--> Skip to main content


Hawaii Hindu Temple Opts for Fly Ash Concrete Mixture and Goes Green

By
Kauai Hindu Temple under construction on Hawaii Island fashioned a foundation in which 60% of the usual portland cement is replaced with fly ash. The all stone Iravian Temple in Kauai, Hawaii, is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the construction which began in 1990 is still in progress. Hinduism Today Magazine reports
‘To create the two 6,500sf pads for the stone temple, the architects used only 80 tons of cement, instead of the 230 tons of cement and 75 tons of steel required with conventional reinforced concrete.’

With cement production now contributing more than 6% of global greenhouse gases and growing fast, alternative construction methods are mandatory. By mixing in some fly ash, we could reduce cement use by half.

Prof Mehta, an expert on concrete and fly ash and who helped in the construction, says, ‘This demonstrates a revolutionary method of concrete construction which, if widely adopted could save millions of dollars a year, create structures to last far longer than they do now and substantially reduce the introduction of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.’

Fly Ash is the finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of ground or powdered coal and is a major by-product of coal-fired electric generating plants.

For every ton of cement manufactured, about 6.5 million BTUs of energy are consumed. For every ton of cement manufactured, about one ton of carbon dioxide is released. Replacing that ton of cement with fly ash would save enough electricity to power the average American home for 24 days, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions equal to two months use of an automobile.

Experts estimate that cement production contributes to about 7 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from human sources. If all the fly ash generated each year were used in producing concrete, the reduction of carbon dioxide released because of decreased cement production would be equivalent to eliminating 25 percent of the world’s vehicles. (via)

Related

All Stone Hindu Temple in Kauai, Hawaii