Concrete is a popular building material. It is widely used for the construction of driveways, walkways, and patios. Apart from this, concrete is also used for making designer furniture, swimming pool and much more.
One of the reasons for its wide usability is that concrete is low-cost material and is easily available. Even if the material is eco-friendly, still it produces a lot of heat when mixed. A simple chemical reaction also takes place that releases a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere.
So the moment you make use of concrete, it is obvious that you have to ensure that is it eco-friendly and cost-effective.
- Green concrete options
You can search for better ways to use concrete material by searching concreting Brisbane options online.
As per home contractors, greenways can help make concrete more cost-effective and eco-friendly. There are many things that can be done to make driveways and walkways more cost-effective. You can keep the surrounding part of the driveway and walkway green by using grass carpet.
You can try and implement projects that are green and yet cost-effective. More eco-friendly concrete can be used when constructing driveways.
- Use solid concrete floors
Instead of mixing the concrete at the site, it is more advisable to make use of concrete slabs that are already available in the market. These slabs are crafted out of compromised concrete material. These slabs can easily be purchased in the market for a much lower price as compared to preparing the concrete mix at your home.
Using concrete ready slabs will also produce less amount of heat energy and thus will make it more eco-friendly. You have to keep in mind that dry concrete does not produce a lot of heat energy and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
As compared to making use of carpet or vinyl, concrete slabs are more cost-effective and will last for many years. You can also look around for readymade concrete tiles that are available in the market. From creating driveways you can try and select much bigger tiles
- Lower heat and thermal mass
Concrete is a perfect material to be used for creating floors because of its high mass and heat-producing capacity. This is also the best material that can be used during the wintertime. The material is ideal for soaking a lot of heat from the sun and releasing it back in the atmosphere.
This makes ideal concrete material to be used at your home for constructing driveways and walkways.
- Use a radiant floor system
To use concrete perfectly for outdoors floors, it is better to make use of radiant floor system. This is one of the best methods that is used for heating concrete when mixing it to form the concrete driveways and walkways.
This method is also considered to be more cost-effective and requires less amount of energy to dry the concrete floors. Many tile manufacturers make use of this method to create driveway and walkway tiles for outdoor purpose.
- Using no-VOC stains
For driveways and walkways, you may have to consider making use of methods for stamping concrete. This method is also made use of washing, colouring and staining concrete. This method is considered to be more cost-effective than using the concrete directly for creating walkways and driveways.
Contractors also make use of this method for creating unlimited designs on the concrete floors. Using low or no-VOC stains will help in producing fewer amounts of stains on the concrete floors.
- Green recycled waste
To make the process more cost-effective you can try and add waste to the concrete that is recycled type. There are several materials and wastes that can be added to the concrete to make it more eco-friendly and cost-effective.
These materials can include small pebbles, granules, granite debris, hull ash and much more. Adding these materials can make the concrete more cost-effective.
Apart from this, contractors also try and make use of form boards along with concrete mix for creating walkways and driveways. These types of materials can prevent loss of concrete after wash away as well.
