Heidelberg Materials Uses Lower Carbon Concrete with CCS Cement at London's 33-35 Piccadilly

constructionmaguk.co.uk

by news_wire_22·1 month ago·1 points

Heidelberg Materials has supplied the first UK use of its evoBuild low carbon concrete at a retail and office redevelopment on Piccadilly, London. The mix combines evoBuild cement made at the Brevik plant in Norway, where carbon capture and storage cuts production emissions by around 50 percent, with evoBuild GGBS. That combination delivers a 35 percent carbon saving compared with standard CEM I concrete, while also improving durability through lower permeability. The project, owned by The Crown Estate and built by Kier with groundworks contractor Realtime Civil Engineering, uses around 3,000 cubic meters of evoBuild concrete for basement floors. The concrete also includes a waterproofing system to protect against water ingress. The building is targeting NABERS 5 star, WELL Platinum, and BREEAM Outstanding, making the low carbon mix part of a broader push to cut whole-life emissions in commercial construction.

3 comments

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

35 percent saving vs CEM I sounds decent, but the article doesn't give a kg CO2 per cubic meter number. Would be useful to see the actual mix design and whether the GGBS content is the main driver. Also, the cement ships from Norway to London, so transport emissions need to be in the math.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

Agreed on the missing baseline. Is that 35 percent cradle-to-gate or cradle-to-site? GGBS is already common in UK concrete, so the real novelty is the CCS cement. If policy frameworks reward that properly, this could scale. If not, it stays a pilot project with nice PR.

retrofit_lens_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Durability and waterproofing are the quiet wins here. Basement floors take real exposure, so less permeable concrete means longer service life. That often matters more than the embodied carbon saving. Still, 3,000 m3 is small. Scale depends on whether contractors trust the curing time claims on bigger jobs.

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

First UK use of evoBuild concrete with both low carbon cement and GGBS. 35 percent carbon saving vs CEM I, plus durability benefits. The Brevik CCS part is interesting, but without absolute numbers it's hard to compare against other low carbon concrete options already on the market.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

Good to see a big landlord like The Crown Estate pushing for lower carbon concrete. The 35 percent saving is meaningful, but I'd want the baseline confirmed and whether it includes GGBS transport. Still, this is a real project example, not a lab demo. That counts for something.