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Innovation in Building Materials
NIST is helping industry improve concrete durability while reducing its cost and environmental impact. Concrete has the highest worldwide per-capita consumption of any material after water, with 30 trillion kilograms (30 billion metric tons) used each year.
For almost 90 years, NIST has provided a special standard reference material to calibrate instruments used for testing the fineness, or size, of materials used for the cement in concrete. NIST recently collaborated with industry to create the newest update of this standard reference material — the 18th in the series.
This standard reference material is one of the largest sellers by number of units yearly, helping manufacturers and builders worldwide ensure that their concrete will perform as expected and the finished product will have the desired properties, which amounts to faster construction and safer, more reliable structures.
Learn more about NIST's Portland Cement SRM
Related Video
NIST also has does research into innovations like 3D printing of concrete. Learn more on this program page and check out the video below.