The use of wood particles in cementitious materials in order to make them more sustainable as greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract

Cement building materials are quite aggressive to the environment because of their manufacture causing large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as cement and steel. Wood-based materials are great in this respect, as they generally consume less energy for their production and wood stocks carbon in their structure, neutralizing CO2 emissions, the main GHG. But for various reasons, it is not always possible to apply purely wood materials. This work shows two cementitious building materials, concrete blocks and closing panels, which were developed in researches at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR - Brazil), which contains wood particles in its composition. These materials, in substitution of the corresponding traditional materials, mitigate GHG emissions by the construction works, without causing technical losses. The materials developed in the cited researches are produced with Portland cement, lime and wood particles. The carbon fixed by the wood plus the CO2 absorbed from the air by the carbonation of the lime during the first years of useful life neutralizes the majority of the GHG emissions of its production.