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THE ENVIRONMENT

After water, concrete is the most used material on earth. And it's no wonder, because it's the most versatile building material in the world. It is used to construct the infrastructure, roads, bridges etc. on which Ireland's economic success depends. We build towns and cities in concrete in the expectation that they will last for generations. It is used extensively on our farms where huge concrete tanks are built to retain millions of gallons of toxic animal slurry and other hazardous materials. Concrete has amazing physical properties and can even survive extreme, hostile climatic conditions such as in the North Sea where it is used to construct oil rigs.

Concrete home building materials, including concrete blocks have excellent environmental credentials. Firstly, they are among the most durable of building materials. Concrete blocks will not warp, rust or rot and require little or no maintenance. Steel and timber on the other hand, consume considerably more energy in their maintenance and often require the use of toxic paints and preservatives to extend their service life. Whereas, many materials which are perceived as environmentally friendly lose their structural strength after a short number of years, the concrete block used in the construction of your home is likely to get structurally stronger with age. Concrete's extremely long service life means not having to return to the environment for more materials and energy to repeat the task.

As a locally produced material, concrete has another advantage over other building materials. On average, concrete is manufactured within a 30 mile radius of the building site. This means substantial energy savings compared to materials such as timber which are often transported from Brazil, Canada and Scandinavia where the removal of trees often has a negative environmental impact.

Of course, by far the greatest environmental impact of a building occurs during its use phase. It is generally recignised that between 80% and 90% of a building's environmental impact arises from the use of the building with the remaining impact occuring during the construction and disposal stages. Therefore, in order to minimise your home's impact on the environment the key issue to be addressed is the energy efficiency of the home. All new homes are now accompanied by an offical Building Energy Rating which is an independent measure of the energy efficiency of the house. The rating scale runs from A to G with an A-rating indicating the highest level of energy efficiency. The first A-Rated home built in Ireland was a concrete built home. Go to our publications section to see our recently updated brochure on how to build an energy efficient, A-rated, concrete home. 

Concrete is a 100% recyclable material. Like glass and paper, for which recycling structures have been put in place, concrete is an ideal material for recycling. In Canada for example, concrete demolition waste is currently mined from existing waste dumps and re-used as a base for roads. This process has already begun in Ireland and will become the norm in years to come. It is estimated that approximately 120,000 tonnes of concrete is recycled on an annual basis in Ireland with most of the recycled aggregate being used for infrastructure projects.