A Canadian company is building a case for a greener, stronger concrete but is fighting resistance in the construction industry.

“The cement and the concrete industry is enormous worldwide. … And they do things a certain way and they have done those things that way for years and years and years,” says Barry Lester, chairman of Whitemud Resources Inc., which mines kaolin, a white-coloured clay, in southern Saskatchewan and turns it into metakaolin, which is used as a supplement to cement.

A green power building spree is on the way, and much of it will be brought to you by the same people who built the nuclear and coal-fired power plants that keep the lights on now.

What might strike casual observers or radical greens as odd can be explained by good business sense; with few other power plants in the works, big U.S. engineering and construction companies have heartily embraced renewable energy projects.

Tampa-based architect, Mickey Jacob, FAIA, unveiled the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Rebuild & Renew plan for both short- and long-term economic recovery to the House Committee on Small Business at a hearing October 7th.
 
“Small business does not want a bailout. We want access to loans to bridge the economic downturn to help fund operational costs. We want relief from the premium costs of health insurance. We want incentives for people to build, buy, and renovate their homes and businesses. We want the availability of grants that assist in the acquisition and implementation of new technologies to keep small business competitive in the world wide marketplace. These are investments in the future of the country,” Jacob testified.
 

To protect from potential terrorist attacks, federal buildings and other critical infrastructures are made with special windows that contain blast-resistant glass. However, the glass is thick and expensive. Currently, University of Missouri researchers are developing and testing a new type of blast-resistant glass that will be thinner, lighter and less vulnerable to small-scale explosions.