ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF GREEN CONCRETE AS A BUILDING MATERIAL Essay

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF GREEN CONCRETE AS A BUILDING MATERIAL - Essay Example Green construction looks to balance resource efficiency, social and health issues all through the life cycle of a structure. Among them, green concrete many benefits that help in achieving this objective. This article offers an overview of the contemporary state of green concrete, which have reduced ecological impact. It is also stressed here that the use of green concrete has low energy cost, lower green house gas emissions, as well as low maintenance cost, which, in the long run, leads to sustainable construction materials. In addition, in terms of resource preservation, reuse of industrial byproducts and post-consumer wastes used as a partial replacement for Portland cement clinker, makes green concrete much more durable and eco-friendly. The overall change in the economic landscape and resource utilization factors is at the forefront of many green building movements. The research broadly focuses on the benefits of green concrete in achieving the sustainable and environment friendly construction goal. In regard to the use of concrete in construction, a number of questions arise; would the green concrete alleviate environmental pollution caused by the normal cement? Might there be any compromise in the quality and sustainability of green concrete structure? What are other social and economic contributions of green concrete relevant to the bodies advocating the green concrete? The buildings we reside in have an overreaching effect on our environment. Green building, otherwise referred to as sustainability, seeks to balance health, resource efficiency, as well as social concerns, all through the life cycle of a structure (Penttala 2004, p. 409). Green concrete has a couple of benefits to present in attaining this objective. Cement is a gray powder, which, when added to water, binds stone and sand together to produce concrete. Concrete is the worlds number one building material because of its durability and strength (Hendriks