Concrete the responsible choice
Concrete is an important contributor to sustainable development. As the most widely used construction material, concrete is a vital part of Australia's $150 billion building and construction industry which provides a major contribution to Australia's economic and social well-being through employment, taxation and investment activities as well as providing the roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and our homes.
Like all products, concrete has environmental impacts arising from the acquisition of raw materials, processing, transport and recycling at the end of its life. However, these are significantly outweighed by the environmental, social and economic benefits that concrete delivers:
- a high quality and affordable product that delivers high quality low cost structures
- low environmental impacts and can be used to reduce the overall environmental impact of a structure
- thermal mass can be used to increase the energy efficiency of buildings
- buildings are long lasting and have very low maintenance requirements
- flexible architectural medium and can be used in many applications for aesthetically beautiful buildings
- buildings can be designed to be adapted and reused many times over and recycled at the end of their lives
- does not give off harmful fumes or gases
- concrete buildings provide improved indoor air quality as they do not require the use of finishes such as carpets on floors or paints/sealants on walls.
- non-combustible and has excellent fire resistance properties providing protection to human life and material assets from the danger of fires.