at lists.biggreen.org] On Behalf Of VanGeem, Martha
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 6:40 AM
To: Lisa Goodwin Robbins; Big Green
Subject: RE: Big Green: "greener" concrete
 

Some rules of thumb:
 
Specs generally limit flatwork exposed to deicer salts to a maximum of 25% fly ash for durability reasons.
 
You can use recycled concrete for !00% of the subbase, and the coarse aggregate, but generally the fine aggregate should be virgin. 
 
Whether you use your proposed mix or the rules of thumb, it is best to test the mix to make sure it produces quality concrete. 

 
Martha G. VanGeem, PE ( Illinois ), MBA, LEED Accredited Professional
Principal Engineer & Manager, Building Science and Sustainability
Direct 847-972-3156
Cell 847-736-4366
Fax 847-965-5416
mvangeem at CTLGroup.com

CTLGroup
Building Knowledge. Delivering Results.
5400 Old Orchard Road
Skokie, IL 60077-1030
www.CTLGroup.com 

 
 



From: biggreen-bounces at lists.biggreen.org [mailto:biggreen-bounces at lists.biggreen.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Goodwin Robbins
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 8:26 AM
To: Big Green
Subject: Re: Big Green: "greener" concrete

For those of us who are not structural engineers, the July 2008 issue of The Construction Specifier has an introductory level article about supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), like slag cement, fly ash, and silica fume.  The article references ACI 318 for recommended levels of SCMs and notes that different concrete design conditions may lead to different SCM levels.  50% fly ash may be too high for concrete in contact with de-icing chemicals.

-- 
Lisa J. Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap
Kalin Associates Inc.
1121 Washington Street
Newton , MA   02465
Tel:  617-964-5477
Fax:  617-964-5788
www.kalinassociates.com





From: Peter Reppe <peterr at solarc-ae.net>
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 13:13:33 -0700
To: <biggreen at lists.biggreen.org>
Subject: Big Green: "greener" concrete

Dear all, especially the structural engineers among us:
Are the following specs for concrete for a small plaza area "green" enough?  (foot-traffic only, location Eugene , OR , i.e., occassional ground frost):
-100% crushed/recycled concrete as sub base;
-80% crushed/recycled concrete as aggregate;
-50% of the cementitous material to be class C flyash.

Can these percentages (for this type of application) be increased? By how much?

Thanks a bunch,
Peter


-- 
SOLARC Architecture/Engineering, Inc.
223 W. 12th Ave.
Eugene , OR , 97401

Ph: 541.349.0966
Fx: 541.343.1533



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This green building dialogue is provided as a public service 
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