Concrete is one of the most carbon-intensive products produced in the world, with Portland cement accounting for nearly six per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions every year.
To reduce concrete-related emissions from the Pixel Building, Grocon’s project team worked for 12 months with Boral Concrete to develop a new structural concrete with significantly reduced embodied carbon and an emphasis on recycling.
The result is ‘Pixelcrete’, a special concrete, which uses 60 percent less cement and contains 100 percent recycled and reclaimed aggregate. According to Howard Titus, Grocon’s National Manager Concrete Technology, “up to 92 percent of the weight of the concrete is industrial waste, recycled or reclaimed material.”
Furthermore, the mix achieves the same strength as traditional concrete and can be used in the same way as traditional concrete.
“We used Pixelcrete for the piles, groundworks, slabs and columns,” said Howard. “And for the first time, we used plasticised concrete for suspended post-tension slabs.”
