Cellular concrete is lightweight and has excellent thermal efficiency. A very cost effective, sustainable, green building material.
Not yet well known in North America, for home building, but used throughout the world.
Cellular concrete was developed in Sweden in 1914. It was used to rebuild much of Europe after WWII. 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 with a lightweight aggregate that provides insulation value and strength.
I have built using both:
RASTRA Forms http://www.rastra.com/ and
CEMPO Forms http://www.cempo.com/
These products use about eighty five percent recycled polystryene and portland cement to produce very unique forms that are about the best products on the market as far as I am concerned for building any kind of structure. The ground up polystrene basically provides the lightweight insulative aggregate to product cellular concrete blocks while taking a lot of scrap polystyrene out of the waste stream.
I have just been introduced to
EnStyro 563-542-7255 http://www.enstyro.com/
I am facinated by the potential I see in EnStyro's business plan. They want to harvest that vast amount of scrap polystyrene being thrown away and put it to good use.
One of the uses is EnStyrock http://www.enstyro.com/enstyrock/ . My head spins with possibilities. Poured in place cellular concrete using EnStyrock instead of foam?

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.

Check out   http://www.litebuilt.com/
This article is a good sketch of the technology:  http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=19776
Here 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 is a good article on the structural behavior of AAC block:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5310/is_200711/ai_n21297886/

Here are some suppliers of AAC block, panels and other light weight 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.

There is another method of building with cellular concrete using locally produced concrete. 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 or mixed on site and aerated in the mixer and then poured for block, panels, 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 "poured in place" wall rather than a bunch of pieces glued together. I am thinking it should be quicker (less expensive) to put up also.

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?

I have visited with an acknowledged cast in place 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. He 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

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 LLC  http://www.cellular-concrete.com/index.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 inculding (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.

Ferrocement Educational Network http://www.ferrocement.net/ A staggering amount of information on all aspects of concrete use from water tanks to boats. Check out the Tirolessa Mortar Sprayer for applying FC (ferrocement). Check out some of the wild projects here. I am intrigued by the possibility of building with two layers of ferrocement and filling the void with cellular concrete (maybe AirKrete).

There are many different types of fibers sold to reinforce concrete. Here are two I have had experience with.
Natural Basalt Fiber.  http://www.basaltfm.com/eng/fiber/application.html Jesse and Eugene are mixing this with the cellular concrete for added strength. Completely natural.
HELIX stainless steel fibers are the most interesting addition to concrete I have seen. Putting HELIX fiber in concrete almost eliminates rebar. No joke. - See:  http://www.helixfiber.com/index.html
Nycom 800-456-9266 http://www.nycon.com/  Kuraray RECS15fiber-8 fibers are supposed to be unique in that they bind with the concrete.

Cellular concrete is not just used in new construction pouring walls, floors and roofs.
Check out AirKrete   http://www.airkrete.com/   315-237-2104 - blow concrete in a wall for insulation? Certainly wouldn't burn. Bugs won't like it.

This product replaces drywall, wall sheathing, roof sheathing, floor decking, etc. MgO board is also used for poured in place concrete forms. The MgO board is left in place after the forms are stripped. The MgO can then be finished. Water proof, mold proof, fire proof, insect proof. WOW!

Magnesiacore.com MgO Board http://magnesiacore.com/ 905-794-1333 - sells MgO board. I was quoted about sixty five cents a square foot for 12mm x 4' x 8' sheets delivered to Oklahoma City.

Jonathon Hampton with the Ceramic Research Institute comes highly recommended 479-899-7053.
Check out this Wikipedia article on MgO wallboard:  http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_oxide_wallboard

MBP Magnum Building Products http://www.magnumbp.com/ 813-314-2202

DRAGONBOARD http://www.dragonboard.com/ 866-447-3232

CeraTech 800-708-7963 http://www.pavemend.com/ ceramic cement products

NCI Panel Systems http://www.ncisteel.com 845-565-1000 makes modular panels using MgO board. They ship the panels - you assemble them and pour them full of cellular concrete. Wa La you have a building. Interesting.

AAC Tools  http://www.taylortradingco.com/  has a lot of interesting information and cool looking tools related to AAC and Cast In Place Cellular Concrete.

For Cast In Place Cellular Concrete equipment and supplies check out:  http://www.alibaba.com/product/in100008151-100693711-100542221/Cellular_Lightweight_Concrete_Technology_Foaming_Concentrate_Additives_Clc_Foam_Generator_Clc_Concrete_Mixers_Plant_Set_Up_.html

The Arbortech AS 170 saw http://arbortechusa.com/view/allsaw-information/  is designed for brick and masonry work but is said to work great on cellular concrete.

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.


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!