Low carbon PLC cement

[ericm]

The concrete contractor who is going to pour my shop floor says the local plant has switched to low carbon cement, sometimes called 1L or PLC. Here is a FAQ I found from a company that sells products to make it easier to work with: https://curecrete.com/lowcarbonfaq/

The contractor says that it is not workable for as long as regular portland cement. Has anyone had experience with it?

 

[C-S-H]

That is just regular concrete that we have been using for a long time. We never ever use straight portland cement concrete mixes. The limestone in Type 1L serves as nucleation points for the formation of the cement gel, and increases strength about 10%. Fly ash and slag usage (replacement for portland cement) results in at least 15% strength gain over straight portland, and very importantly results in an order of magnitude drop in concrete permeability. There are other benefits as well. Reducing carbon dioxide production is just incidental. There are no batching, concreting, or curing issues. Admixtures have to be correctly designed for the mix regardless of the constituents.