The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub makes key impacts in three areas:
Carbon Neutrality
Carbon neutral concrete is possible. Solutions are available today, and new ones are being developed for the future. One of the major goals of MIT CSHub is to help realize a carbon neutral concrete industry.
Infrastructure
Effective, sustainable infrastructure spending can improve system performance and impact climate change. MIT CSHub investigates how low carbon infrastructure may be built with very finite resources.
Resilience
The risk of hazards like natural disasters and extreme heat is underestimated. Stronger construction to mitigate it is undervalued. MIT CSHub studies how cities can be made more resilient to hazards through investment in stronger, cooler construction.
Our mission:
The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) is a dedicated interdisciplinary team of researchers from several departments across MIT working on concrete and infrastructure science, engineering, and economics since 2009. The MIT CSHub brings together leaders from academia, industry, and government to develop breakthroughs using a holistic approach that will achieve durable and sustainable homes, buildings, and infrastructure in ever more demanding environments.
Why study concrete sustainability?
More concrete is produced than any other material on Earth. In the foreseeable future, there is no other material that can replace concrete to meet our societies’ needs for housing, shelter, schools, and infrastructure. It is an inexpensive construction material with a relatively small environmental footprint, but its attractive properties have lead to massive use that contributes approximately 5% of global CO2 production.

News
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Research Brief: Accessible Multi-Scale Flood Modeling via the 3D Lattice Approach
In this research brief by Johannes Kalliauer and Danial Amini, we explore a computationally inexpensive method to model urban flooding on different scales. Click here …
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MIT CSHub Presentations at the American Concrete Institute Concrete Convention 2023
Thank you to everyone who attended our presentations at ACI. We had eight presentations covering diverse topics. We are looking forward to the next Concrete …
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Industry Meets Research at the Fall 2023 CSHub Advisory Meeting!
Thank you to all who attended the November 1st and 2nd Fall Advisory Meeting. We had great discussions and presentations on all things concrete, not …
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“Transforming the Role of the Concrete Delivery Professional” webinar now on YouTube!
Our webinar “As the Drum Turns: Transforming the Role of the Concrete Delivery Professional” is now live on YouTube! During this presentation, Beth Unger, Ph.D. …
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MIT engineers create an energy-storing supercapacitor from ancient materials
Two of humanity’s most ubiquitous historical materials, cement and carbon black (which resembles very fine charcoal), may form the basis for a novel, low-cost energy …
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The Hill: EPA must prioritize life-cycle emissions in building materials policy
In order to prevent global temperatures from rising by two degrees Celsius this century, the United Nations estimates that annual global emissions must drop by 30 percent …