Low embodied carbon concrete is being embraced by the big computing end of town that has the funding to push research to its limits.
With the widespread adoption of cloud computing and the massive volume of data storage and computing power required for artificial intelligence, the number of data centres constructed worldwide is expected to increase sixfold in the next three years.
The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) and engineering and construction firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) are now collaborating with Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon in a project to test, develop and deploy ‘green concrete’ in the construction of their multiple data centres being built each year.
Current research results from WJE show that the lowest carbon mixture achieved greater than 50% reduction in carbon impact compared to typical concrete. The outcomes of the project will be reported in a whitepaper.
Amazon’s director of sustainability, Chris Walker, revealed the company built 36 data centres in 2023 with lower carbon concrete and 16 in 2022, and plans to continue working across its supply chain to drive its adoption.
Last year Microsoft tested lower carbon concrete mixes in its construction projects in Washington state. Its aim is to be carbon negative by 2030 so it has invested in CarbonCure, as has Amazon. Amazon has also used a sustainable concrete mix from Holcim and the ASTM C1157 hydraulic cement from Ozinga which demonstrated a 64% reduction in embodied carbon compared to the industry average.
Image: OCP
About the author
Desi Corbet
Desi is the Editor of Concrete in Australia and at the helm of our magazine for 8 years. She was behind the Institute's weekly news bulletins from 2016-2021 and is now writing our focused news items. Desi has been an engineering news and features journalist/editor across all disciplines since 2013 - part of a 30-year career writing for a wide range of industries.