A University of Melbourne civil engineer has called on the construction industry to fill a hole in Australia’s sustainable material market and help kickstart a concrete revolution.
Dr Rackel San Nicolas is on a mission to turn concrete “green” in a bid to help Australia reach its 2050 net zero emissions targets.
But it’s the material’s carbon footprint, not its colour, that the sustainable materials researcher wants to change, with cement currently accounting for eight per cent of global emissions alone, due to the chemical process requirements behind its production.
Manufacturers are already using cementous material substitutes, like fly ash and slag, to stop up to 500 million tonnes of CO2 being produced each year.
However, Dr San Nicolas has warned a lack of Australian calcined clay suppliers is preventing further progress from being made.
“The main roadblock is we don’t have any calcined clay suppliers in Australia – there’s no one to calcine the clay even though everyone is talking about it,” she says.
“We already have so much by-product from other construction sectors we wouldn’t need to mine the clay, currently what we did up is either going to waste or on less lucrative things.”
Dr San Nicolas told EducationDaily that using Australia’s clay resources as part of a blend substitute for general-purpose cement would immediately slash emissions and provide the concrete industry with more ways to reach their emission targets.
“The industry has become more motivated in the last two years with an enormous movement to make better choices and find emission solutions,” she says.
“Industry leaders are trying their best to reach this target of carbon neutral by 2050 by knowing what they can do and what options they have for the future.”
A greener future for the construction industry
The relationship the energy-intensive construction industry has with sustainability is changing.
And it’s a reality that is flowing on to the way many universities in Australia deliver their relevant courses – and the way researchers and sector specialists collaborate with commercial construction companies when it comes to sharing innovative insights designed to motivate further evolution within the sector.
The University of Adelaide, the University of New England, Curtin University, and the University of Tasmania each offer courses specific to sustainable living, construction and environmental sustainability, as an increasing number of Australia’s universities take active steps to become leaders in addressing the world’s climate conundrum.
Currently, the construction industry generates an estimated 39 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council.
But with World Green Building Week (11 – 15 September) approaching, the call for the global building and construction sector to ‘accelerate the transition to secure an energy efficient, regenerative and just future for all’ is growing more urgent – but there is already some positive news.
In a recent global survey, executives in the engineering and construction industries have made the most progress toward sustainability in the design phase, where 47 per cent of respondents said sustainability is top-of-mind or a major concern.
Lack of visibility remains an ongoing challenge
When it comes to monitoring sustainable practices within construction sector processes, a lack of visibility is an ongoing challenge that the new generation of construction sector graduates will need to address.
For example, in terms of sourcing sustainable required raw materials, 55 per cent of engineering and construction companies reported having significant or complete visibility into their own processes, with only 16 per cent having visibility into their suppliers’ processes.
But with 58 per cent of engineering and construction firms saying they have reduced overall energy consumption, and with some innovative companies developing sustainable building materials that release lower carbon emissions, it’s clear the industry is making progress.
Dr San Nicolas said Australia’s vast clay resources could provide a solution for more than 500 years with the technology already available to replace 30 per cent of cement clinkers to a more sustainable alternative.
That would reduce cement production emissions by nearly 20 per cent, according to Australian climate change think tank Beyond Zero.
Research has shown this new-age concrete would have the potential to be used in structural construction projects however its easy accessibility in Australia would be required before larger-scale testing could be conducted.
“The best approach would be to start with non-structural applications and then as we raise awareness we could move on to providing structural solutions,’ Dr San Nicolas says.
