Transmaterial » concrete

Creacrete

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:00:03 +0000

Concrete is an omnipresent material in architecture and public space. Previous attempts to use it in product design have led to massive, heavy objects which were also limited in their formal design. Creacrete is a concrete-based material that is highly dense and compact and makes thin-walled objects with glossy surfaces possible for the first time. Creacrete explores new sides of concrete with the aim to realize surfaces that are permanently glossy, abrasion- and acid-resistant, food safe, and hydrophobic.

Developed by Alexa Lixfield, Creacrete shows the possible innovative use of concrete as an alternative material for ceramics. The use of concrete shortens the production process compared to that of ceramics because it eliminates the need for two kiln firings—thus reducing energy input and expenses. The simplified production process also allows new freedom in form-making. Just as ceramics need a glaze coating to be resistant to stains, concrete needs adequate treatment to make it stain-resistant and food-safe.

Contact: AlexaLixfeld Design GmbH, Hamburg, Germany.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Element

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:45 +0000

Hycrete’s Element is an environmentally friendly admixture that integrally waterproofs concrete used in commercial construction. Certified Cradle-to-Cradle by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC), Element eliminates the need for external membranes typically used to waterproof concrete, thereby making the concrete more-easily recyclable following demolition. This approach can eliminate thousands of pounds of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), CO2 and non-renewable content. Additionally, the admixture enhances structure durability by protecting against corrosion of steel rebar.

In eliminating the need for a manually applied membrane, Hycrete Element can also save time in construction schedules. With typical membrane applications, contractors must often wait for the concrete to dry before a waterproofing sub-contractor can apply the membrane – even after rainfall and re-wetting. In contrast, Hycrete Element is dosed during concrete mixing and is not subject to weather delays.

Contact: Hycrete, Inc., Carlstadt, NJ, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Swisspearl

Blaine Brownell — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:19 +0000

Swisspearl panels were specially designed for the ventilated facade system. Made from a high quality cement composite, the incredibly durable panels are integrally colored with a delicate vein texture, which imparts a monolithic appearance. Swisspearl panels possess excellent color fastness, and custom colors are available on request.

Contact: Eternit AG, Niederurnen, Switzerland.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Ductal

Blaine Brownell — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:00:04 +0000

Ductal is a new material technology that offers ductility, strength, and durability while providing moldable products with a quality surface. Compressive strengths reach up to 30,000 psi (200 MPa) and flexural strengths reach up to 7,000 psi (50 MPa). With Ductal, it is possible to create thinner sections, longer spans, and higher structures, which are lighter, more graceful and innovative in geometry, and have superior durability and impermeability against corrosion, abrasion, and impact.

Ductal provides precasters with opportunities to improve many existing products and to manufacture new lines of products that will compete with stainless steel, cast iron, ceramics, and others. By utilizing its superior properties, Ductal solutions can eliminate passive reinforcing steel and experience reduced global construction costs, formwork, labor, and maintenance, resulting in benefits such as improved construction safety, speed of construction, and extended life.

Contact: Lafarge North America Inc., Herndon, VA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Light-Sensitive Concrete

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:03 +0000

Light-Sensitive Concrete is a technology that allows concrete to be sensitive to ambient light levels. It senses the luminosity distribution throughout a concrete surface and sends the data to a computer. By converting this data to various values within custom-designed software, one can control sound, light, projected visuals, and other effects by modifying the light condition on the concrete surface.

Developed by University of Tokyo researcher Tokihiko Fukao, Light-Sensitive Concrete consists of concrete, embedded optical fibers, photodiodes, and electrical circuitry. Optical fibers are distributed within a regular grid, and sensors are attached beneath them in the same arrangement. The interactive properties of the material are intentionally hidden within what appears to be conventional concrete—suggesting possibilities for other light-sensitive building materials and surfaces as part of a total ambient interactive system.

Contact: Noguchi Lab, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Pixel Panels

Blaine Brownell — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:07:21 +0000

Developed by Bill Price, Pixel Panels are one manifestation of the broader family of products called Translucent Concrete and Transparent Concrete, all of which seek to make concrete a light-transmissive medium. Pixel Panels use concrete as a binder within which a uniform array of polymers is added to provide translucency at a given viewing distance. The ratio of concrete to polymer may be varied to allow for limitless variations (ratios as high as twenty-five percent polymer have been achieved).

