Top 7 things to know about the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap

What is the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap?

This free-to-download document is published by the ICE and endorsed by the Construction Leadership Council, the Concrete Centre, and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

It provides objective advice on low carbon concrete, the actions that are necessary to get to a net-zero future, and potential scenarios when they are implemented.

Here are the top 7 things you need to know.

1. We need to move to low carbon concrete.

We rely on many forms of concrete each day, from pavers that we walk on to high-performance structural concrete used in our tall buildings and infrastructure. It is an incredible material that has supported the development of our societies and improved the quality of life for billions of people.

However, it is still a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.

2. The Construction Industry Council's Green Construction Board is the driving force behind the roadmap. But who are they?

The Green Construction Board represents both Government and senior representatives from industry. It was formed by industry professionals on a voluntary basis and has been meeting regularly since early 2020 to discuss the issues surrounding the decarbonisation of concrete, including the collective responsibility for leading the change to a low carbon economy and the latest techniques and technologies that can speed up the move to a zero-carbon future. The result of these meetings is the recently launched Low Carbon Concrete (LCC) Routemap.

3. The routemap provides an industry benchmark and a set of recommendations.

Many clients and engineers have been looking for a benchmarking approach that would allow them to drive demand of lower carbon concrete by understanding what good looks like. The carbon rating certificate provides just that. It also provides objective advice on low carbon concrete, the actions that are necessary to get to a net zero future, and potential scenarios when they are implemented.

4. Low carbon success stories already exist

Your fellow industry professionals are already making huge carbon savings on their projects, using low carbon concrete. Some great examples are the Environment Agency's Boston Barrier, Network Rail's optimisation of precast platform slabs, and HS2's HIPER piles.

5. The LCC Routemap addresses the full supply chain of concrete and sets out three decarbonisation routes to 2050

The routemap seeks to address the full supply chain of concrete from design and specification to batching, mixing and the use of different cements. There are therefore many areas which will be of use to different parts of the industry.

6. One of the ultimate objectives is for concrete to become a carbon sink

A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. But what do we have to do to get there?

7. The discussion on decarbonising concrete has only just started

There will be many more discussions and further guidance as we obtain more data, uncover more knowledge, and learn of new discoveries. 

The routemap provides practical guidance to making the first steps in the transition to lower carbon concrete, but there’s much more work to be done and many opportunities for the industry to meet the challenge.

To continue reading about the routemap click here.

ICE is forming a UK Concrete Decarbonisation Taskforce. For more information, email [email protected] with the subject line 'concrete'. We hope you'll join us in finding the quickest way there.