Of course, we like concrete. It was the material of the twentieth century, elegantly declined in the works of Carlo Scarpa, Le Corbusier, David Chipperfield and many others. Architects and artists have been able to shape and exploit the technological characteristics of concrete to produce works of art that are now world heritage sites.
We have always known that the ecological footprint of concrete works is vast, so our mission is to protect concrete to make it last as long as possible.
Cement production is the 3rd most important cause of CO2 emissions. 1
Today it is evident that we can no longer design a future based on this material: producing a ton of cement costs about a ton of CO2, calculated by adding that produced by the fuel to heat the kilns with that released by the chemical process of calcification. And the production of reinforced concrete works contributes about 5% to global warming, with estimates growing for the near future.
Many cement producers have already begun to offer "green" alternatives, so to speak. These are cements with a lower environmental impact, however the promised reduction in emissions does not seem to us such a significant turning point.
What is an alternative to classic concrete?
The Ecobeton pencil holder, an example of an object made in Geopolymers.
Geopolymers (link from Wikipedia) are inorganic polymers produced at low temperatures (even at room temperature), with mechanical, fire resistance and environmental sustainability characteristics superior to Portland cement. We can estimate a CO2 saving of over 80%, with a marked increase in performance and durability, the real issue of concrete.
We are already working to develop a new class of geopolymer-based products: the preliminary results are promising, and we expect to release the first products in 2023.
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Future concrete.