The carbon-free material, which has been used in Brisbane and Toowoomba?s footpaths, could change the way houses will be built in the future. Wagners? trials in the manufacturing of building slabs have confirmed savings of 9.2 tonnes of carbon emissions in every 300m2 slab. It is estimated that if it were used in every house slab in Queensland, it could save up to 270,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
The concrete differs from traditional Portland cement as it uses fly ash and slag from blast furnaces, two waste products with little carbon, in the manufacturing process rather than limestone-based cement.
?The process of making the cement creates the massive carbon dioxide emissions associated with concrete,? Wagner?s general manager Michael Kemp explained.
?In a typical house in Queensland, using our concrete at market as opposed to traditional concrete, in one housing slab you will save 9500 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
?There are something like 30,000 homes built a year in south east Queensland, so when you do the maths, the potential savings for carbon dioxide is massive.?
While the workability of the concrete is slightly ?stickier? to regular concrete, the material meets all the design requirements for Australian concrete and contains no cement.
In the wake of its award, Wagners is now setting its eyes on the housing market. ?We are moving towards setting this material up to be put into the back of an agitator truck like any other concrete, delivered to a housing site and put into a housing slab,? Michael Kemp said.
The Queensland Premier?s ClimateSmart Sustainability Awards were announced on 11 June.
Sources: Brisbane Times, Aggregate Research