Sustainability-Driven Innovation in the Society of the Future

The concrete construction industry has a responsibility to the society to take actions to reduce its environmental impacts. The concrete industry should not consider this obligation as a negative outlook, however, because this responsibility also brings the opportunity to develop innovative technologies. Such an approach will undoubtedly improve the technological sustainability of the concrete construction industry. However, to move toward ecological sustainability, radical improvements in our resource productivity must be achieved by reducing drastically the wasteful consumption of materials. This means that the long-term solution to the challenge of sustainability of modern construction materials lies in noticeably improving their durability. Finally, it must be realized, and stressed, that our resources are limited. In particular, the mineral resources that are necessary for cement and concrete production are being stretched or exhausted in some locations. Yet in spite of the growing awareness that resources are being depleted, there is a resistance against developing new sources