Accelerating Sustainable Concrete Construction

Concrete is the most widely used material in the world other than water. Cement clinker, a main constituent of concrete, accounts for about 5-7% of CO2 emissions. To achieve more sustainable concrete mixtures, concrete needs to be designed to use less clinker though supplementary cementitious materials and admixtures. Opportunities also exist to build more efficiently with improved quality control to reduce overdesign, and innovations in structural design to reduce overdesign and utilize alternative reinforcement. Innovations have also been proposed through carbon capture, improved energy efficiencies and advancement of environmental product declarations, life cycle assessment, and sustainability assessments.

This GRC will address how material science, structural design and construction methods can be synergistically integrated to meet carbon reduction goals using the latest scientifical technological developments. Sessions will discuss binder innovation, mixture proportioning, structural engineering, (de)construction innovation, end-of-life resource management, and automation toward this end. Collaborative discussions around the latest science to track and reduce embodied carbon will be discussed as well as challenges that need to be overcome to implement low carbon infrastructure in practice.

This meeting will focus on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.