Early on a frosty morning a pumper truck arrived on site.
Not far behind was a concrete truck.
The 2 trucks connected.
The guy high up in the control area directed the flow of concrete to the pump truck.
Meanwhile, a specialised concrete crew had arrived.
It was like watching a ballet as they worked quickly together to get the flowing concrete pumped out and leveled before it started to set.
Then they smoothed out the concrete with various blades and levelers.
Once the concrete had set to a specific firmness it was polished with a hovering machine then left to dry.
And that is it. The smooth crawlspace floor is finished. It doesn't need any further finishing with more materials. The concrete is designed with more than 1 purpose - it is part of the foundation of the building and it is the finished floor.
Concrete is a 'green' material in that it is largely a mined resource and only lightly processed. Once set there is minimal off-gassing which decreases as it ages. It is permanent.
If the building is well designed it is likely to be in place for a long time without major changes.
If the original construction is done well there will be minimal maintenance costs over the life of the building.
The concrete floor's durability, long life expectancy and ease of maintenance qualifies it for a high Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is an analysis of something over its entire lifetime.
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