RMI-infrastructure concrete technology refers to initiatives by RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) focused on advancing sustainable and high-performance concrete for infrastructure, including guides, market-ready solutions, and research on reducing the environmental impact of concrete. Key areas include using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), improving circularity through concrete recycling, implementing "smart concrete" with sensors, and using low-carbon cement and innovative kiln technologies. The goal is to help stakeholders in the concrete value chain lower carbon emissions and costs while maintaining performance.
Key initiatives and technologies.....
  • RMI Concrete Solutions Guide: 
    A guide from RMI that outlines market-ready solutions to reduce the climate impact of concrete without compromising its performance.
    • Key opportunities highlighted:
      • Performance-Oriented Specifications: Using performance-based standards instead of prescriptive ones.
      • Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs): Incorporating materials like fly ash or slag to replace a portion of cement.
      • Smart Concrete: Using embedded sensors to monitor structural integrity, temperature, and moisture in real-time, which improves efficiency and durability.
      • Circularity: Embracing concrete recycling to reduce waste and the need for new materials.
      • Carbon Sequestration: Using CO2 to cure concrete.
      • Green Heat: Decarbonizing the energy used to produce cement.
  • Startup and Capital Support: 
    RMI supports innovative concrete technologies by providing startup support and helping to unlock capital for projects that demonstrate new approaches, notes RMI.
  • Research and Development: 
    RMI conducts research on key drivers for decarbonization, such as the use of LC3 (Limestone Calcined Clay Cement) and other low-carbon cements, along with innovative supply chain and custody models.
Impact on infrastructure
  • Sustainability: 
    RMI's work aims to make concrete infrastructure more environmentally friendly by reducing its carbon footprint throughout its lifecycle.
  • Durability and Resilience: 
    Technologies like "smart concrete" with embedded sensors and self-healing concrete can lead to longer-lasting and more resilient infrastructure, notes Bgi Bhopal.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: 
    By optimizing material use and reducing waste and maintenance, these technologies can also lead to cost savings for producers and developers.

    Accelerating Innovation & Unlocking Capital

    RMI is helping innovative technologies and materials go to market and scale faster by providing start up support, in partnership with Third Derivative, and unlocking capital for first-of-a-kind projects through research on how to enable companies to through project development and engineering challenges. RMI is also conducting research on key accelerators of decarbonization such as performance-based standards, advancing the use of a low-carbon cement called LC3, innovative chain of custody models, and more.               https://rmi.org/unlocking-global-cement-and-concrete-decarbonization/#:~:text=RMI%20is%20helping%20innovative%20technologies,of%20custody%20models%2C%20and%20more.