Cornish Concrete Products

Thermal mass is the ability of a material to absorb heat. A lot of heat energy is required to change the temperature of a high-density material like concrete. High thermal mass materials act as thermal sponges, absorbing heat during the summer to cool the building, and store heat from the sun or heaters to release it at night.

The thermal capacity of concrete structures can be utilised to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Compared to air conditioning, Active Fabric Energy Storage (FES) reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50%. About 90% of the environmental impact from buildings is from heating cooling and lighting, and only about 10% is from the embodied energy used to produce the fabric of the building itself (taken over a 60 year life-cycle).

By adopting an environmentally responsible attitude towards the specification, design, and construction of our building, infrastructure and civil engineering projects, we can choose materials for all the right reasons and our choice can have beneficial effects all the way through the life-cycle of a building or structure.