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Material Spotlights: Existing and Emerging Strategies to Decarbonize Construction Materials

This resource provides project teams with an overview of emerging processes and materials that offer viable alternatives to conventional construction products, with a focus on solutions that are commercially available but currently under-adopted. 15 spotlights provide real-world examples of implementation.

About

Meeting global climate targets will require both rapid deployment of existing low-carbon solutions and investment in emerging materials and technologies. Proven embodied-carbon reduction strategies—such as material-efficient structural design, reuse, and the use of alternative cements and supplementary cementitious materials—offer the greatest near-term decarbonization potential. However, emerging materials and technologies are expected to play an increasingly critical role between 2040 and 2050 (Ashtiani et al., 2025; Srinivas et al., 2023).

Supporting emerging solutions as they scale toward commercialization is essential to closing the emissions gap that current best practices alone cannot address. A wide range of innovations are now entering the market, from novel cements and insulation products to manufacturing approaches such as electrification and carbon capture. Commercial readiness varies by material, region, and market, but early adopters have demonstrated pathways for overcoming deployment barriers and enabling broader uptake.

This resource provides an overview of emerging materials and processes that offer viable alternatives to conventional concrete, steel, insulation, asphalt, glass, and aluminum construction products, with a focus on solutions that are commercially available but currently under-adopted. Sixteen spotlights provide real-world success stories and lessons learned.

Each section provides an overview of:

  1. Major drivers of emissions intensity
  2. Key decarbonization strategies, based on academic literature and industry reports
  3. Challenges and keys to success, based on interviews with manufacturers, contractors, engineers, architects, and sustainability consultants
  4. Spotlights highlighting success stories from real projects or facilities. 

The resource is intended for designers, specifiers, policymakers, owners, and contractors seeking lower-carbon material options but lacking the time or capacity to navigate the rapidly expanding landscape of products and data. By highlighting real-world project and facility case studies, we aim to increase awareness, build confidence, and support growing demand for lower-carbon materials.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Jampart Charitable Trust. A special thank you to these individuals for conversations and feedback that informed this report. Their industry insight and expertise was invaluable:

  • Alejandra Nieto (Rockwool)
  • Alexis Feitel (Cambium Carbon)
  • Amlan Mukherjee (WAP Sustainability)
  • Anthony Dente (Verdant Structural)
  • Ashley Kreuder (Electra)
  • Bryce Tanner (Arup)
  • Charlotte Ochao (Chicago DOT)
  • Chris Magwood (RMI)
  • Cindy McLaughlin (CarbonBuilt)
  • Dan Casioppo (Electra)
  • Dirk Kestner (Walter P Moore)
  • Don Davies (Davies Crooks Associates)
  • Frances Yang (Arup)
  • James Kitchin (Mass Group)
  • Jason Todd (Timber HP)
  • Jim Little (National Ready Mixed Concrete Company)
  • Lauren Wingo (Arup)
  • Mattie Mead (Hempitecture)
  • Nandita Gettu (Chicago DOT)
  • Philippe Amsislavski (University of Alaska Anchorage and Seven Spruce)
  • Rick Church (CM Services)
  • Scott Johnston (Timber HP)
  • Scott Norris (Steelcon)

This project received additional support from other CLF staff. Brook Waldman and Jordan Palmeri assisted with calculation methodology and review. Michelle Lambert supported initial project planning and provided assistance throughout the project.

Copyright

Published under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Material Spotlights: Existing and emerging strategies to decarbonize construction materials
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Authors

  • Rachelle Habchi
  • Sindhu Raju
  • Meghan Lewis

Citation

Habchi, R., Raju, S., Lewis, M. (2026). Material Spotlights: Existing and emerging strategies to decarbonize construction materials. Carbon Leadership Forum.

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