Potential of Foamed Concrete to Enhance the Thermal Performance of Low-Rise Dwellings

Low density (800 to 1400 kg/m3), high workability (flowing and selfcompacting) and excellent thermal insulating properties (<0.5 W/mK) make foamed concrete attractive for many construction applications. This paper describes a laboratory study carried out at the University of Dundee looking into the development of thermally insulating foamed concrete suitable for trench fill foundations and ground-supported slabs for low-rise dwellings. In order to achieve this, a fine fly ash (7.5% ret 45u.m) was used to directly replace 30% by wt Portland cement and a coarse fly ash (26.0% ret 45um) to replace 50 or 100% by wt fine aggregate. The key thermal, engineering and permeation properties of a series of mixes are reported, which show that, indeed, foamed concrete offers builders many advantages over current construction methods and materials for this application.