A perfect storm is brewing for concrete contractors across the U.S. infrastructure demand continues to rise, regulatory pressure tightens, and tenders are increasingly won through the promise of low-carbon solutions. It's the beginning of a transitional period. A transformative decade even. And it shouldn’t be something to shy away from.
With the current rate of urbanization, we need roughly one Manhattan’s worth of concrete every single month from now until 2050. Yet, concrete — a material which makes up nearly 80 percent of our built environment — is itself responsible for 8 percent of global CO₂ emissions. If production continues with the same materials and technologies, annual CO₂ emissions from the concrete sector could soar to 3.8 billion tons. This is unsustainable. But until now, there had been limited commercially viable options to put us on a path to sustainability.
That is about to change. The latest Net Zero Progress Report from the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) is a wake up call for concrete producers and contractors across the globe.
A Turning Point for the Industry
The U.S. government has been steadily investing in carbon capture infrastructure over the past few years. In 2024, the Energy Department announced $6 billion in federal funding to subsidize 33 industrial projects in 20 states to cut carbon emissions, a clear indication of the speed of travel for CCUS projects.
Meanwhile, the World Green Building Council set a target for all new buildings, infrastructure, and renovations to have at least 40 percent less embodied carbon (the total greenhouse gas emissions from the entire lifecycle of a product) with significant upfront carbon reduction by 2030.
With this in mind, the GCCA report provides a critical update on how the cement and concrete industry is progressing towards net-zero concrete by 2050, with CCUS projects playing a major role in this decarbonization process. The report highlights some of the long-term improvements which are already measurable, such as:
- 25 percent reduction in CO₂ intensity per ton of cementitious material since 1991
- 8 percent improvement in energy efficiency
- 22 percent reduction in fossil fuel use through alternative fuels
However, in order to accelerate transition, the strategy outlined five urgent policy areas:
- Enable use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) — materials used to partially replace cement content in concrete, to improve functional properties and reduce environmental impact
- Fair and predictable carbon pricing — all actors along the value chain are bound by the same carbon constraints, incentivizing cleaner options
- Support for carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) deployment — upscaling plants that both capture, store, and utilize carbon in concrete applications (more on this and SCMs later)
- Waste-to-fuel policies to increase alternative fuel use — utilizing waste products with lower carbon profiles to power cement kilns
- Low-carbon procurement standards — adopting national roadmaps and policy shifts across the board to incentivize sustainable concrete production, including by increasing demand and procurement practices
If these policy pillars are to be gradually introduced, the landscape for concrete contractors will enter a new era. Here’s what that means for the contractors on the ground.
Practical Implications for Contractors
While the industry was initially slow to adopt new materials, as technologies advance and materials undergo (and pass) more rigorous testing, we will see attitudes shift to accept a wider range of concrete and cement adjacent material such as blended cements and SCMs.
We can expect to see new materials come to market, expectations for infrastructure to change, and contractors will need to keep up, or risk losing business.
While optimizing the mix might currently sit low down on contractors’ agendas, soon it will become business-critical. As government tenders move towards low-carbon bidding criteria, we will see wide-scale reverberation across several industries for a diversified mix.
The report forecasts significant emissions savings from optimized mix design and industrialized concrete production, meaning contractors who adapt early will stand out in request for proposals that integrate whole-life carbon criteria.
Furthermore, a steady increase in environmental product degradation (EPD) documentation and carbon ratings for concrete and cement (LCR) will incentivize transparency and effectively create a market for low carbon building materials. Understanding carbon ratings will soon be as important as understanding your material’s PSI.
Understanding the Role of CCUS & SCMs
The GCCA roadmap earmarks CCUS as the largest single contributor to mitigating carbon emissions in the future. CCUS is a critical lever to decarbonize cement and concrete, as switching to renewable energy alone is not sufficient to deliver decarbonization.
This is because 60 percent of cement’s CO₂ emissions come from the clinker production phase, or calcination (a chemical reaction where limestone (CaCO3) is heated to produce lime (CaO)). The remaining 40 percent of emissions are generated by burning fossil fuels to power cement kilns.
SCMs have long been floated as a worthy solution for reducing carbon emissions. The GCCA report identifies them as one of the fastest and most impactful levers for decarbonizing cement through the reduction clinker content. But several issues have continually held back widescale adoption: resource scarcity, unfavorable policy, cost effectiveness, upstart costs, and wider industry acceptance.
If we take resource scarcity, for example, we’ll find that SCMs made typically with ash and slag are becoming scarcer as coal and blast furnace volumes decline, which presents a challenge to innovate alternative SCMs.
One promising way to achieve this is through accelerated mineralization. This is a natural process where CO₂ reacts with certain minerals to form stable carbonates, permanently storing carbon in solid form. These technologies do not directly turn CO₂ in concrete; instead, captured CO₂ is mineralized into a carbon-storing SCM. By mimicking nature, CO₂ gas is combined with magnesium or calcium silicates to form solid carbonate rock. This material is then processed into a fine industrial filler that can replace a portion of the cement in concrete mixes, reducing both the amount of cement required and the emissions associated with it.
A Call To Action
If the world is to go on this necessary climate journey together, it takes participation from every party. That means contractors too.
Early engagement with suppliers will be key in gaining an understanding of which low-carbon binders and SCM options are available in the region. As low-carbon cement, concrete, and SCMs gain traction, contractors who stay ahead of the trend will be rewarded with successful bids.
However, we can’t expect contractors to understand the unique properties of new materials immediately. New SCMs may improve workability, cure times, durability, but they require familiarity. Educating oneself on the nuance in these materials may not seem a priority now, but in a few years time it’ll be a necessity.
Looking Ahead
The message of the GCCA report is ultimately a hopeful one. The data shows that progress is already happening, but stresses that the pace must increase dramatically over the next decade.
For contractors, this moment represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The next generation of concrete will be defined by new binders, SCMs, data requirements, and redefined expectations from customers and regulators alike.
Those who engage with the transition will be best positioned to compete, as low-carbon procurement becomes the norm, rather than the exception.
