Ever since Thomas Edison patented portland cement in 1907, it has been used for a variety of different uses.  Sidewalks, buildings, sinks, and furniture are but a few of the products made from cement in the form of concrete.  Cement is the dry powder that when mixed with other additives and water makes concrete.  Over the past decade, new types of concrete and cement have been formulated  that do everything from bend, to grow plants, and let light through. 

In 2005, researchers at the University of Michigan created a bendable form of concrete that is “500 times more resistant to cracking and 40 percent lighter in weight.”  This new type of concrete has substituted the gross aggregate normally used in the making of concrete, for thin fibers.  Projects in Japan, Korea, Switzerland, and Australia have already used this new bendable concrete.  Unfortunately, the country in which it was created has been slow to adopt its use.

  BETÃO ORGÂNICO was created in 2005 by “Lisbon-based architects and designers e-studio.”  This organic concrete blends organic and inorganic material together to create a living surface.  Concrete retains water, as such the concrete is used as a “battery” to provide water during dry spells for the plant life growing on it.  Rather than having grass growing between concrete slabs, it is now possible to have the grass grow on the concrete slabs.  These slabs could be added to outside walls to create living siding and provide plants to soak up CO2.

LiTraCon is a Hungarian concrete product developed seven years ago by architect Ron Losonczi.  By impregnating the concrete with optical glass fibers, light can be transmitted from the outside in or inside out.  This concrete has the same strength as regular concrete and will continue to transmit light through walls up to twenty meters (twenty-two feet) thick.

Finally, Tececo has developed an eco-cement that absorbs CO2 from the environment.  By adding reactive magnesia to the cement, water and CO2 are absorbed and harden.  Other waste products, such as “fly and bottom ash, slags, plastics, paper glass etc” can also be added to the cement without affecting the CO2 absorption.

These new types of cement and concrete give architects and designers more choices for creating truly different looks.  Normally, you think of ugly concrete walls or slabs.  Now concrete can not only be bent, but used as a basis for plants and light effects.

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Entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 12:12 am under Green Technology, Science and technology.

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