Q & A: Service life prediction
We’ve discussed concrete durability in quite a few blog posts, but we’ve only alluded indirectly to concrete service life prediction. Hossam Alalaily, a Beton lead concrete engineer based in Ontario, […]
Sustainability
Accessory dwelling units combat homelessness
Accessory dwelling units provide an independent living space outside the primary residence on a property. It might be a smaller house in your back yard that you rent to short- […]
The anti-malaria house
Malaria, a debilitating and sometimes fatal mosquito-borne illness, has been the object of many prevention efforts. Most of them focus on the vectors, various species of the Anopheles mosquito. To […]
What else can solar panels do?
We’ve all seen arrays of solar panels on rooftops. They convert the sun’s energy into electricity, lowering the homeowner’s electric bill—and maybe even adding power to the grid. On a […]
Sustainable building design in traditional architecture
Now that things are opening up again, I’m looking forward to traveling. One thing that interests me is local architecture, especially traditional architecture. Sometimes we can be rather snobbish about […]
Hedonistic sustainability: sustainability can be fun
In the Middle Ages, alchemists sought in vain to turn base metals into gold. Now all that remains of alchemy is some laboratory equipment. But imaginative urban planning offers a […]
Will the Texas power outage change anything?
Following last month’s power outage in Texas, state legislators conducted hearings to sort out what happened and why. There was plenty of finger-pointing and little enlightenment. Power company executives laid […]
ASTM C1798 permits safe reuse of returned fresh concrete
CALGreen requires the reuse, recycling, or salvage of at least 65% of the waste from construction and demolition. A previous blog discussed how to reuse water from concrete production. Another […]
ASTM C1602 conserves resources
Some of us who live in arid parts of the world think about water with a reverence others might find excessive.—Joan Didion, “Holy Water”, 1977 Most of us learned in […]
Net zero concrete
Climate change is already affecting everything from wildfires to coral reefs. To combat climate change, the cement industry has announced its 2050 Carbon Ambition, pledging to produce carbon-neutral concrete by […]