Carbon-negative building

To reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), it makes a lot of sense to look at buildings and pavement. In the United States, buildings account for 38% of total CO₂ emissions. This is partly due to the huge amounts of energy used for lighting and temperature management inside buildings. Much savings can be made by switching to energy-efficient lighting, by insulation and by using thermal solar energy to heat up hot water systems. The addition of solar panels on the roof could make a building carbon-negative, in the sense of producing enough energy to power the building and the cars parked in and around the building, while feeding surplus energy into the grid.

The construction of buildings is another area that can become carbon-negative. Cement is manufactured at the rate of 2.35 billion tons per year and is estimated to account for up to 10% of the world's CO₂ emissions. Cement is used in many areas of building construction and is the primary component of concrete, which is made by mixing cement with water, sand and rocks.

Several Australian companies have developed alternative building materials. Zeobond produces a product called E-Crete that can reduce CO₂ emissions by 80%, compared with conventional Portland cement production.

TecEco produces Eco-Cement, which is ideal for bricks, blocks, pavers, permeable pavements and other porous cement based products. By adding magnesia, producing this type of cement can be carbon-negative. In other words, concrete can become a carbon sink.

Timbercrete is made from sand and recycled timber waste, such as sawdust or other cellulose material. It is designed to last for generations, so for its lifetime it will store the carbon that was removed from the atmosphere by vegetation.

Timbercrete has a number of attractive qualities, such as that it requires less energy to produce compared to conventional brick manufacture. It has excellent insulation qualities, so a Timbercrete home will use less energy than one built with clay bricks. The outside wall can double as inside wall, which will also save time and money during construction, as internal walls don't need cladding. Timbercrete has many further good qualities - anyone who is interested should have a look at the Timbercrete website.

The photos below show houses - big and small - built with Timbercrete® material. As shown on the photos, it looks good, both inside and outside buildings, and you can use it for landscaping, garden walls and pavement as well.







References:
ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080313140108.htm

Nanoengineered concrete could cut carbon dioxide emissions
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/concrete.html

Zeobond
http://www.zeobond.com

TecEco
http://www.tececo.com

Timbercrete
http://www.timbercrete.com.au

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