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Environment• Aerated, Foamed, Lightweight, Cellular Concrete
| Cellular
concrete is
a lightweight building material that is both strong and has excellent
thermal efficiency. A very cost
effective, sustainable and green building
material. Not yet well known in North America it has been used throughout the world for almost 100 years. Cellular concrete was developed in Sweden in 1914. It was used to rebuild much of Europe after WWII. THIS IS NOT pie in the sky or
over the
rainbow technology.
|
There are
several ways to achieve cellular concrete • Autoclaved Aerated Concrete • Foamed Concrete • Cellular Concrete using a variety of lightweight aggregates that provide insulation value and strength. Below are the highlights of what I have found out about them. Also listed are suppliers of tools and accessories for working with cellular concrete. |
| Green Home Building.com has an
excellent overview of several types of light
weight concrete: http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/pumicecrete.htm The Natural Home.com These guys have an interesting spin on the subject. They think cellular concrete sucks! It is always good to look at things from all angles. http://www.thenaturalhome.com/passivesolar.html Sustainable design, zero energy passive solar high thermal mass (HTM) practical earthhome construction consultation for homeowner-builders. I really like their insight on the role of thermal mass in construction. Ideal insulation should be on the outside of the building envelope! Dur. Check out http://www.litebuilt.com/ |
| This article is a good sketch of AAC
technology: http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=19776 For AAC the cellular concrete is poured into molds for either block or panels then cooked in an autoclave. These products are then transported to the construction site and assembled.  |
Here are some suppliers of AAC block,
panels and other
lightweight concrete products Cresco Concrete Products http://www.crescoconcrete.com/ 866-491-6819, Houston, TX. Cresco does a lot of different things with aerated concrete. Including LiteBlok AAC block. AAC Structures of Arizona, LLC http://www.aacstructures.com/default.html 480-517-1300 E-Crete http://www.e-crete.com/ Xella Hebel aerated concrete http://www.xella-usa.com/html/us/en/index.php SafeCrete AAC http://www.safecrete.com/aac/aac.cfm SafeCrete currently has a home going up in my area. I am keeping a close eye on the project and I will have more thoughts on what I think as it goes up. 1st Thought - don't hire masons to put this stuff in place. The factory recommends tile setters or GOOD carpenters. Here is a good article on the structural behavior of AAC block: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5310/is_200711/ai_n21297886/ |
| Cast In Place Cellular Concrete
(CIPCC) is
another method of building
with cellular concrete using
locally produced
concrete - cutting down on transportation costs. Portland cement and sand is mixed with foam to produce an aerated concrete mix. The basic concrete mix can be ordered from your local batch plant and then mixed with the foam on site and then poured for walls, floors, roof, etc. In my mind a great advantage of this method is transportation costs are very limited. Another plus is you are getting a solid "cast in place" wall rather than a bunch of pieces glued together. I am also thinking it should be quicker (less expensive) to put up.  LCM TechnologyMalaysia Forming up to pouring cellular concrete |
Here are some suppliers of products that
can be used to
make CIPCC happen in your backyard
Cresco
Concrete Products http://www.crescoconcrete.com/
866-491-6819, Houston, TX. Cresco does a lot of different things with aerated concrete. Including LiteBlok AAC block. Richway CreteFoamer http://www.richwayind.com/index.html?page=CreteFoamer manufactures a series of sizes of foam generators (everyone needs a foam generator). All kinds of CIP cellular concrete supplies and information. Cellular Concrete Solutions http://www.cellular-concrete.com/products.htm Cellular Concrete LLC has lots of information on poured in place cellular concrete. Check out their data sheets page. They sell the foaming agents, foam generators and offer technical support. Goodson & Associates, Inc. http://www.goodsonassociates.com/index.html 303.233.2244 Goodson caries many lightweight concrete products including (they say) the best foam generator around. Vermillion LLC and Associates http://vermillionassociates.com/ foam concentrates, foam generators, reinforcement for concrete and other cellular concrete related tools. Vermillion also sell peristaltic (squeeze) pumps that are required to pump aerated concrete. Regular concrete pumps pop the bubbles and leave you with less aeration. Not good. Precise Forms is a unique concrete form that might fit the job for CIP lightweight concrete: http://www.preciseforms.com/ Here is another great formed in place aerated concrete idea: http://www.casthome.com/home.php When you are done with the modular forms they could be transported to the next hot spot designated as needing fast, low cost, strong housing and that has the basic materials needed to make this building system effective. |
| LCM™ Lightweight Construction
Technology http://www.casthome.com/home.php
is in Malaysia and they are
doing it. Take some time and look their
site over.
WOW! Why
are
we
so
far
behind
Malaysia? They are ahead of the curve in the islands. Check out: Isle CellCrete http://islandreadymix.com/buildingaffordableconcretehomes/ Hawaiian CIPCC. I have visited with an acknowledged CIPCC and cast block cellular concrete guru Steve Brenna. Steve is a wealth of knowledge about anything cellular concrete. A lot of information on this page is from Steve. Steve designs equipment for making cellular concrete. Steve currently has a setup for sale that will produce about 1400 cubic yards of cellular concrete a day. That is a lot of concrete. So if you have one hundred thousand dollars (a bargain) and want to gear up and really play in the cellular concrete business here's your chance. You would definitely be the BIG DOG in the field! You can contact Steve at 505-603-5660 or neopoli@gmail.com |
| Modern
Concrete Technology Requires Modern Additives Fibers for strength - Additives to enhance performance - Concrete products that out perform previous products Click here to see what I have found so far.http://www.greenearthstructures.com/concreteadditives.html |
| Papercrete
Battery
Dome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIkdj4NqCIk
Cactus
juice
as
an
additive
to
concrete??!! GreenHomebuilding.com http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/pumicecrete.htm#links I want to build some buildings like these!!! I traveled to Watts Oklahoma to visit Eugene Sargent Creations http://www.eugenesargent.com/ Eugene and Jesse Thomas with Ziacrete http://blog.onevillage.tv/?p=380 479-445-8593 ziacrete@mac.com. Eugene and Jesse are experimenting with cast in place and formed block cellular concrete on Eugene's very impressive new art studio built with CIPCC. Eugene is also into using ferrocement. Check out the FC bench on his website. |
| My Current
Dream For The Perfect Green Building System In My dream - CIPCC technology is used in a combination of EPSCrete, Green Concrete and a steel frame to produce buildings that would be almost entirely made from recycled materials! |
I am continuing to research. I will keep
this
page updated.
If you have thoughts or ideas on this subject please call or email me!
Paul Wellman 970-734-6645 paul@greenearthstructures.com
So many new green products - so little time!
If you have thoughts or ideas on this subject please call or email me!
Paul Wellman 970-734-6645 paul@greenearthstructures.com
So many new green products - so little time!