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Anyone responsible for any facet of building management, including facility engineers, building owners and superintendents, property managers, purchasing agents, maintenance personnel, realtors, developers, contractors, architects, and any managerial staff are highly encouraged to attend.

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You’ve most likely heard of the concrete industry’s shift to Type 1L cement. The goal of Type 1L cement, or Portland-Limestone Cement (PLC), is to offer a more sustainable option than traditional Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) by reducing carbon emissions during production – while maintaining similar performance characteristics.

Why the change?

Next to water, concrete is the second most widely used material in the world. That being said, it should not be surprising that the production of concrete contributes roughly 8% of the yearly global CO₂ emissions. More than half of the CO₂ emissions is released during the production of cement which is the primary binding agent used in concrete. During this production process, limestone, clay, and other materials are heated and caused to chemically react. The resulting material is ground in a mill with gypsum, to produce the ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) used to make concrete. It is the energy needed to create the heat and the subsequent chemical reaction that produce the CO₂ emitted by this process. Any lowering of the CO₂ output from the production of cement would produce a measurable effect on the total emissions of CO₂ and thus slow the present rate of climate change. How can we lower the emissions? Simply put, we can reduce the amount of Portland Cement in the concrete.

As an example of this change in the cement mix, Type 1L Cement is made by blending in raw limestone to replace part of the Portland Cement and thus reduce the carbon footprint used to make concrete.

How is Type 1L cement different?

Despite the similarities between Type 1L and Type I/II cements, variations in particle fineness, softness, and limestone levels can lead to differences in the way the material behaves. Knowledge of these performance nuances can help improve material predictability and the quality of the cement paste and finished concrete.²

Today’s Type 1L cement can contain anywhere from 5 to 15% raw limestone, but the eventual goal may be to increase that percentage up to 30%.³ The greater the proportion of limestone in the blended cement, the greater the fineness and total particle surface area of the material. This can cause reduced workability, decreased bleeding, increased water demand, and less desirable finishing characteristics. Failures can include plastic shrinkage cracks, thermal cracks, and a weak and dusty surface. Similarly, as Type 1L cement’s particle fineness increases, set times decrease. The greater the limestone content in the blended cement, the greater the impact on set times.²

How does this impact concrete projects in WNY?

It’s no secret that there are countless factors and conditions that can impact the performance and aesthetics of finished concrete. For example, the temperature and humidity at the construction site can fluctuate not only day to day, but hour to hour. These factors have a direct impact on the timing of and the processes used in the finishing of the concrete slab. Saw cutting the control joints can also be affected. All of this is important in terms of the final finish of the surface of the concrete.

No matter the exact percentage of raw limestone in Type 1L, concrete containing this type of cement may react differently than Type 1 and Type 2 cements – which would require adjustments to the placement of concrete and post placement processes (chemical applications, polishing, etc.).

The difference, when relating to the placement of Type 1L concrete, is that the project managers, concrete finishing supervisors, and the concrete crews have a lot of experience with what will happen under a wide range of conditions with OPC. Type 1L cement will likely introduce new challenges to understand and overcome. Knowledge and communication will continue to be key elements to help navigate this transition.

What are the next steps?

The industry is marking major milestones on its journey to a more sustainable future with the market conversion to lower carbon-intensive Type 1L cement. While the performance attributes of Type 1L cement are similar, much work lies ahead in addressing the impact of differences in material behavior, as new mixes are developed. This work has to be done to provide the industry with the confidence to fully embrace new mix designs.

Updating performance standards and test methods to support the reliable assessment of concrete made with new cement mixes needs to be expedited. Additional clarity is required about material behavior nuances and their impact on fresh and hardened concrete properties. More in-depth investigative research studies are necessary to further assess and verify long-term performance.

Studies around workability (especially with varying cement products), flat surface wear, scaling due to freeze-thaw, test behavior with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and additional refinement test methods for alkali silica reactivity would benefit the industry and help create an even better product in the future.²

Moving forward

The MJA Company continues to monitor the concrete industry and prepare for inevitable changes. The shift to Type 1L cement may be the first of many trends over the coming years. There are other low-carbon cement products being manufactured and tested. With the industry’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050, new processes and products will likely be introduced. Some of these changes will have little impact on how we work while others may require significant adjustments.   

As always, if you have any questions about this topic or any other topic that deals with the treatment, repair, and renovation of concrete floors please feel free to call 716-831-7091.

