The production of commercial concrete materials releases tons of carbon dioxide into the environment each year, contributing to global climate change. The following construction materials are alternatives to concrete because of their lower environmental impact than concrete.

Straw bales

Straw bales are used to make the walls, bales of straw are arranged in metal frames. This material can replace concrete, wood, plaster, fiberglass or stone.

Grasscrete

A method of pouring concrete for floors, walkways, sidewalks, and car roads that allows grass or vegetation to grow on the surface. This method provides benefits in reducing concrete usage, improving water absorption and drainage.

Clay

Clay has been used in construction for thousands of years and will continue to be used for a long time. Houses built with rammed earth according to modern methods are safer when using additional reinforcing bars or bamboo.

Hempcrete

Hempcrete is a lightweight building material, shaped like a cinder block, made by mixing hemp fiber into lime. Although this material is structurally unstable, it provides flexibility and natural insulation. This ultra-light material could significantly reduce transport energy.

Bamboo

Bamboo is indeed a promising building material for modern buildings. Bamboo is a combination of durability, light weight used to frame buildings. Bamboo is an alternative material for reinforced concrete, especially in difficult traffic areas, needing reconstruction after natural disasters.

Recycled Plastic

Instead of mining and extracting, researchers are creating concrete with recycled plastic and garbage. This method will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while providing new applications for waste treatment.

Wood

Wood has many benefits over many industrial building materials like concrete or steel. Not only has the ability to absorb CO2, wood materials do not require energy-intensive methods to process.

With the continuous development of science and technology, artificial woods such as Plywood, OBS-oriented particle board, … have been used as load-bearing structures to partially replace steel beams and reinforced concrete.

Nguồn: Báo xây dựng/Tạp chí Kiến trúc