Circularity theme at the Concrete Event

Since the 1960s, the use of concrete as a construction material has increased tremendously. In recent years, very traditional, but also very special constructions have been made, making optimal use of the properties of the material concrete (good ability to absorb compressive stresses and good modeling in complex shapes).

Although these structures are often still technically satisfactory, they are economically obsolete, often due to different usage requirements from those in place at the time of design. A good example of this are the many office buildings from the 1970s and 1980s that no longer meet today's requirements for an office building. The recent corona crisis will certainly accelerate this process further.

Circularity: repurposing concrete

During the Concrete Event, we highlight circularity from the perspective of repurposing. In the past, the approach was to demolish the old building and build a new one. Besides the fact that demolishing buildings, bridges, viaducts and locks is costly, the released concrete material often disappears into the recycling chain in a low-grade manner.and. As a result, new structures of "new concrete" are being built with a substantial outgrowtht of CO2. With the Concrete Agreement, we as "BV Nederland" want to reduce the use of new concrete and thus the emission of CO2 as much as possible.

Lectures on circular concrete provide examples of buildings and structures that are economically and/or functionally at the end of their useful life. By looking creatively and differently at these buildings and structures, they can be given a new use, sometimes with minor structural changes, which means they do not have to be demolished. This results in substantial savings in CO2 emissions.

Practice shows that there are often plenty of ideas, but due to the lack of technical info on the object in question, it is difficult to determine whether the new function requirements can be met constructively. In the break-out sessions, experts by experience will explain how they have dealt with this in practice. They will also elaborate on how to build future-proof, as well as working with a donor skeleton.

In short, after attending the lectures, in addition to ideas for reuse, stakeholders will be provided with guidance on how to technically substantiate that the building in question meets the technical requirements.

View the full program to see which speakers are performing and decide which sessions you want to attend at the Concrete Event on Nov. 26!