Contact: BPZ, Houston, TX, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Ecosmart

Blaine Brownell — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:54:15 +0000

Concrete, a universal construction material synonymous with strength and longevity, is relatively benign in nature. However, the production of Portland cement, which is an essential constituent of concrete, leads to the release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (producing one ton of Portland cement produces about one ton of carbon dioxide).

Worldwide, cement manufacturing accounts for approximately eight percent of global carbon dioxide annual emissions. The use of concrete is expected to grow in the foreseeable future, but this growth needs to be compatible with environmental protection and sustainability.

It is widely accepted that using reclaimed industrial by products such as fly ash, silica fume, and slag, commonly called supplementary cementing materials (SCM), can reduce the amount of cement needed to make concrete, and hence reduce its carbon dioxide signature. Using SCMs in concrete not only has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to improve longterm strength and durability characteristics, and it may result in a more economical concrete than conventional Portland-cement concrete. Moreover, industrial by-products are redirected from the wastestream.

Contact: Ecosmart Foundation Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Diamond Pier

Blaine Brownell — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:23:22 +0000

The Pin Foundation Diamond Pier is a precast concrete pier and steel pin system that provides a solid foundation that reaches deep into the ground without digging. The pier components are light enough to hand-carry to the site, and the installation is simple, requiring only hand tools and a few minutes of time.

The development of Pin Foundation’s unique technology began more than two decades ago in an effort to design foundation systems that would eliminate excavation and minimize the disruption of the existing soil’s state and natural topography. These soils have developed over many centuries and provide critical natural storage and filtering for rainfall. Digging alters these soil characteristics, and Diamond Piers offer a cost-effective solution for installing a reliable and durable foundation without degrading streams and water quality.

The piers can be installed in any native soil or compacted fill—even in frost, expansive, or saturated soils often deemed too marginal for traditional construction. Predetermined pin lengths are driven through slots in the pier that has been installed at grade. There are two pier sizes: The DP-50 and DP-100, weighing fifty and one hundred pounds, respectively. The DP-50 can achieve a maximum capacity of four thousand pounds, while the DP-100 can achieve a maximum capacity of eight thousand pounds. The soils encountered and the length of the pin installed will determine the pier’s capacity.

Contact: Pin Foundations, Inc., Gig Harbor, WA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

EcoX

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:00:12 +0000

According to Meld, over seven million tons of glass are sent to landfills each year in the United States alone. EcoX is precast concrete made of about 75 percent postconsumer and postindustrial glass. It may be used for countertops, furniture, fixtures, sculptural objects, and nonstructural applications. With its high volume of recycled glass content, EcoX appears markedly different from conventional precast concrete and diverts useful material from the waste stream.

Contact: Meld USA, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 2.

SensiTile Terrazzo

Blaine Brownell — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:00:12 +0000

Comprised of a light-conducting matrix embedded within a substrate, SensiTiles transport light from one surface point to another by a process called Total Internal Reflection, the same principle that makes fiber optics possible. SensiTiles either respond to shadows or an active and moving light source. In the former case, SensiTiles cause any shadows that fall on their surfaces to shift. In the latter, they redirect and scatter any oncoming light. In an environment with ambient light, shadowproducing movements around a SensiTile will produce a rippling effect. In darker environments, beams of light are redirected to emerge from another part of the surface.

SensiTiles also absorb and “bleed” colors. If colored light falls on a SensiTile, echoes of that color are dispersed throughout its surface. If multiple colors are present, they become blended, rearranged, and scrambled. Because SensiTile’s properties are inherent, no power is required; the light effects are created passively from external light sources, and they last as long as the material does. It is available in different substrates that each lend distinctive properties to the material. SensiTile Terrazzo is embedded in concrete to give it the durability, flexibility, and aesthetic of natural stone. The light-conducting matrix appears as a series of pixels within the concrete surface. SensiTile Terrazzo is available in a variety of standard and custom colors. (See also Scintilla, which is made entirely of acrylic.)

Contact: SensiTile Systems, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.