All kinds of everything - how concrete is shaping up to the demands of the construction customer
As increasing demands are placed on construction, commercially, environmentally, legislatively and socially, the building products sector must rise to the challenge and give the industry new, innovative solutions. Concrete is one of the most flexible, versatile and widely used construction materials available.
Tarmac is the UK's leading supplier of concrete building materials. It combines technical expertise and sector specialism to produce a wide range of conventional and specialist concretes suitable for virtually any application.
Dr Howard Robinson is Tarmac's head of product development: "Concrete is thousands of years old and yet the level of ongoing product innovation and application is pretty impressive"..
Tarmac sits at the forefront of new product innovation, with a team of experts dedicated to addressing the challenges thrown up by industry developments such as off-site manufacture, Modern Methods of Construction, Part L Building Regulations and The Code for Sustainable Homes.
See Tarmac Topblock's section on the Code for Sustainable Homes
"It's all about listening and responding in a constantly changing environment", says Dr Robinson. "For example, as designers and developers create taller, higher density, lower carbon footprint buildings so we need to offer the most durable, high strength, energy efficient products to support their construction and maintenance. We can do that".
Rock solid performance
Toproc is a pioneering structural concrete - supremely strong, heat resistant, chemical resistant, abrasion resistant and waterproof. Highly versatile, it is the only high strength proprietary concrete on the market to have a British Board of Agrámont certificate of approval. "It is particularly valuable in demanding applications such as high rise construction; where there are time constraints around the build programme; or in aggressive or extreme environments including industrial applications and underwater", comments Robinson.
Toproc outlives conventional materials in a wide range of challenging construction projects such as waste transfer stations, sea defence walls and military defence establishments. Its longevity and durability mean that whole life project costs are dramatically improved.
Holding back the tide
Tarmac has been involved in many major UK coastal defence projects, most recently in Weston-super-Mare and Blackpool. Toproc was used in both locations to provide a high-performance concrete capable of withstanding the constant abrasion and scouring characteristic of the sea. The two projects called for a highly effective product coupled with scrupulous operational efficiency: as with most sea defence schemes, tidal working provides only a narrow window for concrete deliveries when construction takes place within the tidal zone.
High strength concretes are becoming increasingly accessible to clients. Tarmac has invested heavily in state-of-the-art plants across the UK to ensure continuity and immediacy of supply to meet rigorous construction timescales.
Better health and safety from a high fibre diet
Health and safety is one of the biggest challenges faced by the construction industry.
Long-term change will require an attitudinal and cultural shift together with materials and processes that have safety performance at their core. “Concrete products have a big role to play", comments Howard Robinson.
One such innovation is Tarmac's Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC), which contains specially designed, high-performance polypropylene fibres with high tensile strength that allow civil engineering contractors to replace steel fibre reinforcement and crack control steel fabric in concrete applications such as floors, decking and walls. It not only offers a faster build technique, but also improves site safety significantly by removing manual handling and the on-site hazards associated with site deliveries and the use of steel fabric. For an industry facing a skills shortage, it is also very easy to use and less labour intensive than other concretes. But perhaps one of the most important benefits of FRC is its low embodied CO2 (compared to the use of primary or recycled steel mesh), which means that it can help to significantly reduce the overall carbon footprint of any construction project. For customers, the many features of FRC add up to massive savings in terms of time and labour, as well as positive environmental benefits.
In-built strength
Fibre concrete was introduced into the UK 15 years ago and now has a three per cent share of total ready-mix concrete sales. However, much of this expansion has occurred within the past five years and growth rate has been much faster on the Continent
Reducing carbon footprint - actions not words
Climate change has forced the Government to look seriously at reducing the carbon footprint of UK industry as a whole. And nowhere is this more keenly felt than in the construction sector which accounts for close to 10% of the British economy and generates one third of all its waste.
The Government has commissioned building research consultancy, BRE, to develop 'green' guidance for the sector to enable developers to design with energy efficiency in mind both in terms of operational costs over a building's lifetime, but also in terms of embodied energy in the materials used. The Code for Sustainable Homes further reinforces the Government's intention to drive environmental change in construction, and low carbon technologies lie at the heart of the planned three million new homes build programme over the next 13years.
See our Sustainable Products Spotlight for all our sustainable products.
The message is loud and clear - construction suppliers must step up to the plate
And Tarmac is doing just that, with a range of sustainable eco-friendly concretes - as well as an industry-first. During 2008 it will launch the UK's first ever branded low carbon footprint concrete range with significantly reduced embodied energy compared to conventional concrete. This will be particularly appealing for Government-funded developments such as social housing but will also have a major application in the commercial sector where investors are becoming increasingly interested in companies that demonstrate clear strategies and policies aimed at reducing the impact of their operations on the environment.
Green and lean
TermoDeck is a high tech system that uses a low-tech principle. It draws on the high thermal mass properties of concrete to create a sustainable and cost-efficient heating, cooling and fresh air ventilation system. It is a 21st century alternative to energy-intensive systems like air-conditioning and can significantly reduce a building's overall carbon emissions.
Using TermoDeck, a newly constructed commercial development in Leeds that offers green office options for small, medium and large sized businesses was awarded the highest ever BREEAM rating - 87.55%. Capitalising on the high thermal mass of structural hollowcore concrete, Innovate Office in Thorpe Park will produce just 22kg of carbon dioxide per m2 per year and will emit 80% less carbon than a conventional model office building. These savings will equate to a reduction of more than 350 tonnes of carbon per annum and a projected financial saving of £14.16 per square metre each year. "The building is proof that a well-designed concrete core structure that uses a product like TermoDeck can deliver ground-breaking environmental performance as well as reduced running costs", comments Dr Robinson.
The future
Planned increases in house building, projects such as the 2012 Olympics and major infrastructure investment schemes like Crossrail and the Thames Gateway all mean that demand for effective, sustainable and innovative concrete-based products will continue. Tarmac, with its unique heritage, unrivalled product expertise and sector insight is in pole position to respond.
See more on Tarmac's concrete solutions
1 February 2008
