Each year, 68.1 million metric tons of concrete are used to construct homes and buildings, build and repair infrastructure, and more1. WACKER’s SILRES® admixture platform uses a special concrete additive to help concrete last much longer by keeping excess water out and preventing internal damage.
Longer lasting concrete means fewer cracks, repairs, and replacements, which can help significantly lower carbon emissions over a building, structure or road’s lifetime. By improving durability, the technology makes it easier to use lower carbon cement and recycled materials, which can help achieve GHG reductions in cement and concrete while preserving strength and resilience.
The technology addresses durability challenges that drive material overuse, premature repair, and increased carbon impact. Concrete deterioration from alkali–silica reaction, moisture, and freeze–thaw cycles weaken infrastructure over time, leading to repeated structural repairs that can drive up material use, maintenance needs, and total embodied carbon. At the same time, efforts to lower concrete’s carbon footprint by reducing clinker content, the main binding ingredient in cement, can raise concerns about long‑term durability and performance.
The SILRES® admixture creates a built‑in protective barrier inside concrete. It binds to reactive materials that can cause cracking and helps keep out harmful moisture. At the same time, it lets trapped vapor escape, so the concrete stays strong, durable, and less likely to break down over time.
By addressing deterioration at the molecular level, the solution improves performance without altering standard concrete production practices.
By extending service life and reducing the need for repair or replacement, the SILRES® platform directly lowers embodied carbon across the lifecycle of the concrete structure. The SILRES® platform demonstrates how modern material innovation can strengthen infrastructure, enhance resource efficiency, and support climate action at scale.