Green

MIT Launches Concrete Sustainability hub

MIT is working with university researchers to create a cement formula that is environmentally friendly. The project is part of the concrete sustainability hub and is a project in collaboration with the Portland Cement Association and the Ready Mix Concrete Association. Researchers for the project will include MIT’s own School of Engineering, School of Architecture and Planning and the Sloan School of Management.

Concrete is one of the most eco-friendly material used in building construction, but the problem is manufacturing concrete involves large emissions of carbon dioxide. These quantities of carbon dioxide are so large that concrete production contributes to 5% of the total quantity of the gas emitted yearly.

MIT estimates that the project will cost approximately $10 million. The research center’s main aim is to improve concrete sciences and engineering, and use this knowledge to assist manufactures of the product. At the end of the project the company hopes to create a concrete that is stronger and sustainable.

The project will be broken down into three main areas, which include concrete material sciences, building technology, and the ecometrics of sustainable development. The two projects currently underway are “Green Concrete Sciences” and “The Edge of Concrete”.

MIT’s announcement comes at a time when EPA has decided to enforce laws that curtail greenhouse gas emissions from such manufactures. The laws, if enacted, would affect 118 cement companies in the US.