Heidelberg Materials’ evoZero carbon-captured, near-zero cement is being used for the first time in the United Kingdom to produce a lower-carbon concrete roof tile. Marley has launched Edgemere 2.0, an interlocking concrete roof tile that combines a low Global Warming Potential with a Green Guide A+ rating and BES 6001 Excellent certification, thereby reinforcing the product’s sustainability credentials. The launch marks a step forward for lower-carbon building products in the UK roofing sector.
The lower-carbon tiles are manufactured using Heidelberg Materials’ evoZero carbon-captured near-zero cement. The cement derives its environmental benefits from carbon capture and storage at the company’s Brevik cement plant in Norway, with these benefits supported by a chain-of-custody approach. At Brevik, carbon dioxide emissions from cement production are captured at source and permanently stored beneath the seabed. The resulting carbon savings are recorded in Heidelberg Materials’ Carbon Bank.
The Brevik facility is designed to capture around 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, approximately 50 percent of the plant’s total emissions. To avoid emissions from transporting cement from Norway to the United Kingdom, the carbon reductions are transferred to locally produced Heidelberg Materials cement through an Environmental Attribute Certificate. This approach allows the embodied carbon savings to be allocated to each Edgemere 2.0 order, providing full traceability and supporting lower-carbon manufacturing closer to the point of use.
Edgemere 2.0 has a Global Warming Potential of 1.86 kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent per square meter from cradle to gate. The product offers architects and contractors a direct specification route to reduce embodied carbon without changing installation methods or performance requirements. The tile retains the durability and weather resistance expected of concrete roofing while lowering the carbon impact of new build and retrofit projects across residential and commercial developments.
‘The launch of this new roof tile from Marley demonstrates the versatility of evoZero cement and reflects growing demand for lower-carbon construction materials,’ commented Andy Murphy, Group Commercial Director at Heidelberg Materials UK. ‘It allows architects, engineers and sustainability and design consultants to specify a product that reduces a project’s carbon impact without having to rewrite or redraw the specifications.’ The certification and ratings provide additional assurance for projects targeting sustainability benchmarks.
Stuart Nicholson, Managing Director of Marley, said: ‘Edgemere 2.0 marks a significant step forward for Marley and the roofing industry. By introducing the UK’s first concrete roof tile to use carbon capture technology, we are supporting the industry’s transition to lower-carbon construction.’ The company said the product responds to increasing client and regulatory pressure to cut embodied carbon in building materials while maintaining cost and program certainty on site.
Scaling Carbon Capture in UK Cement
Heidelberg Materials is also building a carbon capture facility at its Padeswood cement works in North Wales. The project builds on the success of Brevik and is designed to capture almost all, around 95 percent, of the carbon emissions from the existing cement works, around 800,000 tonnes a year. It is expected to be operational and producing evoZero cement in 2029. The investment signals growing infrastructure for domestic supply of carbon-captured cement and supports wider adoption of lower-carbon concrete products in UK construction.
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