The construction of a building is an energy-intensive process: the production of both the used concrete and the steel requires a great deal of energy and causes CO2 emissions. Low-energy concrete and constructions without steel can therefore make an important contribution to the implementation of Energy Strategy 2050. In this project, researchers from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) and ETH Zurich attempted to identify environmentally friendly variants for classic prestressed concrete.
While concrete has high compressive strength, it is not good at withstanding tension. Like conventional concrete, prestressed concrete is strengthened with steel elements. In order to give it even greater tensile strength, however, the steel wires inside it are tensioned. This provides the concrete construction with a higher load-bearing capacity.