Concrete Solutions for Climate Resilient Built Environments

Dankl, Claudia and Spaun, Sebastian (2025) Concrete Solutions for Climate Resilient Built Environments. URBAN INNOVATION: TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO CITIES HAVE GONE BEFORE. Medium sized cities and towns as a major arena of global urbanisation. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2025, 30th Intl. Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 1075-1080. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

Concrete is the most widely used building material worldwide. That is one reason why it is very often associated with high CO2 emissions, although on the base of mass [kg] or volume [m³], the specific CO2 footprint of concrete is relatively low compared to other building materials. This is in particular true for modern cement and concrete. In 2022, the Austrian Cement Industry published its roadmap towards CO2 neutral production of cement. Various measures are foreseen and projects have already been undertaken to move the CO2 footprint of cement in Austria towards zero. This applies to all types of cement, regardless of the application – and there are many of them. Every construction project requires a special type of concrete; there are different mix designs for buildings, civil engineering, and specialised applications. Water-impermeable concrete is required for so-called “white tanks”, whereas in urban planning – in view of increasingly hot summers and heavy rainfall – the opposite, water-permeable concrete, is advantageous in terms of infiltration capacity. This can take the form of “drain concrete” or concrete paving stones, which must be laid in such a way that infiltration can take place via the paving joints. Infiltration-capable surfaces, trees and plants are essential for the resilience and important design elements of our cities. Innovative approaches in the use of concrete and holistic planning can make cities more ecological, liveable, and sustainable, Therefore, such approaches have an important function as instruments for adapting to climate change. However, concrete can be used innovatively not only for “green infrastructure”, but also for “blue infrastructure”, the use of water in urban spaces. The “sponge city” is a concept designed to help urban trees gain more vitality. The underground construction is crucial for the sponge city effect: the concept gives the trees more room to grow roots below the paved surface in interconnected gravel bodies. The substrate acts like a sponge: on the one hand, the trees are supplied with water and, on the other, water is stored and does not flow unused into the sewage system. A high infiltration rate is also important on the paved surfaces. The concrete paving stones play a central role in the functioning of the sponge city concept – they provide more climate protection, a pleasant atmosphere, and thus counteract the urban heat island effect, Due to their light surface and a higher albedo of concrete compared to asphalt, they can contribute to a more pleasant micro-climate in urban areas. In Austria, the sponge city concept has been successfully implemented in several projects: In Vienna, the first sponge city project was in Pelzgasse in Vienna’s city district of Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus. In addition to the paving of the areas, further design measures were implemented to make the public space more attractive.. The project is being scientifically monitored by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, the BOKU Wien. In Vienna, the sponge city concept was also implemented near the “Bildungscampus Aspern Nord”, where around 10,000 m2 of concrete block pavement were built in the neighbourhood “Am Seebogen”. The sponge city concept has also been successfully realised in several small and medium-sized towns in Lower and Upper Austria, some of which are presented below. A video series by the Lower Austrian Association of Municipalities shows best practice from the cities Amstetten, Lanzenkirchen, and Tulln. The presentation ranges from the production of CO2-reduced cement in Austria to the sustainable use of concrete for planning and design of innovative open spaces in urban areas following the sponge city principle, which enables adaptation to climate change.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TH Building construction
Depositing User:	The CORP Team
Date Deposited:	25 May 2025 15:56
Last Modified:	07 Jul 2025 09:29
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/1237

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