SigmaRoc, the construction materials group, has today announced the "UK's first Cement Free Ultra-low Carbon Concrete Building Block":
Greenbloc is completely cement free, making it unique in the UK market and provides on average a significant net reduction in embodied CO2 ('eCO2') of 77% per concrete block, resulting in the following specific decreases: an average reduction of 1.1kg of eCO2 per concrete block; an average reduction of 2.7 tonnes of eCO2 per average semi-detached house...
Max Vermorken, CEO of SigmaRoc, commented:
Our Greenbloc range and brand is the brainchild of our innovation and technical teams. It addresses a key challenge in the building products industry, the embodied CO2 in one of the most widely used building materials: the concrete block.
Exciting News! Today marks the launch of the UK’s first cement-free ultra-low carbon concrete block, Greenbloc powered with Cemfree. Save up to 73% carbon emissions by switching to Greenbloc on your next project! Find out more here https://t.co/TN7afNjiCl #greenbuilding pic.twitter.com/KA9Yz1khuN
— Cemfree (@Cemfree) February 11, 2021
Cemfree is a proprietary Alkali-Activated Cementitious Material (AACM) that activates pozzolanic materials such as Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS) and Pulverised Fly Ash (PFA) to create a Cemfree Binder which can replace a variety of cement types to create Cemfree Concrete.
News of cement-free alternatives may be less welcome to LafargeHolcim – parent company of Aggregate Industries – given it’s the world’s largest cement producer, with carbon emissions to match.
Cement is responsible for about 8% of the world's CO2 emissions – 1 tonne of CO2 can be produced for every tonne of cement produced. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third-largest source of CO2 emissions, behind China and the US.
We have previously posted about other cement-free alternatives – including the use of fly ash – for example here and here.
