C-Crete Technologies has become the first company to pour granite-based concrete at a construction site. The new concrete is completely devoid of Portland cement and CO2 emissions, marking a groundbreaking achievement for creating sustainable building materials.
The new concrete was poured as part of construction at JPMorgan Chase’s new global headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, Manhattan. It is part of a years-long effort to find new ways to create concrete that doesn’t release dangerous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
“We are thrilled to introduce our new granite-based concrete at such a prestigious and iconic location,” Rouzbeh Savary, founder and president of C-Crete Technologies, said in a press release. Savary says the company spent several months with its partners researching and testing the new concrete to ensure it would meet the safety standards needed to support a structure like the new JPMorgan Chase headquarters. The new slab is located in the upper lobby of the building.
Considering normal Portland concrete is responsible for the creation of around eight percent of global CO2 emissions, finding ways to make concrete that doesn’t add to the ongoing climate change issues is a huge point of contention for many companies like C-Crete. We’ve also seen some other groundbreaking changes in concrete manufacturing, including hollow concrete that’s much stronger than traditional slabs.
One significant change that C-Crete is making possible is a departure from the typical carbon-heavy limestone-based concretes that have been popular for nearly 200 years now. Further, the company says it isn’t just building its new granite-based concrete to make the environment safer. It’s also going for as stronger, more resilient concrete that will stand strong for years to come as part of schools, hospitals, and more.
Whether or not this concrete actually takes off remains to be seen. But it does seem that plenty of companies are interested in trying it to see just how effective and useful it can be.