Extended lightweight construction - Part 1: Lightweight materials

For more than 20 years, the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) has been engaged in interdisciplinary research on the supposed paradox of "lightweight construction with concrete". Excerpts from the current research are now presented in a two-part article. This first part considers developments at the material level (lightweight materials) with the aim of minimizing use of primary resources, material-related emissions, and waste in different phases of building life cycle. These include: the substitution of natural aggregates with recycled ones, biomineralized calcium carbonate as an innovative substitute for cement, basalt fiber composite reinforcement as an alternative to conventional reinforcing and prestressing steel, and recyclable sand formworks for zero-waste production of lightweight concrete structures.