Sure. Many things are. The question is not whether concrete is a marvelously useful material; the question is whether other materials might have fewer negative

Sure. Many things are. The question is not whether concrete is a marvelously useful material; the question is whether other materials might have fewer negative externalities without compromising function. Note that you can rewrite that notion to discourage thinking about replacements for lots of things in the modern economy. Oil is a major input into nearly all other investments, so "spending" dino-juice carbon to enable everything else should usually come out a net gain, right?