Principal Investigator Oral Buyukozturk
Co-investigators Hao Sun , Kunal Kupwade Patil , Robert W Haupt , Robert Shin , Huseyin Sadi Kuleli , Thomas Herring , M Toksöz , Ju Li , John Fisher , Fredo Durand , William Freeman , Christoph Reinhart , John Ochsendorf , Markus Buehler , Sidney Yip
Project Website http://web.mit.edu/liss/#/energy
Partial substitution of Portland cement with natural pozzolanic volcanic ash is seen as a potential alternative to effectively substitute Portland cement using naturally and locally available waste stream by-products. The key impact of this study would be to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions when Portland cement with volcanic ash substitution is used to produce concrete products. An ongoing study will examine the effect of embodied carbon emission when various compositions of natural volcanic ash is used as a partial substitute to Ordinary Portland cement.
A low-cost and high-impact method for improving concrete is to substitute locally available additives for Portland cement. The alternatives could be natural resources like volcanic ash, or industrial sources such as blast furnace slag. Performance wouldn’t be lost, and certain environmental benefits would be gained. One example is that volcanic ash would help reduce embodied energy – that which is used to manufacture a material – and reduce the overall carbon footprint when cities and neighborhood utilize new materials.
The necessary element with all this work is taking an interdisciplinary approach by integrating civil, materials, architecture along with physics and chemistry. As the population grows, the need for housing will as well. Buildings will become taller and taller, and the energy and material demands will increase. Systems are becoming increasingly complex and aspirations always rise, having different perspectives improves existing ideas, creates new ones and makes them more practical by providing an insight into developing durable and sustainable solutions.