Concrete is one of the largest single sources of embodied carbon in commercial construction. The arrival of the first commercially produced carbon-storing floor slab is therefore a significant milestone — moving low-carbon concrete from pilot to procurable product.
These slabs combine reduced-clinker mixes with mineralisation processes that lock CO2 into the matrix of the concrete itself, lowering net embodied carbon over the life of the structure.
Why structural engineers should care
Floor slabs typically dominate the structural carbon budget of an office or logistics scheme. Even modest improvements per cubic metre of concrete compound quickly across a multi-storey frame.
Specifiers should expect more questions from clients about embodied carbon assumptions in cost plans, and from lenders aligning loan books with science-based targets.
How to use this in a project
Bring embodied carbon into the design conversation at RIBA Stage 2, not Stage 4. Material innovations like carbon-storing slabs only deliver their full benefit when structural grids, slab depths and procurement strategy are designed around them from the start.
Source: PBC Today