Sisk in collaboration with a consortium of leading low carbon industry experts has announced that it has been successful in securing £500,000 from Innovate UK funding as part of the Contracts for Innovation: Decarbonising concrete competition, to invest in a pioneering scalable low carbon demonstrator, marking a world first new low carbon concrete technology.

The low carbon demonstrator project features a consortium of leading experts including, Sisk, Ecocem, Ramboll, Loughborough University, Creagh Concrete, Capital Concrete and BRE Group.

The innovation aims to revolutionise low carbon cement commercial viability within the construction sector. Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, creating a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations.

The scalable low carbon demonstrator will 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 breakthrough cement technology which combines a range of technical innovations with the use of widely available low-carbon materials to decarbonise the production of cement by as much as 70%, 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 its long-term client, Quintain for the past 20 years.

Sarah-Jane Pisciotti, Innovation and Design Director, 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. We would like to thank Innovate UK for their guidance and generous support.

She added: “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, Ecocem said: “Since embodied CO2 in construction is 11% of all global emissions, and clinker, the critical ingredient in cement, generates 65% 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.”