Eco-friendly concrete now mandatory in Dubai

Dubai has taken a giant step forward in greening up the city with its decision to move away from ordinary Portland cement (OPC) for all new buildings. As of April 1, OPC use is limited across the emirate; building permissions are reliant on developers specifying eco-friendly Supplementary Cementing Materials (SCMs). The new requirement aims to give residents a clean and pollution-free environment.

Portland cement is a basic ingredient in concrete, stucco, mortar, and most non-specialty grout. It’s manufactured by super-heating a mix of chalk or limestone with clay to produce a material called clinker, which is then mixed with gypsum and pulverized to form OPC. There are significant environmental problems related to OPC manufacture, transport and usage:

Quarrying the raw materials permanently scars the natural landscape.
Producing one tonne of clinker requires large amounts of energy (typically coal or petroleum coke) and emits one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2), plus toxic gases, and pollutants such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides (NOx and SOx).
That tonne of new cement also generates 164 kg of dust, which intensifies global warming and causes increased chance of disease such as asthma and cancer for workers and nearby residents.
Transporting OPC to mixing plants and job sites produces dust and noise and consumes fossil fuels.

DM’s decision to mandate use of OPC substitutes – recyclable byproducts from other industries such as fly ash and ground granulated blast slag (GGBS) – follows extensive research on the risks associated with OPC and the feasibility of safer alternatives, officials said at a press conference last Sunday.

Original article by Laurie Balbo

Continue reading at Green Prophet:

Eco-friendly concrete now mandatory in Dubai