Low-carbon concreting: a harmonised approach between material selection and design

With increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, the concrete industry is already adopting cements with lower clinker factors, eg, CEM VI. However, practical limits around high Portland cement substitution (ie, slow strength development) and uncertainties around the availability of substituents, eg, fly ash and GGBS, warrant coupling of approaches if the industry is to meet its net-zero targets. Sam Adu-Amankwah of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds argues the case for low-carbon lightweight concreting, in which the benefits of clinker substitution are combined with lightweight structural elements.