TecEco Product Philosophy
There is too much dogma in engineering that is followed with religious zeal. For sustainability to occur technical paradigms must be changed and this will require a scientific attitude seldom displayed. Our challenge is to demonstrate that more sustainable technologies, can in fact also be more economic. Pushed by economic rather than feel good political forces sustainability will happen.
There will be some pain en route to a sustainable world but the economic and environmental outcomes are worth fighting for.
TecEco are focusing on materials as they are everything between the take and waste and define lifetime and embodied energies, emissions and reconcilability. The built environment encompasses 70% of all materials flows and offers huge opportunities for improvement in the techno-processes that define wider linkages with the biosphere-geosphere. Our particular expertise is in cementitious composites which currently are responsible for some 10% of global anthropogenic emissions during their manufacture.
For far too long now the philosophy of cement companies has been "If it is gray its great, all we make goes out the gate." Concrete is narrowly defined and artificially separated into cement and aggregates. The techno process of producing concretes is bound by prescription formulas that support companies with vested interests in not updating their technologies to suit the changing needs of society such as:
- Greater sustainability
- Utilising wastes
- Reducing emissions
- Reducing embodied energies
- Providing a wider range of improved properties such as
- Lower cost
- Greater strength
- Greater durability
- Insulation
- Thermal capacity
- Light weight
- Tensile strength
- Rheology suitable for robotic construction
TecEco will lead the way towards greater profitability and sustainability by demonstrating that these objectives are not incompatible and that more sustainable mineral composites can in fact result in a better bottom line.
TecEco have a totally holistic mind set. Every component, every particle in cementitious composites has a role that can be optimised. In TecEco Cement formulations every component has a physical or chemical function and often both. The chemistry and engineering of each and every particle or component must be considered. Size, charge, shape, lattice energy, reactivity and interactions are all important.
By changing the technical paradigm many wastes will become resources. Over two tonnes of concrete are produced per person per annum on the planet and a little over half a tonnes of solid wastes, many of which could add value to cementitious composites such as for example plastics which are light in weight, have tensile strength and increase the "r" value of materials in which they are included. Plastics are also carbon containing materials that should not be burned or allowed to eventually rot producing methane. Many materials like plastics took energy to make and as the price of fossil fuel energies rise, recycling them will become more important.
Many mining, industrial and domestic wastes are potentially useful raw materials for making cementitious composites using unique TecEco formulation strategies.
The name cement is derived from the Latin word caementum meaning rough stone. The name concrete is derived from the Latin word concretus; concretus is the past participle of the word concrescere meaning to grow together, to harden. Our whole rock holistic formulation strategy goes back to early roman concepts of concrete.
printer friendly