As part of Heathrow’s holistic sustainability strategy – Heathrow 2.0 – the airport is committed to reducing on the ground emissions as well as those in the air
In the first week of August, UK’s Heathrow airport began a landmark new trial to explore the viability of lower carbon concrete, which cuts emissions by 50 per cent compared to a conventional concrete.
The initiative followed Heathrow’s sponsorship of a PhD candidate at the University of Surrey who undertook three years of lab work to reach this point.
The trial is designed to test the concrete’s durability and longevity in a true to life airport setting and is one of the first of its kind at any airport in the world.
As part of Heathrow’s holistic sustainability strategy – Heathrow 2.0 – the airport is committed to reducing on the ground emissions as well as those in the air. With at least 6 per cent of global carbon emissions each year linked to concrete production, Ecocem and Cemex’s innovative concrete solution has the potential to radically reduce the carbon output of infrastructure projects at the airport.
The aim is for the trial’s findings to be used to set out a blueprint that other airports, keen to reduce carbon from all facets of their operation, can follow. This trial is the first of a number being planned that will test and trial other low carbon concrete materials on the market. It is intended that the outcomes of these trials can be used to reduce embedded carbon in a number of projects being delivered by Ferrovial Construction and Dyer & Butler at Heathrow.
The project, led by Jacobs and implemented by Cemex and Ecocem is using four different applications in a pouring site located close to the control tower. These replicate use in a range of typical airport infrastructure applications, including airfield pavements, encompassing runways and taxiways as well as reinforced pit cover slabs and other ancillary concrete types.
