CONCRETE BLOCKS SKIN
CONCRETE BLOCKS CODE
CONCRETE BLOCKS ISO

In cities, concrete also adds to the heat-island effect by absorbing the warmth of the sun and trapping gases from car exhausts and air-conditioner units – though it is, at least, better than darker asphalt. This often strains supplies for drinking and irrigation, because 75% of this consumption is in drought and water-stressed regions. Concrete is a thirsty behemoth, sucking up almost a 10th of the world’s industrial water use. Half of concrete’s CO2 emissions are created during the manufacture of clinker, the most-energy intensive part of the cement-making process.īut other environmental impacts are far less well understood. Among materials, only coal, oil and gas are a greater source of greenhouse gases. Taking in all stages of production, concrete is said to be responsible for 4-8% of the world’s CO2. It also magnifies the extreme weather it shelters us from. The levee of the 17th Street canal, New Orleans, after it was breached during Hurricane Katrina. View image in fullscreen When the levee breaks. Take the floods in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and Houston after Harvey, which were more severe because urban and suburban streets could not soak up the rain like a floodplain, and storm drains proved woefully inadequate for the new extremes of a disrupted climate. But – like any good thing in excess – it can create more problems than it solves.Īt times an unyielding ally, at times a false friend, concrete can resist nature for decades and then suddenly amplify its impact. Solidity is a particularly attractive quality at a time of disorientating change. When combined with steel, it is the material that ensures our dams don’t burst, our tower blocks don’t fall, our roads don’t buckle and our electricity grid remains connected. That is why it serves as the foundation of modern life, holding time, nature, the elements and entropy at bay. Concrete is beloved for its weight and endurance. This solidity, of course, is what humankind yearns for. Which is exactly why we have come to rely on it. Or to be more precise, we know where it is going: nowhere. Nor do we see it tangled in oak trees or contributing to subterranean fatbergs. Doctors aren’t discovering traces of it in our blood. It is not being found in the stomachs of whales and seagulls. Concrete is not derived from fossil fuels. But though the problem is bigger than plastic, it is generally seen as less severe. The cement industry pumps out more than that every two years.

Instead, its chief quality is to harden and then degrade, extremely slowly.Īll the plastic produced over the past 60 years amounts to 8bn tonnes. Unlike the natural world, however, it does not actually grow. Our built environment is, in these terms, outgrowing the natural one. By one calculation, we may have already passed the point where concrete outweighs the combined carbon mass of every tree, bush and shrub on the planet.

Our blue and green world is becoming greyer by the second.

CONCRETE BLOCKS SKIN

But they also entomb vast tracts of fertile soil, constipate rivers, choke habitats and – acting as a rock-hard second skin – desensitise us from what is happening outside our urban fortresses. They keep the rain from our heads, the cold from our bones and the mud from our feet. The material is the foundation of modern development, putting roofs over the heads of billions, fortifying our defences against natural disaster and providing a structure for healthcare, education, transport, energy and industry.Ĭoncrete is how we try to tame nature. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world with up to 2.8bn tonnes, surpassed only by China and the US.

CONCRETE BLOCKS CODE

This is of special relevance to schemes seeking high ratings under the Code for Sustainable Homes guidelines or BREEAM rated developments.After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth.

CONCRETE BLOCKS ISO

Quality And Performance Standards : Certified to BS EN ISO 9001:2008 and BS EN ISO 14001 quality standards, and as part of Aggregate Industries, products are certified as coming from a Responsible Source, certified under BSI, BES571075 to the requirements of BES6001. Reaction to Fire: A1 Classification to EN 13501-1 Thermal Conductivity: Internal 1.29W/mK – External 1.38W/mK

Use in beam and block flooring Standard – Suitable for locations where the surface will not be seen, ie plastered or rendered.

For use internally and externally both above and below dpc.

High strength blocks up to 22.5 N/mm² are available subject to order to your specification.

Available in solid and hollow format for ultimate versatility with a standard strength of 7.3N/mm².

A range of high strength concrete blocks, robust, load bearing units for use in either internal or external walls.

Concrete blocks