BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On October 1st leaders dedicated to advancing low-carbon cement as tool for reducing the built environment’s massive share of global CO2 emissions (about 40%) gathered to celebrate the first commercial installations of Sublime Systems’s technology, in Boston’s largest net-zero-carbon office building, recently completed by WS Development in Boston’s Seaport. Local, state, and federal officials convened with executives representing union labor and the construction industry at One Boston Wharf, to unveil the first sidewalk made with low-carbon Sublime Cement™, following an earlier integration in the building’s interior concrete lobby.
In a transaction announced in 2021, Amazon has leased the entirety of the office space within One Boston Wharf, creating a total footprint of over 1 million square feet within WS Development’s expansive 33-acre Boston Seaport development. One Boston Wharf is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90% below code requirements and eliminating 5.1 million pounds of CO2 emissions annually.
Founded in 2020, Sublime Systems is commercializing breakthrough, “true zero” manufacturing technology that avoids both the mineral and fossil fuel emission sources characteristic of portland cement. Its electrochemical process runs at near-ambient temperature and uses clean electricity and carbon-free inputs to produce reactive cementitious ingredients that are highly engineered for an optimally performing cement in concrete.
The distinguished speakers at the ribbon cutting collectively addressed the need for low-carbon cement in fighting the climate crisis; how the local, state, and federal government can accelerate this transition as they collectively consume more than 50% of the cement in the U.S.; the climate tech leadership of Boston and Massachusetts; the early movers in the construction industry; the role of union labor in supporting the new clean economy; and the policy ambitions of the Biden-Harris Administration enabling the pursuit of these broad ambitions in tandem.
Highlights of the day’s remarks include:
“In the finest revolutionary traditions of our fair city, we say: a step on our floor made of Sublime Cement™ is a step toward our carbon-free future, and a step heard ‘round the world,” said the event’s host, WS Development SVP of Development Yanni Tsipis, as he kicked off and introduced the lineup of speakers.
“Low-carbon cement is going to help us decarbonize our global economy, and today, as we have so many times, the transformation is beginning right here in Massachusetts,” said Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. “This is an example of Massachusetts’s leadership once again. Many months ago, in my State of the State Address, I held up and pointed to Sublime Systems as something special that we have going on here in Massachusetts.”
“The GSA has a big role to play in this because we are the primary buyers of goods and services for the federal government,” said Robin Carnahan, Administrator of U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the largest civilian real estate landlord in the federal government. “We also have money and momentum at the same time. What’s been the most gratifying in all of this is that the private sector — as we have asked for lower carbon materials — they’ve said, ‘sure we can do that.’ It is an amazing response.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris charged us to use the full power of the federal footprint to catalyze change and tackle climate change,” said U.S. Chief Sustainability Officer Andrew Mayock with the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “They charged us to work in a really important framework — through a government-enabled, private-sector-led approach. Three years ago for the Biden-Harris Administration, that was a plan. Today that’s a reality.”
“I have never heard in my life people clapping for cement, and this is what we’re witnessing today. You might ask why I’ve had such an enthusiastic response in this moment. It’s because Sublime is building in Holyoke, Mass. a manufacturing facility. This is the ideal explanation for federal investment,” said U.S. Congressman Richard Neal, who represents Massachusetts’s 1st congressional district comprising Holyoke. Sublime’s future first commercial manufacturing plant here has been selected for an up-to $87 million investment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, representing Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district comprising Sublime’s Somerville headquarters, emphasized the need to center environmental justice in climate innovation and policy, stating “The Justice40 policies are so essential to our future. I am excited that we get to celebrate today’s win as we continue to combat climate change.”
“The days of choosing materials that could cause environmental harm are thankfully over,” said Jonathan Gulliver, Highway Administrator for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). “Sublime has been an incredible partner in this effort, and I am confident that the work they have been doing, that you can see here today, is going to lead to the widespread use of concrete that we can all be proud of.”
“I often describe Boston as the place in the world where people come from all over with the big ideas that reshape history. But the act of getting from the idea relies not just on the brilliance and grit of the innovators who find ways to get the concept ready for market, but Boston Sand and Gravel; Turner Construction; WS Development; state, city, and federal partners, to make it into something that then becomes taken for granted as part of our daily lives,” said City of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“The mission today is to build our buildings as sustainable and as decarbonized as you possibly can and run at that with tremendous passion,” said Kent Kunkel, Vice President and General Manager of Turner Boston, the general contractor on the One Boston Wharf project. “We can’t do that on our own. I want to thank all of the partners on that journey, we are going to keep pushing on that journey, and I hope everyone joins us.”