1 Portland Cement Association – https://bit.ly/3R6wfNP
2 CTLGroup – https://bit.ly/3FvLeyk
3 Prosoco, Inc. – https://bit.ly/41IJXvc

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The MJA Company will be exhibiting at the 25th annual Facilities Management Expo in Hamburg, NY on Wednesday – October 20, 2021 from 10am – 4pm. Register online for free admission. Stop by booth 401 to see examples of concrete floor finishes and talk with our concrete specialists. We can answer any questions about your concrete floors, maintenance, repairs, and finishes. We hope to see you there. You can also contact us online for any immediate questions.

About the WNY Facilities Management Expo

The Western New York Facilities Management Expo is a regional showcase featuring products and services for maintenance, renovation, modernization and management of commercial, industrial, institutional, income properties and more.

As the largest exhibition of this type in the WNY region, with vendors and visitors from Western New York, and North Western Pennsylvania, attendees have a wide range of displays, seminars, and demonstrations to attend throughout the event.

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Resinous flooring is not a term you see that often. Most often people will talk about having an epoxy installed on their floor when in actuality, an epoxy may be only a part of the coating or might not be used at all. Epoxies are a specific type of resinous flooring. The general term “resinous flooring” can include not only epoxies but also polyurethanes, acrylics, and vinyl esters, to name a few.

So what exactly is resinous flooring? If you look up the general term “resinous materials” online, it will say that they are “cross-linked polymeric materials”. Unless you have a background in chemistry, that might not mean much! Suffice it to say that when you mix the components of a resinous floor system they chemically react to form a new material. In each case the chemical make-up of the resinous flooring products give them specific characteristics that will fill a variety of flooring needs.

Traditionally resinous floors are used in facilities in the automotive, food/beverage, pharmaceutical and R&D markets.  More recently the use of resinous flooring has expanded into restaurants, stadiums, and educational, recreational, and commercial facilities.

Why use resinous flooring? 

Resinous coatings have a better life cycle than carpet, tile and sheet goods. They are seamless, non-porous, easily cleaned, will not harbor dirt or bacteria, and naturally resist microbial and mold growth. Unlike all other forms of floor covering materials, resinous flooring can be designed to have a wide range of specific physical properties to solve the problems that a commercial or industrial floor will face. In addition, resinous coatings can extend the useful life of concrete. Old, beat up floors can be brought back to life instead of removed and replaced.

The physical properties such as the thickness, the type of material used, and the aggregates added to the resins will enable the surface coating to protect the concrete floor.  What are the types of problems a resinous coating can be designed to mitigate? The diagram below shows a few of the most common problems that an industrial or commercial concrete floor might face.

Protecting Your Concrete Floor

Characteristics of resinous floors

As you can see, properly designed resinous floors can protect your floor from a wide range of problems presented by various commercial and industrial operations.

Other general characteristics of resinous floors that have to be considered when designing a floor are the slip resistance and cleanability. A slip resistant floor does not necessarily have to be rough. A resinous floor’s surface texture can be adjusted to have the profile that best suits the use of the floor. Often even though a floor has a relatively smooth surface, the floor can have a slip resistance high enough to be considered a high traction floor per ANSI B101 standards.

Fortunately no matter how rough or smooth a floor is it can be cleaned by using the proper cleaning materials and methods.  The nature of the resinous floor installed dictates how the floor should be maintained. It is important when a resinous floor is installed that the contractor work with the owner to develop a plan for long term maintenance of the floor.

Moisture Content

Even with all of this versatility there are some limitations in terms of the application of resinous flooring. For most materials the moisture content of the concrete slab to which the resinous floor is applied cannot be more than 4%. There are both moisture tolerant and moisture insensitive materials that can be utilized to help eliminate or mitigate this problem. There could be budgetary or other limitations and if the moisture content is too high a resinous floor should not be applied. It is advisable that if a site is believed to have a high water table or moisture laden soil that a vapor barrier directly below the slab be specified with very detailed installation requirements. This can often reduce the transmission of water up through the slab to tolerable limits.

Which type of resinous floor do you need?

As you have seen, resinous flooring can help to protect concrete floors in a wide range of applications. The one thing that all of the applications have in common is that only the right resinous floor system will provide a safe, hygienic, and profitable working environment.

Have any questions about the type of resinous floor that is right for your flooring needs; call our office at 716-831-7091.

About the author

Jim Guido is the editor and a contributing writer to The Concrete Floor Report.

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