Students from the Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman won the championship in the Eco-concrete Competition at the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Spring 2019 Convention in Quebec, Canada. The students used locally abundant Diliman tuff as partial replacement to cement and waste glass in making an environmentally friendly concrete. The students won over schools from North and South America, Europe and Asia.
The students were: Angelica Anne Munar, Ryan Ramelo, Paulo Santos and Alexis Declaro. They were advised by Asst. Prof. Justin Jesse Limbo Seranilla and Asst. Prof. Christian Orozco. The delegation to Canada was led by ACI Philippines Chapter President Ramon Allado joined by ACIP Director Froilan R. Martillano.
About the competition: The eco-concrete competition aims to promote the idea of environmental performance in concrete mix design as an important aspect of sustainability. Teams thus have the mission to develop an innovative concrete mixture, which will have the lowest possible environmental impacts while maintaining optimal mechanical and durability performances.
About ACI: the American Concrete Institute is a leading authority and resource worldwide for the development, dissemination, and adoption of its consensus-based standards, technical resources, educational & training programs, certification programs, and proven expertise for individuals and organizations involved in concrete design, construction, and materials. These share a commitment to pursuing the best use of concrete.
About the Concrete Invention from UP Diliman: Rapid global urbanization boosts the demand for concrete at an unprecedented rate. This means that the environmental footprint of concrete production can no longer be ignored. The conventional concrete mix, which consists only of cement, gravel, sand, and water, must be revisited to achieve environmental sustainability in the decision-making process. This study compares a base-case scenario (BCS) concrete mixture consisting of gravel, sand, water, and Portland cement, with an alternative-case scenario (ACS) concrete mixture composed of recycled, co-product, and locally sourced raw materials that replaced conventional concrete materials. An average improvement of 23.9% was observed in the environmental performance of concrete using five parameters, namely, global warming, carcinogenic impact, ozone depletion, ecotoxicity, and fossil fuel depletion. Concrete testing after 14 days of curing showed a compressive strength equal to 41.30 and 32.40 MPa for the BCS, and ACS, respectively. The BCS and ACS, after 14 days of curing, had a resistivity of 3.52 and 18.41 kΩ-cm. This study shows that an environmentally friendly, yet strong and durable concrete can be produced.
