Award-Winning Carbon-Neutral Concrete

Still in its prototyping phases, the carbon-neutral concrete by British company Seratech—founded by Ph.D. students Sam Draper and Barney Shanks—is making a splash in the outside world. The innovation recently won the prestigious, Obel Award, an international prize for architecture awarded annually by The Henrik Frode Obel Foundation.

In order to make its carbon-neutral concrete, Seratech infuses the cement content with "a type of silica created using carbon dioxide captured directly from factory flues." The research team has deduced that a maximum of 40 percent of cement content can be replaced by silica in order to maintain the functional purpose of the building material. Even so, the innovation is carbon neutral and, therefore, of interest to architectural, design, and manufacturing firms who are aiming to be more sustainable.

Image Credit: Helene Sandberg