This is a journal blog entry that is somewhat strongly relatable towards my career development as an architecture student. Often, from my personal opinion, sustainable architecture is the holistic view on the sustainable principles of (1) Conserving Energy (2) Working with Climate (3) Minimising New Resources (4) Respecting the Users (5) Respect to Site (6) Holism as mention in the Green Architecture :Design for a Sustainable Future by Vale and Vale. So instead of being inspired to write a blog about sustainable by an article or news, I did some research independently about a construction material that is used in almost every building in the urban context, or somewhat globally.
That is Cement !
According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), " Concrete is the most widely used material on earth after water, with nearly 3 tonnes used annually for each individual living being on earth.
Cement VS Concrete
Further investigation leads me to understand the different terms between "cement" and concrete". In which, after 4 years of architectural education, I finally understood the proper definition that most students assumed are the same; which they are not. Cement is, however, a binding agent for sand, gravel and water to form concrete.
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So, the environmental impact of concrete is evidently becoming significant since the industry requires environmentally sustainable design, where CO2 emission are often used as a rating tool justifying the impact of the project. Mind-boggling figures indicate that a typical 74% - 81% of the total CO2 emission by raw cement while the remaining 13-20% is from the production of aggregates such as electricity and transportation.
Therefore, by the exposure and understanding of the environmental impact, we as future designers should think twice before specifying new materials for the proposed building adequately; without imposing additional impact for unnecessary wastage. In fact, the consequences would be devastating as (Rubenstein, 2012) argues that cement production will continue to grow 2.5% annually from 2.55 billion tonnes in 2006 to 4.4 billion tonnes by 2050 due to high demand.
However, further reading indicates that the highest environmental impact is from the production instead of construction, the use of natural gas and electricity to heat, cool and operate the factory. Where carbon emissions are from the calcination of cement during manufacturing which is responsible for almost 50% of the overall emission !
In summary, although, we as architectural designers are somewhat responsible for the emissions and environmental impact of the production of cement, well , partially responsible. The information gather for this particular blog entry serves as an important reminder that, we could play a significant role in mitigating environmental risk produced by cement by being more environmentally conscious during schematic design and construction. For example, adaptively reusing old structures to minimise the use of new materials, selecting environmentally produced cement that uses less carbon-intensive fuel for the product to lower the overall environmental impact base on Life-cycle Analysis as well as initiative such as carbon capture and storage during the production stage.
Resources :
· David, J, Flower,M , Jay, G. Sanjayan. 2007, 'Green
House Gas Emissions', The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, July
2007, Vol 12, Issue 5, pp282-288.
· Rubenstein, M. 2012, Emission from the Cement Industry, State of
the Planet, Columbia University. Viewed 2 June 2015, <
http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/05/09/emissions-from-the-cement-industry/>
· Santero, N, Loijios, A, Ochsendorf, J. 2013, '
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Opportunities for Concrete Pavements',
Journal of Industrial Ecology.
· Anonymous. 2012,' Concrete CO2 Fact Sheet',
NRMCA Publication, February 2012.
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