Did you know that concrete “inhales” CO₂ from the atmosphere? Our new explainer video breaks down carbon uptake, the natural process by which cement-based products absorb and permanently store CO₂ over time. The amount of CO₂ sequestered depends on factors like product type, surface-area-to-volume ratio, and exposure to the elements. With thoughtful design strategies, this process can be amplified to further reduce net emissions.

Understanding and accounting for carbon uptake is critical when assessing the environmental benefits and impacts of cement-based products. We are grateful to Alessandra Garbini and Esther Song for their leadership in developing this video.

Try our Whole Life Cycle Carbon Uptake Tool.

Read the interim report, “Accounting for Carbon Uptake in the EPDs of Cement-based Products.”

This research brief led by Drs. Pranav Pradeep Kumar and Hessam AzariJafari examines how the quantity of atmospheric carbon dioxide sequestered by crushed concrete is affected by the size distribution of aggregate particles (grading) and their paste content. The brief finds that fine particles of crushed concrete exhibit an approximately 270% higher paste content and 36% higher degree of carbonation than coarser particles. The CSHub model finds 33% higher uptake than existing models applied to the same representative sample, underscoring the importance of incorporating grading variability into end-of-life (EOL) carbon uptake assessments while more accurately capturing paste content variability.

Click here to read the brief.

The April 22nd Resilience Executive Roundtable@MIT brought together leaders across construction, insurance, fire safety, and other industries to discuss the need for stronger construction to protect homes, lives, and communities from intensifying natural hazards.

The MIT CSHub has created a summary report which provides an overview of the roundtable, barriers and opportunities for achieving more resilient construction, as well as action items and next steps.

Click here to read the summary report.

Thank you to our steering committee: the National Association of State Fire Marshals, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, U.S. Resiliency Council, MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab, National Institute of Building Sciences, American Cement Association, Build With Strength, Smart Home America, Building Resilience Coalition, Concrete Advancement Foundation, and MIT Center for Real Estate.

Our research brief led by alumna Dr. Ipek Bensu Manav examines the emissions impact of materials choices and repairs in hazard-prone areas. The Florida case study demonstrates that durable, hazard-resilient materials may contribute to lower life cycle emissions despite higher upfront emissions, thanks to savings in the repair and replacement stages.

Click here to read the brief.

This research brief led by Dr. Haoran Li evaluates the potential benefits and costs of increasing ready mixed concrete (RMC) truck gross vehicle weight limits beyond current federal thresholds, while remaining within the trucks’ capacity. In many cases, current weight limits prevent trucks from operating at capacity. In a modeled case study of a Pennsylvania interstate, the team found that allowing heavier gross loads reduces the number of RMC trucks needed to deliver the same volume of concrete, lowering costs, GHG emissions, and fuel use without affecting pavement deterioration or the fuel use or performance of other vehicles.

Click here to read the brief.

AI is reshaping the future of concrete. In MIT News, a CSHub and Olivetti Group team explains how they’re using chatbots and machine learning to find new materials that can replace a portion of cement in concrete. As industry looks to reduce costs and emissions, demand for traditional cement supplements is outstripping supply. The MIT team’s method scans through hundreds of thousands of pages of scientific literature and over a million rock samples to find alternative, globally available candidates from demolished construction materials to biomass.

Click here to read the story in MIT News.

To secure a more sustainable future, we must take a careful look at the long-term performance and environmental impacts of our pavements. Haoran Li, a postdoc at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is deeply invested in studying how to give stakeholders the information and tools they need to make informed pavement decisions with the future in mind. Here, he discusses life-cycle assessments for pavements as well as research from MIT in addressing pavement sustainability.

Click here to read the story.