The Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was established in 2009 through the sponsorship of the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and the RMC Research & Education Foundation. Each organization committed $1 million a year over a five year period with the goal of accelerating breakthroughs in concrete science and engineering and transferring that science into practice.

The cement and concrete industries established the Hub to quantify and enhance the sustainable nature of concrete. The CSH was established at MIT because it is the leading engineering school in the United States and its reputation in the areas of research and economics is second to none. Researchers from MIT’s School of Engineering, School of Architecture and Planning, and the Sloan School of Management all participate in the Hub’s research activities.

The research is organized around three focus areas: concrete materials science, building technology and the econometrics of sustainable development. The first two projects, “Green Concrete Science,” and “The Edge of Concrete: A Life-Cycle Investigation of Concrete and Concrete Structures” are underway. For more information, click here or contact Mark Justman at mjustman@cement.org.