Concrete and the environment

Contact
  1. Danish Technological Institute
  2. Services
  3. Building and construction
  4. Concrete and the environment
Katja Udbye Christensen

Your Contact

Contact me

Indtast venligst et validt navn
Or your phone number
?
Thank you for your message
Vi beklager

På grund af en teknisk fejl kan din henvendelse desværre ikke modtages i øjeblikket. Du er velkommen til at skrive en mail til Send e-mail eller ringe til +45 72 20 20 89.

Dele af in-situ støbt betonkonstruktion hvor man kan se træer i baggrunden.

Concrete and the environment

Get help to implement and develop new solutions and products that will reduce the climate impact of concrete

As a building material, concrete has many unique properties, both architecturally, functionally and in terms of durability. This is also some of the reasons why concrete is greatly used in Denmark for construction work. At the same time, concrete also has a huge impact on the climate in particular when it comes to carbon footprint and use of resources – an impact that we must reduce.

There are already several parameters that can be adjusted in order to reduce the climate impact of concrete. Regardless of where you work in the value chain – if it is as a demolition worker, contractor, owner, consultant, architect or in a manufacturing company – our experts can help you.

Five concrete fields where we can help you:

Development and implementation of concrete in the circular economy
Concrete is the most used building material in Denmark, and every year a considerable amount is demolished. Fortunately, there are also several different ways to recycle and reuse the concrete depending on the specific case.

Optimized concrete mix design
There are large economic and environmental benefits to be gained by mixing the concrete, so it is customized and optimized to the specific purpose. In particular by optimizing the binder system, such that the amount of traditional cement is reduced. At the Danish Technological Institute, we have great experience in developing concrete types customized to specific usages.

Design of concrete structures
Concrete structures are flexible in their design, why they are used in many different contexts. However, this also means that the structures often “overperform” in the given function. It is therefore beneficial to optimize the concrete structures according to the given function, such that the use of materials is reduced leading to a lower impact on the climate and lower resource use. Optimized concrete structures typically require the use of digital fabrication in manufacturing.

Get the necessary testing and documentation done
If you have developed a new concept, product, component material etc., it may be necessary to document some properties before usage. Through our state-of-the art testing facilities, we can help you with the required documentation. This includes everything from defining test programs, carrying out standard tests to uniquely developed test methods, full-scale tests, and production mock-ups.

Get an understanding of requirements and regulations
There are several requirements in the current legislation, that may be necessary to familiarize yourself with when you want to work in new ways and with new solutions. We can help you get an overview of the relevant requirements as well as with a potential certification process.



Betonelementvæg nedtages hel fra eksisterende bygning ved hjælp af en kran.Case: (P)RECAST
Product: Reused precast concrete elements
Challenge: Direct reuse as load bearing structures

Read more about the challenges associated with direct reuse of precast concrete elements from existing buildings in new buildings and the solutions, that we work on in the project:

 

 

En betonbygning set udefraCase: Roadmap towards 2030
Product: Publication
Challenge: Minimizing concretes carbon foorprint

The Danish Technological Institute has in collaboration with Dansk Beton (The Danish Concrete Association) developed a roadmap with 35 suggestions to how to reach the goal of 50% reduction of the CO2-emissions from the concrete industry before 2030. 

 

 

Den ene ende af en motorvejsbro støbt i beton.Case: Green transition of cement and concrete production in Denmark
Produkt: Cement with reduced CO2-footprint
Challenge: Development and scaling

Read more about the project, which has developed, documented, and implemented a new type of cement in Denmark, FUTURECEM. with a 30% CO2-reduction. 

 

 

 

 

    Read more