Fire resistance is excellent, with eight inch thick AAC achieving a four-hour rating (actual performance exceeds that and meets test requirements for up to eight hours).

Units are precisely shaped and conform to tight tolerances. A cement-based material, AAC resists water, rot, mold, mildew, and insects. This gives it design and construction flexibility, and the ability to make easy adjustments in the field. Its light weight/cellular properties make it easy to cut, shave, and shape, accept nails and screws readily, and allow it to be routed to create chases for electrical conduits and smaller-diameter plumbing runs.

Autoclaved aerated concrete combines insulation and structural capability in one material for walls, floors, and roofs.

Key aspects of AAC, whether designing or building with it, are described below: Advantages

In order to be durable, AAC requires some type of applied finish, such as a polymer-modified stucco, natural or manufactured stone, or siding. The lightweight material offers excellent sound and thermal insulation, and like all cement-based materials, is strong and fire resistant. Components can be used for walls, floors, and roofs. Cured blocks or panels of autoclaved aerated concrete are joined with thin bed mortar.

In the factory where it is made, the material is molded and cut into precisely dimensioned units.

In fact, this type of concrete contains 80 percent air. Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is made with fine aggregates, cement, and an expansion agent that causes the fresh mixture to rise like bread dough.

Concrete blocks