Development of Green Concrete from Agricultural and Construction Waste

As the demand for affordable and quality houses increases in the 11th Malaysia Plan, issues regarding environmentally sustainable construction gain more prominence as specified by the Construction Industry Transformation Plan, CITP 2016–2020. The emphasis on green construction has been stressed by the introduction of the strategic plan, and, hence, the need for a construction system which is eco-friendly, reduces carbon emission and uses less earth natural resources is required. Thus, this paper studies the past and present research on green concrete utilizing agricultural waste and construction waste. Agricultural waste such as palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and rice husk ash (RHA) together with recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) from construction waste will be used as part replacement of cement and aggregate, respectively, whilst palm oil fibre (POF), which is another form of agricultural waste, will be added as binders for the concrete matrix. Literature has shown that by replacing ordinary Portland cement with 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 strength and crack properties were observed. Replacing natural aggregates with RCA also has similar impact to the compressive strength of concrete, but a lower flexural strength was recorded.