Green transition in slovenian building and civil engineering industryHorvat, Barbara (Avtor) Mušič, Branka (Avtor) secondary raw materialalkali-activated materialalkali-activated foamsalkalicircular economymicrowave irradiationmechanical strengthThe building and civil engineering industry yearly causes more than 40% of man-made CO2 and consumes raw materials for two-thirds of Mont Everest. To decrease the carbon footprint and consumption of raw materials, alkali-activated materials (AAMs) are researched as an alternative to conventional building and civil engineering products like cements, mortar, and ceramics. Ideally, locally available waste materials are used as ingredients: (i) as precursors that react with alkali and form an aluminosilicate network, and (ii) as fillers that get permanently encapsulated and safely stored in AAMs. The addition of gas bubbles and lightweight fillers transforms AAMs into alkali-activated foams and alkali-activated lightweight materials that have the potential to be used as thermal and acoustic insulation materials. Although AAMs are researched worldwide, this review focuses on the state-of-the-art localised solely to Slovenia, particularly on the materials and curing procedures used, as well as on the scientific contribution of the basic research. Besides, the year 2024 marks 10 years of research on alkali activation of raw and waste inorganic materials in Slovenia.University of Ljubljana Press20242024-03-12 08:41:46Neznano18388UDK: 620.1/.2DOI: 10.55295/PSL.2024.I18COBISS_ID: 188452867OceCobissID: 186758147sl© 2024 by the authors.