With climate change as a pressing issue in the world, people and institutions have been employing various ways to lessen the negative impact of their actions on the environment. Restaurants, for example, have straw-less Friday and some cities have banned the use of single-use plastics. Also, more individuals have adopted environmentally friendly practices, like using bamboo utensils and riding bikes to work. The same goes for the construction industry. Today, green building is in. Learn more about green building practices and how cement brands in the Philippines can be sustainable concrete materials.
What is a green building?
When we say green building, we refer to the process of constructing structures utilizing practices that will not deplete natural resources, as we need to consider the future of generations after ours. It is a sustainable design concept whose main goal is to reduce carbon footprint. Preservation of the ecosystem is the end goal of green building, but it also offers a lot of benefits, which we will discuss below.
Benefits of Green Building Practices
Better Life Quality
Our health is directly impacted by the quality of the home we live in or the structure we work in. Aside from being friendly to mother nature, green buildings improve the indoor environment, which in turn improves our health and life quality. For example, green structures are designed to improve natural light and airflow, which are beneficial to our health. They may also use building materials with less or no harmful volatile organic compounds or plastic by-products that are known to have carcinogens and toxic elements, which when inhaled may lead to allergies, respiratory diseases, and even certain types of cancer.
Less Water Consumption
Some green buildings employ a water-efficient plumbing system that allows the reduction of water consumption. Some even purify used water to allow recycling for other purposes or have a system to collect rainwater for various purposes. Green building in the Philippines utilizes waterless urinals and recycles used water for flushing toilets.
Energy-efficiency
In green buildings, the source of natural light may be considered when designing a structure. Windows or doors may be placed on parts of the home that get most of the natural light during the daytime, so you can save on electricity bills. Wind and sunlight may also be utilized to produce a more cost-efficient source of power.
Durability
Green buildings utilize materials that are known to last long, so you don’t need to replace them over and over again. They also require less maintenance. You also don’t have to worry about the safety of structures if you have materials known for their quality and sustainability.
More Resources for Everyone
The more building materials we utilize, the less we leave for others to use. As sustainability is one of the top benefits of green building, we leave more resources for future generations to utilize. For example, metal roofing materials are durable, so they last very long and do not need a replacement immediately. And if they have reached their maximum lifespan, metal roofs can be recycled for other uses.
Union Galvasteel Corporation has pre-painted metal roofs and light steel frames that are durable, cost-efficient, and eco-friendly, making them ideal for green building.
Cost-efficiency
All the benefits mentioned so far lead to another benefit, which is cost efficiency. Since green building materials are durable, you don’t have to spend much on repair, replacement, and maintenance. Also, because of its energy-efficiency feature, you could spend less on water or electricity costs.
Sustainable Concrete for Green Building
With cement and concrete being one of the most used materials in the construction industry, using sustainable concrete is one of the best ways to practice green building.
Here are factors that make concrete ideal for green building.
- Strength. Concrete is resistant to fire and corrosion, making it long-lasting. Concrete homes, for example, are better than wooden homes, as the former are more durable.
- Resource efficiency. Cement is predominantly produced from limestone, which is abundantly available in the world. Waste byproducts of industrial facilities like power plants and mills are also used as concrete materials.
- Thermal mass and reflectivity. Concrete has the ability to absorb and release heat because of its inherent thermal mass. This feature also prevents fluctuations in temperature. Also, light-colored concrete can deflect light. For homeowners, this could translate to more efficient power consumption, as they can limit their use of air conditioning units.
- Maximized utilization. Concrete can be made in specific portions, so wastage is minimized. You can calculate the amount of cement, water, and other materials to mix to produce concrete for certain parts of your home, for example. And just in case you produce excess amounts, you can crush them and recycle them for other purposes.
Cement Supplier in the Philippines
When looking for green cement for your construction project, we recommend Union Cement, a top cement brand in the Philippines. These cement products have high workability, early compressive strength, and consistency that exceed both Philippine and international standards, which are ideal for concrete construction applications.
One of Union Cement’s best-selling products is Union Ultra Strength 50, which has a compressive strength of up to 50 megapascals (MPa) after 28 days. This simply means that it can withstand heavy loads, so it is suitable for structures and buildings that require durability and resilience. You can also get Union Super Strength 40, a cement product blended with superb mineral additives applicable for general concrete construction. We also have Union Extra Strength ES, Union’s type 1P Portland-Pozzolan cement variant formulated for general concrete applications and generally available in stores at key markets nationwide.
Union Cement’s parent company, PHINMA, also employs sustainability strategies crucial in ensuring that we protect key resource systems and continue providing for future generations. PHINMA commits to a sustainable future by making lives better for the Filipino nation, for the planet, and for progress.
Consistent with parent company PHINMA’s vision of making lives better, Union Cement provides a consistent and reliable supply of high-quality cement products and services to support our country’s construction and infrastructure requirements.
Union Cement is part of the PHINMA Construction Materials Group (PHINMA CMG), which includes affiliates Union Galvasteel Corporation and PHINMA Solar Energy Corporation. The synergy of these three companies allows PHINMA CMG to provide high-quality steel, cement, and solar solutions at outstanding value to customers nationwide.
Union Cement ang Sementong Astig. Basta semento, i-Union Cement mo! Visit our Contact Us page or Union Cement Facebook page to know more.
Photo by Scott Webb
Photo by Curtis Adams
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