MIT CSHub professor encapsulates concrete carbon uptake principles

The process by which cement-based products sequester carbon dioxide is key to understanding the life cycle impacts of the world’s most widely subscribed building material. In a three-point question & answer sequence, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Concrete Sustainability Hub Deputy Director Hessam AzariJafari describes how CO2 uptake is a key lever in the concrete industry realizing carbon neutrality: What is…

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Study: Policy actions key to carbon-neutral pavements by 2050

A new study by MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) researchers shows that the annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of all construction materials used in the U.S. pavement network are 11.9-13.3 megatons, equivalent to the output of a gasoline-fueled passenger vehicle logging 30 billion miles. As roads are built, repaved, and expanded, new approaches and thoughtful material choices are necessary to…

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Concrete Sustainability Hub looks to economy, environment in decade two

Sources: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; RMC Research & Education Foundation, Portland Cement Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff

The Ready Mixed Concrete Research & Education Foundation and Portland Cement Association have marked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub’s 10th anniversary with a five-year, $10 million commitment and eye to solutions for economic, environmental, and social challenges.

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MIT CSHub researchers target ASR gel’s destructive underpinnings

Sources: Concrete Sustainability Hub, Cambridge, Mass.; CP staff

In their current Research Brief, “Simulating the Formation of ASR Gels,” staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) shed new light on conditions, mechanics and protracted timelines surrounding alkali-silica reactivity in concrete. 

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Life-cycle perspective backs report on critical issues in building practices

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A new report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), Critical Issues When Comparing Whole Building and Building Product Environmental Performance, addresses key concepts in quantifying the environmental impact of buildings and products comprising them. It also makes recommendations for current and future building practices using life cycle assessment (LCA), and offers suggestions for research to advance future study and practice.

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CSHub at MIT develops hazard mitigation metric

CSHub at MIT develops hazard mitigation metric

The Concrete Sustainability Hub at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed Break Even Mitigation Percent (BEMP), a new tool to estimate the cost of weather hazards on a building. In a new research brief, “A break-even hazard mitigation metric,” CSHub staff finds that a $10 million non-engineered wood building is expected to face more than half a million dollars in hazard related damages over 50 years, while a $10 million engineered concrete building is expected to face only $165,000 over the same period.

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MIT researchers develop hazard mitigation metric for construction specs

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; Concrete Sustainability Hub at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; CP staff

The MIT-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub has developed Break Even Mitigation Percent (BEMP), a new tool to estimate the cost of weather hazards on a building. In its July research brief, “A break-even hazard mitigation metric,” CSHub staff finds that a $10 million non-engineered wood building is expected to face more than half a million dollars in hazard related damages over 50 years, while a $10 million engineered concrete building is expected to face only $165,000 over the same period.

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