About this book:

In a rapidly decarbonizing world, the concrete and masonry industries, traditionally significant contributors to global carbon emissions, are undergoing a profound transformation. This comprehensive guide, "Green Concrete and Low-Carbon Materials," offers a vital toolkit for engineers, contractors, and sustainability officers to navigate this shift. Moving beyond simplistic substitutions, the book champions a systems-level approach to dramatically reduce embodied carbon without compromising durability, constructability, or cost. It delves into the essential chemistry of clinker reduction, the diverse classes and mechanisms of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) like fly ash, slag, and silica fume, and highlights the game-changing potential of emerging binders such as limestone calcined clay cements (LC3) and alternative alkali-activated, CSA, and magnesium systems. Readers will gain deep insights into how these materials interact to create high-performance, low-carbon solutions.

The book extends its focus beyond materials to cover the entire lifecycle of concrete and masonry. It explores the crucial role of low-carbon admixtures in optimizing workability, enhancing strength, and controlling shrinkage, and introduces groundbreaking carbon mineralization admixtures and CO₂-cured binders that actively sequester atmospheric carbon. Practical considerations for aggregates, including recycled content and reactivity management, are thoroughly discussed. Emphasizing performance over prescription, the guide details advanced mix design strategies (binary, ternary, quaternary), rheology optimization, and tailored production pathways for ready-mix, precast, and masonry units. Critical chapters on curing regimes (ambient, steam, carbonation) and durability engineering (chlorides, sulfates, freeze-thaw, ASR) ensure that sustainable choices enhance long-term resilience. The book culminates in a strategic roadmap for achieving net-zero concrete, addressing the critical trade-offs of risk, cost, schedule, and resilience, and navigating the evolving landscape of codes, standards, certifications (ACI, ASTM, AASHTO, LEED, EPDs), and "Buy Clean" procurement policies. This essential resource empowers practitioners to confidently specify, produce, and implement sustainable concrete and masonry solutions, building a greener, more resilient future, one structure at a time.

What You'll Find Inside:

• Strategies for clinker reduction using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) like fly ash, slag, and silica fume to lower the carbon footprint of concrete.
• Emerging binder technologies including Limestone Calcined Clay Cements (LC3), alkali-activated materials, and magnesium-based systems as alternatives to Portland cement.
• Techniques for carbon mineralization and CO2-curing that transform concrete into an active carbon sink through permanent sequestration.
• The shift from prescriptive to performance-based specifications, focusing on durability engineering for resistance against chlorides, sulfates, and freeze-thaw cycles.
• Methods for achieving circularity in construction through design for deconstruction, recycling concrete aggregates, and lifecycle carbon accounting using EPDs.

Who's It For:

This book is specifically designed for construction industry professionals, including structural engineers, architects, ready-mix producers, and contractors seeking practical techniques for sustainable building. It also serves as an essential resource for sustainability officers and policymakers who need to understand the regulatory frameworks, such as 'Buy Clean' policies and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), driving the transition to net-zero infrastructure. Any stakeholder involved in the procurement, design, or field execution of concrete and masonry projects will benefit from the technical depth and implementation strategies provided.