The footings are in and we used 100% fly ash/100% glass for the concrete! As far as we can determine, our building will be the first in the world to use 100% recycled materials in ALL of its concrete—from the footings to the foundation to the polished concrete floor in the lobby to the sidewalks. Many folks have put in TONS of hours testing this 100% mixture so that we can be assured it will be as good as or better than the traditional Portland cement/gravel concrete.
Fly ash is a by-product of coal-powered electric generation plants and up until recently was simply disposed of in landfills. Fly ash as an additive to concrete has been widely used and accepted…usually replacing 5-50% of the Portland cement. But we wanted to go a bit further to 100%.
Check out this link to see more information about why fly ash is an environmentally friendly, sustainable alternative to Portland cement. http://www.flyash.com/flyashenvironment.asp Next up: the foundation…forms are being set as we speak and the foundation will be poured in the coming days.
Hello! Everything looks great, and congrats! I am looking for Fly Ash and recycled glass. Do you have a source for this is Missoula? Thank you!
Eric, thanks for the comment! We are very happy with how everything turned out. For information on Fly Ash, contact LS Jensen. While the 100% fly ash/100% glass mixture is probably not available, they could certainly help find the materials and discuss how it could be used.