Jul 30, 2025 07:26 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1092248
INTRO: Ancient Roman concrete, which was used to build aqueducts, bridges, and buildings across the empire, has endured for over two thousand years. In a study publishing July 25 in the Cell Press journal iScience, researchers investigated whether switching back to Roman concrete could improve the sustainability of modern-day concrete production.
They found that reproducing the ancient recipe would require comparable energy and water and emit similar amounts of CO2. However, the authors suggest that the heightened durability of Roman concrete might make it a more sustainable option because it could reduce the need for replacement and maintenance.
“Studying Roman concrete can teach us how to use materials in a way that can maximize the longevity of our structures, because sustainability goes hand-by-hand with durability,” says author and engineer Daniela Martinez of Universidad del Norte in Colombia.
Making more sustainable concrete remains an important challenge in the race to decarbonize the construction industry. Modern concrete production contributes to air pollution and is responsible for approximately 8% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions and 3% of the total global energy demand. Since previous studies have suggested that Roman concrete might be more sustainable than modern concrete, the researchers decided to put this hypothesis to the test.
“We were interested in how we can draw lessons from their methods to inform some of the climate-mitigation challenges that we currently face in our built environment,” says Martinez... (MORE - details, no ads)
INTRO: Ancient Roman concrete, which was used to build aqueducts, bridges, and buildings across the empire, has endured for over two thousand years. In a study publishing July 25 in the Cell Press journal iScience, researchers investigated whether switching back to Roman concrete could improve the sustainability of modern-day concrete production.
They found that reproducing the ancient recipe would require comparable energy and water and emit similar amounts of CO2. However, the authors suggest that the heightened durability of Roman concrete might make it a more sustainable option because it could reduce the need for replacement and maintenance.
“Studying Roman concrete can teach us how to use materials in a way that can maximize the longevity of our structures, because sustainability goes hand-by-hand with durability,” says author and engineer Daniela Martinez of Universidad del Norte in Colombia.
Making more sustainable concrete remains an important challenge in the race to decarbonize the construction industry. Modern concrete production contributes to air pollution and is responsible for approximately 8% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions and 3% of the total global energy demand. Since previous studies have suggested that Roman concrete might be more sustainable than modern concrete, the researchers decided to put this hypothesis to the test.
“We were interested in how we can draw lessons from their methods to inform some of the climate-mitigation challenges that we currently face in our built environment,” says Martinez... (MORE - details, no ads)