Every industry is working to decrease their carbon emissions and become more “sustainable.” That includes the construction industry, and in particular concrete. Its long history of innovation has yielded significant results, some of which are discussed in this article in the New York Times.

Of particular interest are the efforts to make a greener mix, including numerous methods of injecting carbon dioxide into concrete, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere. With cement being responsible for most of the emissions, the article also references different efforts to use various substitutes. Other innovations include the development of synthetic limestone made from exhaust from power plants and recycled post-consumer glass to replace some of the cement.

Some of the companies highlighted in the article are:
Central Concrete
CarbonCure Technologies
Blue Planet
Solidia Technologies
BioMaso
LafargeHolcim

That concrete is the most widely used construction material on the planet was confirmed via data provided by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, which also stated that 370 million cubic yards of concrete was produced last year in the US, with nearly 40% going into commercial real estate.

The variety of methods being used to make concrete a greener building material is the way to go, according to Jeremy Gregory, executive director at the Concrete Sustainability Hub, at MIT. “I don’t see a single game-changer technology. It’s going to be a combination of things.”

The article includes how the different efforts to produce low-emissions concrete are equally concerned with keeping the cost down.
Low-emissions concrete at a similar cost to conventional recipes is a value proposition that will continue to attract attention and new customers. #BUILDWITHSTRENGTH means building for the future, and that means being innovative and sustainable.

Read the full article in the New York Times Jane Margolies here.