Anatomy of a Green Building - Lesson 7 - Concrete

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
By Matt Sutter, Chief Executive Officer
In Sustainability

UPS has their tag line: "What can Brown do for you?". I ask the question: What can Grey do for you? Grey concrete that is.

Concrete is a material that was developed for widespread use in ancient times by the Romans. One of the best known Roman concrete structures is the Pantheon that was built in Rome in 126 A.D. and is still standing. After the fall of the Roman Empire, concrete was not widely used again until the mid 1700's. The secret behind concrete is the chemical reaction between cement and water which fuses sand, gravel and the cement into a rock like compound. Concrete is very resistant to sound, and it is very dense so it has the ability to hold a large amount of heat and cold. If you have ever leaned against a concrete wall on a hot day you have felt the cool concrete. Likewise on a cold sunny day, the same wall will feel warm because it has absorbed the sun's energy and is slowly releasing it.

One of the energy saving strategies in the new SōL Harris/Day building is using a second floor made of concrete to hold the cool night air that will be circulated through the office. The concrete will then slowly radiate the stored cooling of the slab back into the space during the warm parts of the day. On winter days when there is sun, the windows have been placed in areas to allow the concrete slab to collect the sun's energy and radiate it back into the room. This is called thermal storage. Think of the concrete as a big holding tank for energy. In the SōL Harris/Day building, a special sealer will be applied to the concrete to make it smooth and shiny. This will also become the floor finish in many areas of the building. In addition, the concrete in the SōL Harris/Day building will use a recycled product called fly ash, a byproduct of coal fired power plants.

What can grey do for you?
- Solid structural floor, more dense than wood
- Acts as an energy holding tank, reducing energy costs
- Serves as a durable, low maintenance floor finish

Matt Sutter
SōL Harris/Day Architecture
msutter@harrisday.com
330.493.3722


Anatomy of Our Team

Concrete Installer
RP Construction
330.453.1033

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