Significant CO2 reduction with shrinkage-resistant concrete floor

Van Berlo's concrete technologists have been developing concrete mixtures with significantly lower environmental impact and CO2 emissions for some time. The first pilot projects promise much good. The "green" mixture also has an additional advantage: it results in a shrinkage-less concrete floor. An interview with Nick Vervoort, Head of R&D at Van Berlo, about this win-win situation.

In its own laboratory, specialists at Van Berlo work daily on techniques to get an even better grip on concrete. "This is where the most innovative ideas arise," Vervoort knows. "One of the most recent developments is our low impact concrete mix with which we can achieve a very shrinkage-free (read: crack-free) floor. That is truly unique by Dutch standards. It leads to less maintenance and repairs to the floor and ensures better hygiene, because no dirt is left behind in cracks. A property with a crack-free floor also has a much higher residual value."

In the fingers

The Van Berlo "green" concrete mixture has a specific composition. "Based on the raw materials available at the plant, we design a mixture with less cement and shrinkage properties," explains Vervoort. "In order to be able to process the mixture properly on site, we mix a high-quality admixture in the concrete mixers according to proven recipes so that the mixture has the desired flow properties. The product was first extensively tested on a laboratory scale and has since been successfully applied to a number of pilot projects. Concrete shrinks the most during the first six months, after that only minimally. Of course, we waited for those results first. Now we have reached the point where we have really mastered making a shrinkage-resistant concrete floor. To illustrate: we successfully made 25,000 m2 of concrete floor with this technology in the second half of 2021 and managed to save 225 tons of CO2. That corresponds to the CO2 emissions of 113 gasoline cars per year. Obviously, we can realize this 'green' and shrink-proof concrete floor in the same strength and compression class as any other concrete floor."

Low environmental impact

Speaking of low environmental impact, Vervoort says the topic is very much alive among Van Berlo's clients. "For example, we get more and more questions around sustainable and circular concrete floors. Therefore, we are also experimenting a lot with circular aggregates in our laboratory and we are also applying it more and more in practice. One of the largest orders at the moment is the concrete floor in Cargo Building 17 at Schiphol Airport, a project of over 52,000 m2. Here we are going to replace between 30 and 50 percent of the primary gravel with circular material. This prevents depletion of natural raw materials and provides a nice CO2 saving."