Low-carbon construction materials encompass a broad class of building products engineered to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption, and environmental impact across their life cycle. Approaches include alternative binders such as geopolymers and low-clinker cements, incorporation of recycled aggregates and industrial by-products, and development of bio-based and engineered living materials that can self-heal or sequester carbon. These materials are applied in concrete, masonry, pavements, insulation, and structural components, often integrating circular economy principles and digital design or AI tools for performance optimization.
Energy & Green Tech
The dyes used in the clothing industry almost always come from fossil-fuel-based chemicals. In the long term, this will not be sustainable. In Sweden, scientists in the EU research project Locality are exploring whether algae ...
Jun 8, 2026
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Engineering
For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, have found out how to determine how much carbon dioxide (CO2) from either natural or anthropogenic sources can be absorbed by special concrete ...
Jun 4, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
Huge amounts of clothing are simply discarded, and almost nothing goes to reuse or recycling. But with sensors and artificial intelligence, textile waste can be sorted so carefully that far more could be recycled—and turned ...
Jun 4, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
A pioneering technology capable of converting lignin, one of the world's most abundant organic compounds, into vanillin and biodegradable materials has been unveiled by the University of Alicante (UA), in collaboration with ...
Jun 3, 2026
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Engineering
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new, entirely bio-based material from a somewhat unexpected ingredient: yeast. The material is 3D printed and customized for use in architectural ...
Jun 3, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
In the COCOBIN project, coordinated by the University of Oulu, coating materials are being developed from suberin, a natural compound found, for example, in birch bark. In plants, suberin acts as a protective layer and prevents ...
Jun 1, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
Walk into any supermarket and you are surrounded by carbon. Not the kind measured in parts per million in climate reports, but carbon in its most tangible form: the polymer shell of a shampoo bottle, the insulation behind ...
May 21, 2026
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Engineering
The construction sector still has some way to go in terms of reducing the consumption of resources and greenhouse gas emissions. One of these relates to the construction waste produced during the demolition of buildings. ...
May 21, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
Once only achievable in the far-fetched imaginations of science fiction writers, 3D printing has gone mainstream. Relatively inexpensive machines allow individuals to design and print everything from board games and desk ...
May 20, 2026
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Engineering
A common fungus can break down hard-to-recycle construction waste and turn it into sustainable insulation that rivals traditional and petrochemical-based options, according to researchers at the University of Bath. The research ...
May 19, 2026
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