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Imagine the shortlist for a glitzy, televised awards bash, organised by royalty and headlined by Billie Eilish, and your first thought is unlikely to have much to do with the rather more workaday world of building materials. 

But this evening, in Boston, Massachsetts, a Durham-based concrete start-up will be one of just 14 international finalists in the running for the second annual Earthshot Prize, an award established by the then Prince William, now the Prince of Wales, with the Royal Foundation in 2020.

Low Carbon Materials (LCM) is one of three finalists in the 鈥渇ix our climate鈥� category, the inaugural winner of which was Enapter鈥檚 AEM electrolysers, a product which turns renewable electricity into green hydrogen. 

The company was set up and incorporated in 2019 by three scientists, Natasha Boulding, Phil Buckley and Scott Bush, who were each driven by 鈥渁 passion to create positive and quick impact鈥�. The trio, who did their material science PhDs together at Durham University, wanted to take a solution-led approach to their project and landed on the construction industry with no prior experience whatsoever. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a traditional industry, but it鈥檚 a really exciting industry to be in right now because we鈥檙e seeing so many different innovations and changes,鈥� says Boulding, chief executive of LCM. 鈥淲e thought it was really a nice fit to develop products for, because it鈥檚 massive and any tiny change we make in the construction industry has massive impact.鈥� 

They alighted upon two global problems. The first: waste. Much of the material waste that humans cannot recycle or reuse ends up getting burnt for energy and the process is the second dirtiest way of generating energy after coal.

鈥淲e realised that challenge number one is let鈥檚 not burn so much [鈥�] If we can give waste another life, then that鈥檚, that鈥檚 good all around,鈥� says Boulding.  

We鈥檙e seeing a shift in companies willing to try new materials

Dr Natasha Boulding

The second challenge was addressing the energy-intensive and ecologically damaging job of creating lightweight aggregate for the concrete industry. The construction industry currently makes up 8% of the world鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions, according to Chatham House, with concrete making up a significant portion of its carbon output.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an area that doesn鈥檛 get too much attention [鈥�] cement gets a lot of attention for the right reasons, because it has a significant carbon footprint, but our focus was, 鈥榣et鈥檚 take this lightweight aggregate and see if we can create something that could partially replace some of it because it does have quite high carbon footprint鈥�,鈥� she says. 

The result was OSTO, a carbon negative, lightweight aggregate made from waste products and by-products. Boulding would not go into detail about the magic formula but says that among its ingredients is a globally abundant waste plastic that cannot be recycled.

The product remains in the trial phase, but they already have 鈥渁 few different pilot projects in mind鈥� and are hoping to see it on building sites next year. She admits that, when it comes to market, the product will probably be more expensive than traditional lightweight aggregates but hopes that the price would drop as production scales up. In the next few years, Boulding says she would like to see the product enter widespread use and be used in an 鈥渋conic or innovative building鈥�. 

Boulding says that becoming an Earthshot finalist was 鈥渁bsolutely incredible鈥� and hopes it will raise awareness of the innovations possible in the industry. 鈥淏eing a company in what is sometimes deemed as a less sexy sector, it is quite nice to raise awareness,鈥� she says.

鈥淭he construction sector is extremely risk adverse and I think that is well placed sometimes, because you鈥檙e building buildings that people are living in 鈥� or people are working in 鈥� or you鈥檙e building bridges that cars need to safely go over,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat being said, we鈥檙e seeing a shift in companies willing to try new materials.鈥� 

>>See also: What are we going to do about concrete?

LCM recently moved to new premises in Seaham, increasing its workspace five-fold, and is looking to expand its 15-strong team. While OSTO is LCM鈥檚 first product, the firm has ambitions to become 鈥渢he innovation partner of the construction industry鈥�, working on product-based solutions that are more environmentally friendly than traditional building materials.

There are a number of products in the pipeline, Boulding says. Most are too early-stage to discuss but she says they are all 鈥減roduct-based鈥� solutions in the concrete sector 鈥� 鈥渋f you can touch it or feel it, that鈥檚 where we are at鈥�. 

The Earthshot Prize will be awarded at a ceremony tonight at the MGM Music Hall in Boston and will air on the BBC this Sunday, December 4. The five category winners will be selected by the Earthshot Prize council, which includes Cate Blanchett, Jack Ma, Sir David Attenborough, and Rania Al Abdullah, Queen of Jordan.