Chasing Automation and Lower Carbon at World of Concrete 2025

With the U.S. construction market still facing a labor crunch and other pressures to find more efficient ways to build, attendees at the World of Concrete show in Las Vegas on Jan. 21-24 were looking for advances in automation and coordination among the tools, equipment and software on display. Nearly 58,000 attendees pored over the latest in robotic solutions, battery-powered tools and refreshed equipment lines.  

Kubota had several pieces of compact equipment on display with improved hydraulic attachment capabilities.
Photo by Jeff Rubenstone for ENR

The Kubota U17-5 compact excavator now features a factory-welded thumb mount, which allows for hydraulic tool attachments to be operated with finer control. The excavator’s cab has also been updated. “With the operator always at the forefront of our minds, we’ve lowered the noise level of these machines,” says Bill Holton, Kubota product manager. The cab also features a repositioned monitor to be more in line with the operator’s view, and LED lights are now standard for work in low-light conditions. 

While it wasn’t ready to accept orders just yet, a demonstration of a prototype rebar-tying robot was a major draw at the show. Sponsored by rebar-tying tool manufacturer Max USA, the little walking rebar robot was developed in Japan, and is able to walk and roll its way over a rebar cage, using a camera to identify bar intersections and tie them autonomously. 

With a flood of lower-carbon concrete products entering the market in recent years, there has been greater pressure to establish which materials really offer sustainability benefits. The American Concrete Institute recently launched a program to examine the veracity of the low-carbon claims of concrete product manufacturers. The trade group’s own third-party subject matter experts will consider the claims and issue a report. The program is part of the institute’d NEU initiative, which focuses on promoting and fostering development of carbon-neutral concrete.  

“We know that greenwashing exists in the marketplace and it has for a long time, and this is just one method to get an independent, third-party review of materials and technologies,” explains Dean A. Frank, executive director of NEU. The program relies on four different ISO standards, primarily ISO 17029, which covers conformity assessment. It will consider the low-carbon claim of submitted products, and for now will only be examining concrete materials. Assessments will be published to the NEU website.

There are many bold claims in the market about the performance of new concrete products, says Frank, but NEU set up this program specifically to address the often complex and sometimes confusing low-carbon claims going around. “Basically the claims have to be related to greenhouse gas reduction,” says Frank. An assessment may look at alternative cements, binders or aggregates, but also new curing processes and even carbon-capture technologies or uses of artificial intelligence software to reduce carbon emissions. NEU currently will not perform laboratory testing of materials themselves, but will consider doing so in the future if there is demand, Frank says.

The layout printing FieldPrinter 2 robot from Dusty Robotics features improved navigation and printing capabilities when marking up floor plates for construction activities.
Photo by Jeff Rubenstone for ENR

Jeff Rubenstone is Deputy Editor for News and Technology at the Engineering News-Record. As news director of ENR he oversees the publication’s news coverage, and also covers emerging technologies and innovations in the construction space. With well over a decade of experience reporting on the industry, Jeff has a broad background in engineering and construction journalism. He is based in New York City.