Low-Carbon Concrete

Overview

Concrete is the world’s most widely used building material. Cement is a key ingredient in concrete, and its production accounts for about 8% of global carbon emissions every year.

We've been leading industry efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of structural materials since 2013, and we have the means to help achieve large carbon-footprint reductions for projects of any scale, including:

• In-house tools and expertise to significantly reduce embodied carbon in projects.
• Institutional planning for low-carbon and zero-carbon futures.

how We Can Help

Starting from concept-level studies, we guide designs toward lower concrete volumes and increased efficiency. We use design tools like Beacon to evaluate and track the carbon footprints of our concrete frames. Then we leverage our global presence and in-depth knowledge of local markets to integrate novel low-carbon and carbon-negative materials into structures, advancing the move toward carbon-neutral buildings.

We're serious about carbon reduction in the built environment:

• Our whole-building life-cycle assessment (LCA) experts recognize the links between the building materials we use and how our buildings impact the environment. Our sustainability experts can provide guidance on embodied-carbon reductions aligned with your ESG goals and help you navigate the evolving provisions of certification programs like LEED, BREEAM and the Living Building Challenge.
• We were among the first structural engineering firms to support LECCLA (S287) in New Jersey, one of the first U.S. regulations to incentivize businesses to use low-carbon concrete materials in state projects.
• We're experts in the application of U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) regulations requiring low-carbon concrete for all projects and are integrating them into our current projects.
• We co-initiated the Structural Engineers 2050 Challenge and are a Structural Engineers 2050 Commitment founding signatory and active member of ConcreteZero. In addition, we are a long-time partner and sponsor to the Carbon Leadership Forum.

How We Are Combating Climate Change