Principal Investigator Franz-Josef Ulm
Co-investigators John Ochsendorf , Jeffrey Grossman , Randolph Kirchain , C Schlosser , Hessam Azarijafari
Project Website http://web.mit.edu/cshub/
Established in 2009, the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) is a research group dedicated to improving the sustainability of concrete production and use. The MIT CSHub brings together leaders from academia, industry, and government to develop breakthroughs using a holistic approach that will achieve durable and sustainable homes, buildings, and infrastructure in ever more demanding environments. The group’s research focuses on three platforms: concrete engineering applications in buildings and pavements; economics and the environment; and modeling techniques, starting at the atomic level, to predict structures and properties that will improve how cement is designed, reduce CO2 emissions, and enable US leadership in future cement technologies.
Research at the CSHub is focused on three main platforms of concrete:
Materials Science: The CSHub uses a range of modeling techniques, starting at the atomic level, to predict structures and properties that will improve how cement is designed, reduce CO2 emissions, and enable US leadership in future cement technologies.
Buildings & Pavements: The CSHub explores innovative solutions for concrete engineering applications in buildings and pavements. For buildings, research focuses on durability, energy efficiency, and resiliency. For pavements, research focuses on improving structure and design that can result in increased fuel efficiency and lower maintenance costs.
Economics & Environment: The CSHub adopts a long-term approach to decision-making, considering the entire lifetime of a building or pavement. Through improved life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis techniques, the CSHub can help stakeholders wisely use limited funding for infrastructure projects while considering environmental impacts.
Why concrete? More concrete is produced than any other material on Earth. In the foreseeable future, there is no other material that can replace concrete to meet our societies’ needs for housing, shelter, schools, and infrastructure. Concrete is an essential part of LIFE.