Towards sustainable construction: reshaping a near-cementless infrastructure

Driven by the growth in commercial and residential construction, the UAE is one of the leading cement producers in the Middle East with a current annual production of more than 30 million metric tons. Considering, however, that approximately 0.8 tons of CO2 are emitted in the atmosphere for every ton of cement produced, (which makes cement responsible for up to 7-8% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions), there are now provisions for utilizing low-carbon, near-cementless technologies that offer structural integrity, resilience and significantly reduced embodied carbon footprint, while addressing complications and construction challenges related to quality control and temperature in the arid climate. By leveraging applied technological approach, the Higher Colleges of Technology is pioneering sustainably-optimized, near-cementless solutions that offer cost-based, performance-based, and environmental-based benefits in emerging industries of highly-projected CAGRs, such as 3D-printing concrete construction and precast concrete construction industries, towards meeting structural designations and performance-based specifications, in alignment with the National Innovation Strategy and Sustainability Agenda initiatives.