Cementing Carbon

About this episode

The episode discusses the transformation of the concrete industry towards sustainability through innovative carbon management.

An interview with John Mead. This is a crossover episode with the Spring Street Passive House education and advocacy series. Welcome to a pivotal conversation on the future of our built world. The concrete industry, indispensable for modern infrastructure, is facing an urgent mandate: reconcile its foundational role (pun) with its role as a source of environmental pollution. The scale of the emissions are staggering - if global concrete manufacturing were a country it would be the 3rd largest emitter, behind only China and the US (!). The good news is that with this a motivation the global concrete industry is now rethinking its entire lifecycle.  In this episode, host Kristof sits down with John Mead, one of the founders of Solid Carbon to talk about efforts to  transform concrete from a carbon emitter into a "net carbon sink. By converting waste carbon materials, wood being one, into a mass of solid carbon through pyrolysis and then using this carbon sink in a durable material through concrete we are making a huge impact in an industry that needs to make some powerful shifts in the years ahead. John Mead John Mead is an entrepreneur with 20 years leading companies…

People in this episode

Host: Kristof

Guest: John Mead

Topics covered

• concrete industry
• sustainability
• carbon emissions
• environmental impact
• construction materials

Keywords

• concrete
• carbon sink
• sustainable construction
• pyrolysis
• biochar

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Solid Carbon, Spring Street Passive House, George Fox University, Oregon State University

Places: Oregon, China, US

More episodes of The Building Science Podcast

• Perspectives on Hydronics in the Real World · April 25, 2026 · 1h 15m
• (Un)Healthy Homes · April 8, 2026 · 1h 16m
• Our Second PSA, The Humid Climate Conference in Austin May 4th & 5th! · March 23, 2026 · 17 min
• Our Hidden Roommates · February 12, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Hydronics: The OG HVAC - Part 2 · January 27, 2026 · 1h 22m
• Buildings as Habitat: Biodiversity-Informed Investments in Public Health · January 20, 2026 · 1h 17m