Experience of using agricultural wastes in concretes for green buildings and structures

Agricultural wastes are a promising source of raw materials for building materials of various kinds, primarily concrete, where such wastes can be used as aggregates, fillers, reinforcing additives, etc. The article deals with the use of agricultural wastes in concrete, discussing and analyzing the potential use of such wastes for replacement of a part of the binder or as an additive thereto. Such replacement can result not only in insignificant deterioration or preservation of concrete characteristics in comparison with usual traditional concrete, but, with rationally selected dosages of concrete components, in improvement of its properties, including mechanical ones, as well as in an increase in the durability of structures. The use in concrete of such agricultural wastes as rice husk ash, biochar, banana and coconut fibers, rice straw and date palm fibers, hemp bark, coconuts, can contribute to their effective utilization, saving expensive binder and, thus, reducing the carbon footprint and enhancing the environmental and economic efficiency of concrete production.