A key characteristic of concrete is carbonation, which is the gradual absorption of CO₂ during the life-cycle of the concrete structures in the buildings. During the life of a built structure, up to 25% of the process emissions related to the production of the cement can be absorbed. In collaboration with key partners and start-ups, CEMEX is developing advanced research to accelerate this carbonation process.

Making use of concrete’s unique capacity to manage heat (insulate, reduce, absorb, retain, reflect and conduct), CEMEX has developed a palette of concrete technologies that enable energy savings in buildings and cities.

Through advanced material engineering, CEMEX takes advantage of the porosity of the material to develop solutions that manage water to reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events such as floods or droughts. Furthermore, CEMEX concrete technologies provide construction solutions with the capacity to resist fire, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

CEMEX has enhanced the inherent durability and long-lasting characteristics of concrete to develop products that can easily be placed under extreme weather conditions and will require minimum maintenance throughout the entire life of the construction.

CEMEX has focused strong efforts on developing in-house technology to reduce both inputs of materials and outputs of waste. To exemplify, CEMEX unique fiber-reinforced concrete technology eliminates the need of steel reinforcement in structures, enabling thinner elements which lead to a more efficient use of materials. On the other hand, CEMEX technologies make use of waste streams to generate products and solutions with identical performance as conventional concrete such as reuse of returned concrete, use of recycled aggregates and use of by-products from other industries.