Green Home

Concrete with Fly Ash

Fly Ash is a by-product of burning coal in power plants. This and other coal-combustion products were originally treated as waste and disposed of in landfills. Now, power plants take the fly ash, captured from the exhaust of the boiler, and sell it to be used in products like concrete, brick, block, paving, and structural fills creating a more durable, smoother-flowing product.

The use of fly ash replaces up to 30% of carbon-dioxide (CO2) producing Portland cement in concrete.

U.S. power plants produce millions of tons of fly ash annually. According to the industry, about thirty percent of the fly ash produced in the United States is recycled into concrete mixtures.

The benefits of using fly ash concrete are:

  • Diverts fly ash from landfills
  • Reduces Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions
  • Creates less permeable and more durable concrete
  • Has less shrinkage than regular concrete

Old concrete slabs, walls and sidewalks can be recycled too. If you are tearing up concrete in your project, check locally for a concrete recycling business.

Go online to find a local fly ash concrete dealer in your area.

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Spotlight on the Experts

Dennis Odin Johnson

Dennis Odin Johnson has been designing, manufacturing and building environmentally green homes and dome homes since 1971. His company, Natural Spaces Domes, is one of the leading manufacturers of geodesic dome homes in the world. During his 37 years of building domes, one of his major focuses has been educating and promoting the green aspect and environmental sustainability of dome homes as well … Read More »

Little Green Steps

HCHW’s Project7ten project took the old concrete slab from deconstruction, had it taken to a concrete-recycling facility, where 30% fly ash was added and was sold back to us for the new foundation/flooring!