Research project : new CO2-reduced concrete mixes
RCC2 research project: CO2 savings of up to 80 % when building with innovative concrete
The Austrian research study RCC2 (Reduced Carbon Concrete) investigated the potential of innovative concrete mix designs for the decarbonization of concrete.
The consortium worked out how the life cycle assessment of heatable formwork to support CO2-reduced concretes can be evaluated and to what extent this influences the sustainability of innovative concrete mix designs.
Heated formwork allows performance concrete to be used all year round. But they consume electricity. What effect does this have on the overall CO2 balance when using CO2-reduced to CO2-neutral concrete such as Climate Concrete with Clim@Add®?
The research focus of the current study is a functional prototype of an intelligently heatable formwork developed by Doka. The aim is to compensate for the delayed strength development of RCC concretes at low ambient temperatures. The final report of the research project, which has now been published, confirms that heatable formwork can even support the early strength development of concretes at low ambient temperatures, which is technically useful and ecologically effective, especially in the case of performance concrete.
You can find the entire final report here - we hope you enjoy reading it:
The RCC2 research project involved a cross-industry consortium consisting of STRABAG Real Estate, Doka, Romm ZT, Mischek ZT, bauXund, CarStorCon Technologies, MPA Hartl and the concrete manufacturers Asamer, Holcim and Wopfinger. The common goal was to overcome the technical, legal and economic hurdles to establishing CO2-reduced performance concrete and to pave the way for a "climate-friendly" building material on Austria's construction sites.
In the predecessor project RCC (Reduced Carbon Concrete), the consortium investigated the practical use of clinker-reduced concrete mixes on construction sites back in 2021. Compared to standard concrete, these so-called RCC concretes have a significantly reduced carbon footprint, but have one disadvantage: they take longer to harden, especially at low outside temperatures. In practice, this leads to longer construction times and higher costs, as stripping can be delayed, for example, and the formwork material is in use on the construction site for longer.
