Trends and development of green concrete made from agricultural and construction waste

As the demand for affordable and quality houses increases in the 11th Malaysia Plan, issues regarding environmentally sustainable construction gains more prominence as specified by the Construction Industry Transformation Plan, CITP 2016-2020. The emphasis on going green has been stressed by the introduction of the strategic plan and the need for a construction system which is eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable is required. The system is expected to reduce carbon emission and less dependent on earth natural resources. Thus, this paper clarify the past and present research on green concrete utilising agricultural waste and construction waste. The green concrete utilises agricultural waste material such as Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA), Rice Husk Ash (RHA) and Palm Oil Fibre (POF) and Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) from construction waste. Literature has shown that by replacing ordinary Portland cement by POFA and RHA enhances the compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete by up to 20% and 10% respectively. Similar trends were observed when POF were added to concrete where improvements in its tensile strength and crack behaviour were observed. Replacing natural aggregates with RCA also have similar impact to the compressive strength of concrete but a lower flexural strength were recorded. To meet the demand for a sustainable construction system as specified by CITP 2016-2020, the green concrete block will be adopted into an establish construction system called Putra Block to meet the demand for the affordable quality house