NREL Brings Together Specialists From Across the Country To Discuss Cement and Concrete for Its Third Annual Critical Technologies Meeting
Cement and concrete are essential to United States infrastructure, from our roadways to the buildings we occupy. Accounting for 50% of all materials produced globally, domestic production of this critical material is highly energy intensive, while relying on outdated technology and requiring imports of nearly 30 million metric tons of cement a year.
In a fast-paced industry like cement and concrete, advancements are needed to modernize domestic production, improve durability, and reduce reliance on imports. Sharing the latest advances in this critical technology and encouraging key conversations among stakeholders is necessary to spark further innovation and support meaningful changes to a well-established industry.
In support of this endeavor, NREL, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, recently brought together more than 80 representatives from technology startups, investment firms, academia, industry, corporate institutions, and the national laboratory system in Golden, Colorado, for the third annual NREL Cement and Concrete Critical Technologies meeting on June 9–10.
“NREL has the ability to engage the cement and concrete industry at any technology readiness level, from benchtop discovery to implementation, and we serve an important role to the industry as a trusted third-party to provide an honest assessment of new and emerging materials and rapidly transition them to practice,” said John Kevern, an NREL materials science researcher and cohost for this meeting. “There’s no other forum out there for cement and concrete industries to provide relatively direct comments, thoughts, and ideas back to DOE.”
This two-day meeting highlighted both the challenges and promising new advances for next-generation cement and concrete technologies. This year’s focus was on the shifting landscape in the cement and concrete industry, with panels and presentations on topics like funding acquisition and venture capital, accelerated performance testing and scaling technologies to field deployment, and a Colorado-focused discussion on how the city and county of Denver, Colorado Department of Transportation, and the state architect are utilizing new procurement methods and commercial and infrastructure projects.
“Innovative cement and concrete are critical because they sit at the intersection of infrastructure reliability and economic development,” said Ana Aday, Kevern’s fellow materials science researcher and cohost for this meeting. “As we face growing demands for durable infrastructure due to increased urbanization and aging construction, we need materials that perform better. Advancing new formulations, accelerating testing protocols, and enabling broader adoption of material alternatives is essential for proving out long-term durability of new materials.”
In addition to panels and presentations, this year’s event featured an NREL Technology Open House, which showcased the transformative potential of NREL’s emerging technologies in not only cement and concrete but in other critical building materials like iron and steel. Participants also brainstormed in a breakout session, where this wide spectrum of stakeholders engaged in candid discussions, shared knowledge, and generated actionable ideas.
“I am thrilled to see the participation of so many industry partners to make this a success,” said NREL laboratory program manager Matthew Ringer. “NREL’s ability to gather the right stakeholders shows the trust they have in this team and the shared desire to drive innovation within the cement and concrete sector.”
From Research to Commercial Application
While cement and concrete may seem like interchangeable terms, cement is the powder that binds materials together to create concrete. In baking terms, cement would be one of the dry ingredients used to make the (concrete) cake. And though cement is only a small portion of what makes up the overall concrete mixture, it is an energy-intensive production that requires modernization to meet the need for new construction and maintenance of existing infrastructure.
NREL is leading efforts among the national laboratories to address this through a combination of applied research, demonstration projects, and industry partnerships. These efforts tackle critical needs, such as reducing reliance on imported cement, utilization of novel alternative materials, improving material durability, and accelerating the adoption of next-generation cement and concrete technology solutions.
Some of these key initiatives at NREL include developing LignoCrete, a high-carbon cement extender derived from aviation fuel byproducts, which has demonstrated reduced thermal conductivity and good freeze–thaw durability while reducing the amount of cement in the concrete mixtures.
NREL is also partnering with startups to transform industrial byproducts into advanced supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) through CO₂ mineralization. Additional research explores 3D-printed concrete for marine environments, the reuse of wind turbine blade residuals in cementitious composites for improvements in thermal and acoustic applications, and the development of “cementless” concrete and lignin-based admixtures. These efforts aim to de-risk new technologies and support the broader deployment of next-generation, resilient construction materials.
“The cement and concrete industry, and the architecture and engineering community, are busy and rarely have the time or expertise to thoroughly evaluate new materials. They can become overwhelmed and aren’t able to determine which materials are viable and which are too good to be true,” Kevern said. “At NREL, we like to say this isn’t our first, second, or third rodeo. Sometimes our partners just need someone with experience to help walk them through the application of a new cementitious material or process and provide examples of where others have successfully used something similar.”
Molding the Future
With so many key players in the fast-moving cement and concrete world in one room, the goal of this meeting was to go beyond simple information sharing and allow NREL and DOE to learn
about the pain points or challenges around the research, testing, and implementation needs for next-generation cement and concrete technologies in 2025.
By creating a space where industry stakeholders could come together to identify actionable pathways toward accelerated innovation, Aday and Kevern hoped to collectively surface the most pressing technical and institutional barriers, such as the need for faster performance validation, better field data, and alignment around specifications and standards. Based on the depth of discussion and the strong interest in continued collaboration, this workshop successfully laid the groundwork for coordinated action and measurable progress, while NREL remains an important bridge from science to commercial application.
“It’s clear that the future is being shaped by the work we do together now and that the momentum the cement and concrete industry has gained of the last few years is still going strong,” Aday said.
Whether it’s unleashing domestic cement production, minimizing or eliminating imports, or securing long-term infrastructure resilience and economic growth, communication between professionals making headway in this space is critical to these advances.
Learn more about NREL’s advanced manufacturing work and buildings research.