“Concrete is one of most versatile construction materials available, and the Boston market is ready to make it one of the most sustainable materials used. We look forward to pouring thousands and thousands of more yards of sustainable concrete like the one you see here before you today,” said Jim Carreira, Boston Sand and Gravel Technical Director, Sublime’s early ready-mix concrete deployment partner.
“My challenge to each of us is to think about what skills and resources you have to offer, then find collaborators and lean as a problem solver to help move a collective effort forward,” said Don Davies, a structural engineering leader, co-founder of Davies-Crooks Associates, and founding member of decarbonization organizations Carbon Leadership Forum and Building Transparency.
“The Department of Energy right now is deploying $1.6 billion specifically to dramatically reduce emissions from cement making, while creating good union jobs, while investing in hard-hit communities. And the Sublime project that we are celebrating today is really emblematic of that opportunity. A project that will virtually eliminate climate pollution from this ancient material,” said Ben Beachy, Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy, Industrial Sector and Community Investment.
“American workers are the backbone of our economy and will be a key part of effectively deploying new clean technologies like Sublime’s. A trained workforce is critical for success, and the Steelworkers is proud to partner in this area and sees a bright future for the expansion of the unionized workforce needed to bring low-carbon cement to market,” said Emil Ramirez, International Vice President and Chair of the cement council at the United Steelworkers union, who Sublime has partnered with for its Holyoke plant.
“We all want to be in this beautiful building, and we all want to be in a future that is just and that is clean and that is sustainable,” said Sublime Systems CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Leah Ellis. “This commercial project here in Seaport has been essential in driving the volume and demand that will bring us to market. Following this deployment earlier this year, we’ve gotten partnerships from Vineyard Wind, from Microsoft, and from two of the largest cement companies in the world, CRH and Holcim, who recently invested $75 million into Sublime Systems to further scale up this technology.”
“The Sublime story as has been told is the perfect example of what the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act was designed to do. DOE Industrial Demonstrations awards are designed to kickstart decarbonization of heavy industry across our country, and now we see the private sector crowding in private capital,” said Deputy Director White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Justina Gallegos.
About Sublime Systems
Sublime Systems is on a mission to have a swift, massive, and enduring impact on global CO2 emissions by decarbonizing cement. Unlike net-zero solutions that rely on carbon capture or removal, Sublime's fully electrified, “true-zero” approach avoids the industry’s legacy fossil-fueled kilns and limestone feedstock. Sublime’s electrochemical process instead extracts reactive calcium and silicates from an abundance of raw materials at ambient temperature, to make ASTM C1157-compliant Sublime Cement™, a 1:1 replacement for ordinary portland cement in concrete. Sublime was founded at MIT by Dr. Leah Ellis and Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang, both respected experts in materials science, electrochemical systems, and sustainability research. The company has raised over $200M in funding from leading climate tech investors, global cement incumbents, and cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, IEDO, and OCED award programs. It currently operates a Somerville, MA-based pilot plant with a >250 TPY nameplate production capacity and is developing its 30,000 TPY first commercial facility to open in Holyoke, MA as early as 2026. Learn more at sublime-systems.com.
About WS Development
Massachusetts-based WS Development is a mixed-use developer with a singular mission: creating places people want to be. With an approach that values art, science, innovation and, above all else, people, WS strives to engage each community it serves with best-in-class experiences, designed with our customers, tenants and partners in mind. Established in 1990, WS is one of few vertically-integrated real estate companies that conceptualizes, owns, operates and leases more than 100 properties that range from cutting-edge urban spaces to lifestyle and community centers. With over 22 million square feet of existing space and an additional nine million square feet under development, it is one of the largest privately-owned development firms in the country. For more information, visit www.wsdevelopment.com, call 617.232.8900 or follow WS Development on LinkedIn.
About Boston Seaport
Culture, industry and community converge making Boston's Seaport district a dynamic and vibrant area that has quickly emerged as one of the most exciting neighborhoods and destinations in the country. Seaport is currently Boston's single largest development project. WS Development is transforming 33 acres of waterfront land with a carefully selected mix of residential, hotel, office, retail, entertainment, civic and cultural uses, and public open space across the district. Combining the best of historic and modern-day Boston, Seaport is the destination for fashion, culture, arts, dining and entertainment, and technology and life sciences, expanding Boston's position as one of the top cities in the world for innovation, science, and quality of life. For more information visit www.bostonseaport.xyz, follow Boston Seaport on Facebook, and @SeaportBos on Instagram and Twitter.
