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Concrete’s Solid Future

Did you know that concrete is the most abundant man-made material on earth and that it is responsible for 5% of the man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) that is emitted into the atmosphere each year? I didn’t until recently when I began speaking to a number of construction-related companies and associations, including Dayton Superior, Kraus-Andersen and, most recently, the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota.

As a result of these engagements, I have begun paying a great deal more attention to this “everyday” material and the more I study it, the more confident I’m that, in spite of the on-going recession which has hammered the concrete and construction industries, I’m convinced concrete has a very solid future.

Specifically, there are five technological advances which of each, individually, will deliver great improvements; but, taken collectively, could revolutionize the industry. In no particular order here are the five technologies:

#1: “Green” Cement. Cement, which is used to make concrete, does not strike the average person as a “green” technology but thanks to research from such companies as Carbon Sense Solutions and Calera, I’m convinced that CO2 will no longer be seen as just a “global warming” output, rather it will become an input. In the process, the industry could become a green hero.

#2: Nanotechnology. Engineers at the National Institute of Standards recently patent a nano-additive which will slow-down the penetration of road salt and salt water. The technology holds the potential to double the life of concrete. With an estimated $54 billion spent on road each year in the U.S. this is no trivial advance.

#3: Stronger Concrete. Engineers in Liverpool recently tested a new fiber-enforced concrete that was found to absorb a thousand times more energy than traditional concrete. With terrorism an ever-present threat, the idea of making our embassies, government buildings and other strategic buildings and bridges more secure sure sounds good to me.

#4: RFID Technology. Yes, radio frequency identification tags. A handful of innovative companies are now experimenting with deploying RFID tags directly into concrete. Why? Because they want to know when the concrete has cured so that construction workers can safely move on to the next phase of building. The technology has the potential to shave days and weeks off of large-scale construction projections. It might also mean a few less road construction workers idly standing around.

#5: Rapid Prototype Manufacturing. Does the idea of printing a concrete slab sound ridiculous to you? Don’t laugh, Caterpillar is already working on the technology and the creator of the technology believes that in the future it will be possible to build a full-scale house in a few hours. In other words, the first little pig (you know, the lazy one) might be still be able to avoid the wrath of the wolf—who won’t be able to “huff and puff” and blow his house down.

#6: Translucent and Self-Consolidating Concretes: These material science advances are already beginning to gain a foot-hold in the industry so I won’t belabor the point but as customers, designers and architects begin to realize that concrete comes in more than one flavor and that more flexible designs can be made from it, I’m confident it find an ever increasing number of uses.

Interested in other construction-related articles from America’s foremost futurist, Jack Uldrich? Check out this past post:

15 Ways Nanotechnology is Improving Our Lives Today

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