Story at a glance:
- One way to make projects more appealing is to replace traditional concrete slab floors with optimized engineered floors.
- DUCTILCRETE® engineered slabs drive sustainable warehousing and cut carbon footprints.
In today’s fast-paced market corporations and e-commerce companies face increasing pressure to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability. This demand drives the growth of eco-friendly warehousing and distribution centers.
Brokers and developers are constantly seeking innovative solutions to make their projects more sustainable and appealing to tenants. One effective method to achieve this is by replacing traditional concrete slab floors with optimized engineered floors.
Rethinking Facility Design
Historically warehouses and manufacturing facilities were built with traditional concrete slabs. Concrete slabs contain large amounts of cement—the source of most carbon dioxide emissions associated with concrete use. According to the EPA, for every pound of cement produced, there is approximately 0.9 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted. A batch of concrete is made up of roughly seven to 15% cement, so manufacturing just one cubic yard of concrete results in 400 pounds of CO2 going into the atmosphere. Installing a DUCTILCRETE® engineered slab significantly lowers this environmental impact in a number of ways.
Reducing the floor profile cuts the amount of concrete used.
DUCTILCRETE engineered slabs typically only require a 6-inch slab, compared to a conventionally designed 7-inch concrete slab, with equal performance.
In a recent case study for a 306,000-square-foot floor, DUCTILCRETE’s engineered slab system with extended joint spacing showed a 13% reduction in CO2 compared to a traditional 7-inch unreinforced slab (analyzed with Chryso’s proprietary CO2 calculator, using industry average impact data, product specific admix EPDs and approximately 220,000,000 square feel of installed systems). This reduction is based on the engineered slab design with one inch less concrete overall. Additional opportunities for CO2 reduction are possible with mix design optimization using supplementary cementitious materials and innovative admixture packages like strength enhancers (i.e. Chryso’s EnviroMix SE). A reduction in profile thickness also results in less aggregate used in the concrete and fewer trucks (i.e. less fuel consumed) to deliver concrete to the jobsite.
Replacing steel reinforcement with macro fibers.
DUCTILCRETE engineered slabs use macro-synthetic fibers to strengthen the concrete as opposed to traditional reinforced steel. This is another way to lessen the environmental impact of the floor. A study by the University of Akron in Ohio evaluated the impact of replacing conventional steel rebar with fiber reinforcement in a 150,000-square-foot concrete floor and found this could reduce the carbon footprint by 56%.
Using less joint filling material.
Since there are far fewer joints and fewer resulting joint problems with a DUCTILCRETE engineered slab system, there is much less need for epoxies and other joint filling materials, which can contain harmful chemicals.
These optimized engineered floors significantly reduce their environmental impact through the use of more sustainable materials. For example, when a Cincinnati-based auto parts manufacturer wanted an 154,000-foot plant expansion, they used a DUCTILCRETE engineered slab instead of conventional concrete for the floor.
These specially engineered systems usually require less concrete than traditional slabs, while maintaining the same strength or higher. On this project alone the contractor was able to reduce the amount of concrete needed by more than 1,914 cubic yards, resulting in a savings of nearly $200,000—and a reduction in an estimated 600 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt the e-commerce industry will continue to grow and evolve, driving the demand for warehousing and distribution centers. Developers of these facilities must minimize their carbon footprint while maximizing space to provide tenants with the most efficient operations. Using innovative construction products that enhance efficiency and reduce waste during the manufacture of construction materials can significantly benefit our environment.
Lisa Barnard contributed to this article.
