Concrete as “Green Building” Material

Concrete is the most widely used construction material. This is due to its low cost, general availability, and of course quite easy and wide applicability. But concrete also is characterized by great environmental cost. The natural materials mined and processed each year, by their sheer volume, are bound to leave a substantial mark on the environment. Most damaging are the enormous amounts of energy required to produce Portland cement as well as the large quantities of CO2 released into the atmosphere in the process. All enlisted herein, is more than verified in Albania, especially in the territories where cement production factories operate. In order to have a future sustainable development, while in the same time trying to reduce the already noticed negative effects, measures need to be taken urgently. Related to this issue ,a very successful measure is considered the use of suitable substitutes for Portland cement, especially with those that are byproducts of industrial processes, like fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, and silica fume. Suitable recycled materials as substitutes for concrete aggregate are gaining in importance too, such as recycled concrete aggregate, post-consumer glass, tires, etc .This paper summarizes the various efforts underway worldwide, that should be undertaken in Albania also, to improve the environmental friendliness of concrete, to make it suitable as a “Green Building” material.