Living Ports

70% of Coastal & Marine Infrastructure (CMI hereon) is made of standard gray concrete, yet concrete is known as a poor substrate for marine flora and fauna to thrive. Cement – the key ingredient on concrete – is the source of 8% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.  Due to a lack of available concrete alternatives, CMI is designed and built with little or no ecological consideration.

ECOLOGICAL CONCRETE SOLUTION. ECOncrete® has created and validated a win-win solution for both thriving ecosystems and high performing concrete structures. Their science-based innovative technology is designed to encourage development of rich and diverse marine life as an integral part of CMI such as seawalls, breakwaters, and urban waterfronts. The proprietary technology is based on three core elements: bio-enhancing concrete compositions, complex surface textures, and science-based designs, which work in synergy to decrease the ecological footprint of concrete CMI while enhancing their strength and durability in a process called Bioprotection. ECOncrete®'s bioprotection is achieved through the growth of species like oysters that deposit calcitic skeletons onto the concrete. By these means, concrete is 10 times stronger (tensile strength) compared to concrete with no oyster growth.

ECOncrete®’s solutions have shown to:

✓ Significantly increase the biodiversity, double species richness and count, as well as percent live cover
of its eco-engineered products compared to standard CMI.11 12 13

✓ Rise compressive strength by 10% and reduce its sensitivity to corrosion due to its innovative admix.

✓ Recruit 8 times more inorganic biomass than Portland cement, strengthening the concrete and providing it with protection from chloride penetration, corrosion and erosion thanks to species growth. Importantly, ECOncrete®'s ecological construction elements can be built/precasted/constructed using the same process used in the construction industry and provides on-site environmental mitigation overcoming the need for mitigation measures such as artificial reefs.

In regards to the business objective, ECOncrete® and its Consortium Partners aim to engage with “Puertos del Estado” to gain inclusion into the ROM code (https://www.puertos.es/es-es/ROM)  and initiate development of a new EN “blue” code by engaging with relevant stakeholders.

Reason for applying to HSbooster.eu services

HSBooster Standarisation service can provide ECOncrete Tech with enough knowledge and support to achieve the following goals:

- Inclusion of ECOncrete technology within the ISO, EN, UNE and ROM codes.

- Propose new standarisation items to the corresponding Technical Committees such as bioenhancing concrete products and solutions.

- CE marking