The hydration heat evolution of low clinker cements is studied in a dependence on the testing method and temperature. Four substitution rates of ordinary Portland cement by ground granulated blast furnace slag or siliceous fly ash were used—10, 30, 50 and 70 %. In all cases, the water/binder ratio of the cement paste was 0.5. The heat evolution and the heat evolution rate were monitored over 72 h with the use of two testing methods. The isothermal measurements were carried out with the use of TAM Air isothermal calorimeter at 20 and 50 °C. The heat evolution was also determined with the use of a semi-adiabatic calorimeter. Part I of the paper presents the results of the experimental tests and discussed the influence of mineral additives on the hydration heat evolution.

The study is focused on ultra-light foam concrete (FC) aimed as a thermal insulation material. Two important properties of such material were investigated: compressive strength and thermal conductivity. In the conducted tests, the influence of the air-dry density (200–500 kg/m³), type of foaming agent (synthetic and protein) and binder type (ordinary Portland cement—OPC; calcium sulphoaluminate cement—CSA; metakaolin; siliceous fly ash—SFA; calcareous fly ash—CFA) on the mentioned properties were examined. The results confirmed the dependence of compressive strength and thermal conductivity on the FC density but also indicated the important effect of the nature of the foaming agent and the binder type. The best thermo-mechanical properties were obtained for the foam concrete made of protein-based foaming agent, OPC and metakaolin. Simultaneously, the use of CSA mixed with metakaolin and foam based on the synthetic foaming agent also shows satisfactory properties.