Precast concrete facade elements with low embodied energy

Concrete is by far the most common building material in the world. Due to its good durability it is widely used in building envelopes. One major part of the embodied energy in concrete comes from the production of Portland cement that consumes around 3,500 MJ energy per each ton of cement. Globally 2.6 billion tons of Portland cement is produced and the consumption is increasing. Since concrete will be used as main building material also in future construction, it is reasonable to develop concrete building components with lower embodied energy.Using the example of an ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) facade element, it is demonstrated how the embodied energy can be reduced by application of hydrothermal curing.