Page 17 - Green Builder Magazine Jul-Aug 2021

This Canadian company is literally taking an

inside look at how to get rid of excess CO2.

By 2060, the world is

expected to gain another

230 billion square meters of
500 new, concrete-laden

structures, about the
megatons of CO 2 equivalent of building another

The amount CarbonCure aims to remove New York City every month
from the built environment by 2030 for the next 40 years.

commercial gas supplier, and carefully injects it into new CarbonCure’s carbon utilization technology is now used in
concrete, where it combines with calcium ions from cement more than 300 concrete plants worldwide. Producers have
to become the nano-sized mineral calcium carbonate (CaCO3). supplied nearly 10 million cubic yards of mineralized concrete
The new, mineralized concrete is about 10 percent stronger to various project types, from apartment buildings to bridges.
than the basic material, which enables builders to reduce The nine-year-old Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company’s
the amount of cement used, according to Niven. Overall, mission is to remove 500 megatons of CO2 from the built
concrete made with CarbonCure reduces CO2 emissions by environment annually by 2030—the equivalent of taking 100
an average of 25 pounds per cubic yard. million cars off the road each year. That may seem overly
Use of CaCO3-enhanced concrete can contribute to a ambitious, but Niven feels the goal is entirely achievable with
project’s LEED points, and it establishes a builder’s own- industry-wide cooperation.
ers and developers as leaders who prioritize sustainability, “Our vision is that concrete decarbonization and profit-
he adds. And, with all of the residential and commercial ability are not mutually exclusive,” Niven notes. “Instead,
construction expected over the next few decades—and our strategy is to create retrofit solutions for the concrete
the expectation that the embedded CO2 industry will soon industry with very low barriers to adoption...By working
become a $400 billion industry in the U.S. alone—anyone alongside our industry partners, construction end-users,
who promotes green thinking could be very successful, government and policymakers, and other innovators, we
Niven notes. can effectively decarbonize the industry.” 2021 ECO-LEADERS

Under control. Proprietary software and a construction company’s existing batching system make the CO2-concrete integration as easy as
flipping a switch. COURTESY OF CARBONCURE TECHNOLOGIES

www.greenbuildermedia.com July/August 2021 GREEN BUILDER 15