After switching off their lights for Earth Hour, Dubai took another step to reducing their environmental footprint. Dubai announced its decision to switch to Green Concrete that includes a mix of 66% by-product (minimum), such as Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS).

Dubai currently employs a high level of sustainable development within their infrastructural projects, and government officials believe that even more can be done. After the negative impacts of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) were realized in a report published by one of the country's Building Companies, the decision was made to move to Green Cement. The twelve cement companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will now be producing more GGBFS and fly ash (a by-product of the coal combustion proces).

Questions have arisen as to whether the industry is prepared to make such as sudden change. Robin Styles the technical support manager of CEMEX does not believe it is an issue. “From the ready-mix industry perspective, I think we are very well prepared for the change. The municipality has been engaging with the stakeholders for a few years. By using these alternative options, you can reduce the carbon footprint of concrete by up to 45 per cent”.

The move to Green Concrete is a major advancement toward the #SustainableDubai initiative! More details of this project will be published in the October edition of Connections.