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Hence The Lightweight Aggregate Is Highly Recommended In The Construction Of ...

Hence the lightweight aggregate is highly recommended in the construction of critical structural applications like bridges and commercial building where the load bearing is high and the space is a critical element to save costs.
2.3.3: Energy consumption and energy savings The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive of the European Union is a classical example for the justification that the composition of the concrete and the properties of the components comprising the structure of building commercial and domestic contribute directly to the overall energy consumption as argued by John P. Ries and Thomas A. Holm (2006). This is further justified in the arguments of Sarah Gaventa (2006) where the author has justified that the concrete mix and the design of the overall structure to suit the structural requirements have a direct impact on the energy consumption. Alongside, the heat resistant properties of the lightweight aggregate and the ability to trap higher amount of air within the particles comprising the aggregate further make the lightweight aggregate to be able to meet the heating and cooling requirements in a given structure as argued by Sarah Gaventa (2006). It is also interesting to note that the energy performance efficiency in the building especially in the west where a major portion of the energy is used for heating purposes justify that the concrete mix and the aggregate composition to make the concrete mix are critical for the successful energy savings in the buildings as argued by Sarah Gaventa (2006).
The durability, stability and other physical properties including the compressibility of an aggregate material attribute to the ability of the concrete used in the building to retain heat thus reducing the consumption of energy for interior heating purposes as argued by Sarah Gaventa (2006).
It is also a well known fact that the reduction in the concrete density increases the thermal resistance thus making it clear that the lightweight aggregate will increase the thermal resistance due to the lower specific gravity of the aggregate composition that reduces the density of the concrete used in the construction of the structure. A typical example is the concrete density of 90lb/cubic foot will have a resistance (R value) of 0.26/inch whilst the R value for a density of 135lb/cubic foot is approximately 0.10/inc thus making it clear the energy efficiency is greatly increased through the use of lightweight aggregates as argued by John P. Ries and Thomas A. Holm (2006).
Chapter 3: Concrete Production
3.1: Overview
The production of concrete mix using the aggregate is achieved through the mixing of the aggregate, sand and cement with right amounts of water to produce the concrete mix of the necessary strength.


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