Sisk to pioneer ‘world first’ low carbon concrete technology

Sisk has announced it has successfully secured £500,000 from Innovate UK funding to pioneer ‘world first’ low carbon concrete technology.

In collaboration with a consortium of low carbon industry experts, Sisk announced the funding as part of the Contracts for Innovation.

The low carbon demonstrator project features a consortium of leading experts including:

• Sisk

• Ecocem

• Rambol

• Loughborough University

• Creagh Concrete

• Capital Concrete

• BRE Group

The innovation aims to revolutionise low carbon cement commercial viability within the construction sector. 

The scalable low carbon demonstrator aims to pioneer the use of Ecocem – ACT low carbon concrete technology in a demonstrator which will be the first structure of its kind.

ACT, is a new cement technology which combines a range of technical innovations with the use of widely available low-carbon materials.

The new technology decarbonises the production of cement by as much as 70 per cent, while enhancing the strength and durability of the concrete it is used to manufacture. 

The project will conduct technical and testing verification, as well as environmental assessment and validation of the concrete product, both in a laboratory and at a concrete production and live construction site.

The low carbon demonstrator will be based at NE02/NE03, Wembley Park, where Sisk has been working on the redevelopment of Wembley Park for the past 20 years.

Sarah-Jane Pisciotti, innovation and design director at Sisk, said: “Carving a route to Net Zero through innovation is key to our sustainability strategy at Sisk and we are delighted to get this ambitious demonstrator to decarbonise cement off the ground. 

“This is an R&D project that a collaborative team at Sisk working alongside our consortium partners have been working on behind the scenes for several months. 

“The consortium’s approach builds on the technical expertise of each party to build long-term resilience and sustainability in our industry, working towards a sustainable future for the communities in which we operate. 

“The consortium invites the Concrete Commitment Cohort (CCC) and the wider industry to support this innovation as we know that making change at scale requires collaboration and commitment from everyone.”

John Reddy, director of concrete technology deployment at Ecocem, said: “Since embodied CO2 in construction is 11 per cent of all global emissions, and clinker, the critical ingredient in cement, generates 65 per cent of these, finding ways to reduce emissions from cement and concrete is critical.  

“We have assembled a great delivery team of experts under the leadership of Sisk and our consortium will demonstrate that rapid decarbonisation of the cement and concrete industry is possible now, using ACT Technology which brings new thinking to existing proven materials and processes. 

“This funding from Innovate UK is a very welcome investment in delivering a low carbon future for construction and a great example of how governments can take the lead in scaling innovation and enabling decarbonisation.”

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