This initiative is a major move for Centrum Pile on its mission to reduce its carbon footprint and balance its business aims with its commitment towards the protection of the environment.

"We as an industry and as a business needed to find a better way to play the old game," said Paul Pendleton, director of Centrum Pile.

The objectives of the two-year LOCOWAG project are:

• Develop, assess, and demonstrate alkali-activated cementitious material (AACM) concrete formulations meeting user needs for foundations (buildings and infrastructure)
• Demonstrate and assess the use of AACMs in piling to de-risk adoption
• Carry out laboratory tests to assess the durability of AACM concrete formulations in sulphate-rich conditions (and other key performance characteristics), and compare with those of PC-based and other AACM-based concretes, as a driver for new industry-wide guidance/standards (such as BS8500, BRE IP 17/05 and BRE SD1)
• Assess business models and barriers to market and address these
• Convene an industry stakeholder group via A3CM UK to support the production of new industry guidance

Pendleton continued: "If the trials are successful, then Centrum will be at the forefront of potentially one of the biggest environmental game-changers that this industry has ever seen and will be able to offer our customers the choice to reduce the embodied CO₂ of their piles within their project."

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