CONCRETE + METAL

Concrete and metal are high embodied carbon materials. This means that when they arrive to a building site, they come with a history of energy expended in order to create them. Structural steel and copper for example must be mined, smelted, purified and formed in order to be put to use. Concrete’s core ingredients come from earth elements that are mined, mixed and processed before being poured into a desired form. But there are benefits with these long lasting materials as well. Any waste produced during construction, can be sold back to scrap yards and recycled. Similarly, when a building has reached the end of it’s lifespan, the components made of metal and concrete can be salvaged and recycled.