Evidence and Demonstration for the Adoption of New Low Carbon Cement Technologies in the Irish Market
The Irish construction sector urgently needs to address the intertwined, and unfortunately conflicting, challenges of increasing the delivery of housing, while also reducing the environmental impact of a carbon-intensive construction industry.
Cairn Homes has committed to reducing their Scope 3 emissions intensity by 61% from a 2019 baseline, by 2030. To achieve that goal, solutions for embodied carbon in cement are needed through development, scaling, testing and certification of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs), such as Ecocem’s ACT. ACT is a next generation low-carbon cement technology which can deliver a globally scalable 70% reduction in the cement industry’s carbon footprint and Ecocem is preparing to deploy it in Ireland. The project intends to build on the strong R&D already undertaken by Ecocem across Europe, and will involve:
· Construction of a full-scale “Irish Demonstrator” using ACT to validate the buildability of various mixes in different scenarios; and
· Undertaking extensive laboratory testing to assess the material and strength characteristics of concrete made using Ecocem ACT for certification/compliance, building on existing durability testing under way in UCD.
For the first time, the project evidence and a buildability demonstrator will enable standards authorities to update relevant codes to adopt alternative SCMs and binders in Ireland.
Lead RPO: UCD
Lead PI: Ciaran McNally, Dan McCrum, Mehran Khan
Industry Partners: Ecocem, Cairn Homes, Kilsaran
Collaborators: Egis, Kwick RC Frames
Collaborators
Principal Investigator
Dr. Ciaran McNally
Associate Professor at University College Dublin
Dr Ciaran McNally is a civil engineer and obtained his PhD in 2001 for his work on alkali aggregate reaction in Irish concretes. Subsequent to that he joined the Centre for Materials and Manufacturing in UCD, where he worked as a research engineer, covering materials research, product development, process certification and technology transfer to industry. He is currently a lecturer in the School of Civil Engineering and in 2015 obtained a Professional Diploma in Teaching and Learning. To date Dr McNally has won over 2 million Euro in research funding. He has coordinated both European and national projects, including the 3.2 million Euro Marie Curie Initial Training Network TEAM (grant no 238648). His research covers a wide array of materials, including concrete, asphalt and FRP. In recent years he has extended this to include digital design and optimisation. To date, he has published over 100 peer reviewed papers.
Dr Daniel McCrum,
Associate Professor at University College Dublin
Dr Daniel McCrum is currently an Associate Professor in Structural Engineering and Director of the Modern Methods of Construction Research Group (MMCRG) (mmcrg.ucd.ie), University College Dublin. Daniel is a Co-PI in Construct Innovate. Within Construct Innovate, Daniel leads the pillar theme challenge on Productivity, Affordability & Cost, which relates directly to modern methods of construction.
Dr. Mehran Khan
Assistant Professor at University College Dublin
Dr. Mehran Khan is currently an Assistant Professor at University College Dublin, Ireland. His research focuses on sustainable construction materials, including 3D-printed concrete, low-carbon concrete, fiber reinforced concrete and its mechanical performance, fracture characteristics, durability, fire resistance, cracking behavior, and compressive modeling of hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete. He serves as Principal Investigator (PI) on multiple academic and industry projects related to sustainable construction. He holds various editorial roles, including Associate Editor, Guest Editor, and Editorial Board Member of several SCI journals. Additionally, he has participated in international conferences as a Speaker and Technical Committee Member.
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