Category: features
Lionel Sofia awarded EPFL prize for teaching
During the Magistrale graduation ceremony, Lionel Sofia was awarded the School of Engineering Polysphere. These awards are voted for by the students, and handed out by the AGEPoly association. One of the students made a comment thanking Sofia, “without whom the materials course would have been dull, and the practicals would have seemed to (…)
Engineering a more sustainable skyscraper
Construction is underway on the 85-meter Tilia Tower near Lausanne: the first large-scale building in Switzerland to be built with a low-carbon cement developed in EPFL’s Lab of Construction Materials. Construction consortium Induni-Maulini broke ground on the Tilia Tower this spring, and the project is expected to finish in 2026. The building will span 27 (…)
New documentary about green concrete
Prof. Karen Scrivener featured in a documentary by NZZ Format, broadcast by Swiss media outlet SRF1. The following documentary (30min) is in German, with subtitles that can be automatically translated (see below). Green concrete – will the climate killer become a climate saver? Concrete – a modern building material: houses, towers, bridges, tunnels, dams, nothing (…)
Karen Scrivener receives honorary doctorate from TU/e
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has announced that Karen Scrivener, head of the Laboratory of Construction Materials in the School of Engineering, will receive an honorary doctorate from the Dutch institution for her scientific contributions to the field of building materials. According to a TU/e press release, the institution honors one or more people from (…)
Karen Scrivener appointed to United Nations SDG group
Karen Scrivener has been selected by the United Nations Secretary-General for the Group of Ten High-level Representatives of Civil Society, Private Sector and Scientific Community to Promote Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (10-Member Group). The 10-Member Group forms part of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM), which is designed to harness multi-stakeholder (…)
The future of construction with more sustainable cement
A new material developed at EPFL could change how we make cement forever — and cut 500 million tons of emissions by 2030. Under the stewardship of Karen Scrivener, head of EPFL’s Laboratory of Construction Materials at the School of Engineering, a team of researchers has been wrestling with the environmental implications of concrete, a (…)
The confused world of low-carbon concrete
The ambition towards implementation of ‘low-carbon’ concrete in the industry is evident nowadays. Nevertheless, there is certain ambiguity observed in the approach of manufacturers, specifiers and wider industry regarding the adoption of sustainable concrete. Fragkoulis Kanavaris of Arup and Karen Scrivener of EPFL identify part of the ambiguity that can adversely impact the actual implementation (…)
Concrete – a game changer in climate technology
Tough stuff – that suits her. Karen Scrivener is a renowned expert on the world’s most widely used building materials: concrete and cement. But cement as a binding agent has fallen into disrepute as a “climate killer”. The professor disagrees. The head of the Laboratory for Building Materials at EPFL’s School of Engineering in Lausanne (…)
BBC speak to Karen Scrivener about green concrete
The BBC produced an article “Building’s hard problem – making concrete green”. Among other questions, the author asked “So how can you [produce concrete] without releasing so much CO2?”, and spoke to Prof. Scrivener in search of an answer. Read the full article: Building’s hard problem – making concrete green