ABSTRACT
Ecologically sustainable development (BSD) is becoming one of the most important challenges for the construction industry in the new millennium. This issue is primarily driven by the need to conserve materials and energy resources so that future generations can have sufficient resources for their needs. Therefore, BSD strives to provide intergenerational equity. The construction activity is a major consumer of both materials and energy resources. With respect to construction with concrete, there are many opportunities to apply advanced concrete technology to enhance sustainability in construction. To ensure long-term sustainability, we need to adopt an holistic approach which views the entire life cycle of construction. This will include aspects of materials processing, product manufacture, transportation, construction, service life, demolition and disposal. Whilst the management of waste is one of the most important aspects in ensuring sustainable development, waste management alone is not sufficient. In taking a lifecycle approach, we need to adopt clean construction practices which encompass waste management as well as minimise the environmental impacts of precursor activities such as the manufacturing of construction materials. In this paper, a broad discussion of clean concrete construction will be discussed in the context of the Australian concrete construction industry. Examples of recent advances in concrete technology research and application in Australia which contribute to clean construction will be provided. Keywords: Life cycle, clean construction, closed-loop recycling, sustainable development, waste management.
