Implementing environmental improvements in a manufacturing context: a structured approach for the precast concrete industry

In common with other industries, most of the measures and solutions employed by companies in the £2 billion UK precast concrete manufacturing sector are linked to profitability. The concept of sustainability adds new dimensions as social progress and environmental protection become end goals in themselves, rather than objectives to achieve economic growth. This paper explores the nature of the precast industry and discusses opportunities and challenges relating to environmental improvement. A holistic view of the manufacture and procurement of precast concrete products is used to offer environmental improvement criteria an enhanced status in relation to the profitability imperative.

[1]  Maurice Levitt.  Precast concrete : materials, manufacture, properties and usage , 1990 .

[2]  Howard P. J. Taylor.  Precast concrete cladding , 1992 .

[3]  B Smart,et al.  Industry as a metabolic activity. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[4]  Tarja Häkkinen,et al.  Environmental burdens of concrete and concrete products , 1998 .

[5]  L. Lovins,et al.  Factor Four – Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use , 1997, Energy Exploration & Exploitation.

[6]  R. A. Smith,et al.  THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY MASS BALANCE: RESOURCE USE, WASTES AND EMISSIONS , 2002 .

[7]  M Glavind,et al.  GREEN CONCRETE - A LIFE CYCLE APPROACH , 2002 .

[8]  Jan Bijen.  ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION ON CONCRETE , 2002 .

[9]  Matthias Kott,et al.  Die Zukunft im Visier: Produktionsintegrierter Umweltschutz bei der Herstellung von Beton- und Stahlbetonelementen des Hochbaus im Fertigteilwerk , 2002 .

[10]  Xiaohua Zhao,et al.  Properties of concrete incorporating fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag , 2003 .

[11]  Michael Schmidt,et al.  Diskussion der Zusammensetzung und der Eigenschaften von UHPC: Ultra-Hochfester Beton: Perspektive für die Betonfertigteilindustrie , 2003 .

[12]  Norbert J. Delatte,et al.  Effect of supplementary cementitious materials on the compressive strength and durability of short-term cured concrete , 2004 .

[13]  C. Tam,et al.  Microstructural analysis of recycled aggregate concrete produced from two-stage mixing approach , 2005 .