The co-founder of ecoLocked talks about the best place to store carbon, and it's in your building
We need large, long-term carbon sinks to meet carbon removal targets. EcoLocked is doing just that by working to make high-emitting construction materials carbon-negative.
ecoLocked, a Berlin-based climate tech company, provides functional, carbon-negative building materials to reduce the net carbon footprint of construction projects. The company recently completed its €4M seed funding round, co-led by climate-focused VCs Matterwave Ventures and Climentum Capital, with participation from existing investors Counteract, SFO, Sabanci Building Solutions, and Voyagers.
The company was founded to provide end applications for biochar carbon removal in buildings, converting captured carbon from locally sourced biomass residues into functional, carbon-negative building materials. This locational flexibility allows for scale and more rapid adoption.
Construction has historically been viewed as an unavoidably high emissions industry, with cement production contributing about 8% of global emissions. It’s great to see smart people no longer succumbing to the narrative that nothing can be done to improve this and instead finding solutions. The ecoLocked products supplement construction inputs with captured carbon, reducing the need for raw materials like sand or limestone, further reducing emissions.
The goal to turn the built environment into one of the world’s largest carbon sinks is truly exciting, and we connected with the co-founder to discuss it.
Emissions Decisions is a newsletter reviewing our thesis on environmental solutions. Thank you for reading it.
Existing subscriber? You don’t need to do anything, but please share.
Was this forwarded to you? Become one of our subscribers by clicking below.
Co-founder of ecoLocked, Stefanie Gerhart
We recently connected with Stefanie Gerhart, the co-founder of ecoLocked.
Tell us a bit about the company?
“ecoLocked was founded in 2021 to provide scalable end applications for biochar carbon removal in buildings, with maximum impact and performance for the construction industry. We convert captured carbon from locally sourced biomass residues into functional, carbon-negative building materials.
Our products help the construction industry achieve its climate targets while maintaining high product quality. They permanently store CO2 in the built environment and compensate for hard-to-avoid emissions, such as from the production of cement clinker which comprises around 8% of global emissions. Moreover, they reduce the need for raw materials like sand or limestone and deliver targeted functionalities such as thermal insulation and weight reduction.
Recently, we raised €4M in our second funding round to tackle the construction industry’s carbon footprint and enable a cumulative total CO2 impact of more than 1Gt by 2040. With our carbon-negative building materials, we will turn the built environment into the largest human-made carbon sink.”
How does the technology work and where do you insert yourself into the supply chain?
“Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) is the most mature long-term Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technology and currently the most predominant and cost-effective option available. BCR breaks the carbon cycle by converting waste biomasses into a pure form of carbon called biochar, thus preventing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere due to decay or burning.
Each biochar, derived from different biomass sources, possesses unique chemical and physical characteristics. The core innovation behind our technology is ecoLocked’s platform, which includes a proprietary database and a mix design calculator. This platform enables us to correlate building material performance with the chemical properties and physical formats of various biochars and other technologies. By leveraging the variability in feedstock, we can swiftly develop products tailored to specific building material segments, ensuring consistent performance across diverse locations.
We gather these biochars, process them, and convert them into a carbon-negative building material for the construction industry. Our first product, eLM Zero, is a biochar-based admix material for producing carbon-neutral concrete. This innovative solution is now available across Europe, with a pipeline of additional products under development.”
How have you found adoption?
“We create proof of concepts in various concrete categories through trials and pilot projects. During this process, we optimize the supply chain and unit economics. Our primary customers are concrete producers.
Since these customers often want to gauge their customers' interest before committing to larger volumes, we also engage with real estate developers and architects to generate a "pull" effect and participate in tenders alongside our manufacturing partners.
We have observed a positive reception and increasing interest in our technology and products across the construction industry. Our first product, eLM Zero, has been successfully adopted in several concrete applications, demonstrating its compatibility with existing practices and its benefits in reducing carbon footprints.”
In the construction industry who has the most choice over building materials?
“The decision making process is very fragmented in the construction value chain.
Ultimately, architects and real estate developers can have a very big influence on selecting the building materials and products in the construction industry. Architects (and I’m including civil engineers and other related professions in this category) often specify the general materials to be used based on design requirements, performance criteria, and aesthetic considerations. Real estate developers (and anyone else who commissions the building of a structure, including the public sector), who finance the projects, can define specific preferences and sustainability goals that narrow down the selection of materials.
All of these specs go to the construction company who detail them and then put out tenders. These guys have to operate within the guardrails set by architects and real estate developers, but they often also have additional criteria for selecting the exact materials. Since they are responsible for sticking to a timeline and to a defined budget, well-known materials and low cost materials are often preferred and hence selected.
Finally, we have the building materials producers – in our case, concrete producers, who integrate our admix materials. They generally have a good feeling of market demands and will produce what is requested the most.
So overall, it is fair to argue that architects and real estate developers have the most influence while being aware that other players with different agendas also influence the decision.”
Are cities that have climate targets supporting the use of your materials?
“Cities and municipalities have a huge potential in supporting the use of our material. After all, the public sector is the largest buyer of concrete in most countries. Just think of all the critical infrastructure like streets, bridges, schools, hospitals, and much more. As with any innovative solution, there come risks with being the first mover. Green public procurement is a huge driver in reducing these risks, push an innovation down the experience curve, and help scale up innovation.
We actively reach out to cities with climate targets, and we see strong interest. Many city officials and stakeholders are enthusiastic about incorporating our materials to meet their sustainability goals. The bureaucratic processes involved in municipal projects can often slow down the implementation and can be difficult to handle for SMEs. Also, the cities are often not the final decision makers when it comes to details like which building materials are being used in their projects. Hence, it’s important for them to define clear sustainability guardrails for the executing construction company to follow as well as to create incentives like a CO2 shadow price.”
Is it easier to target a specific type of market segment?
“Yes, especially as a small, resource-restricted startup. We, for example, are targeting non-structural precast producers, such as those making paving stones, concrete tiles, and street furniture. These products cover a significant portion of the market while requiring less stringent certification processes. This approach allows us to bring our products to market swiftly, demonstrating their value and building a strong customer base while we simultaneously work on obtaining the necessary certifications for structural applications. By focusing on these areas first, we can effectively prepare our product for broader market adoption and increase our positive impact on the environment.”
What are some of the other innovations making a big difference today?
“Any solution that gets rid of the remaining hard-to-abate embedded emissions in the concrete making process will make a huge difference. There are several promising innovations happening in this space – from innovative binders to new ways of producing cement. Unfortunately, their deployment in meaningful amounts will likely still take a lot of time. Anyways, we are very excited to see these developments and can’t wait for ecoLocked and these solutions to be stacked within the same concrete elements, so carbon negative materials become the norm.”
What is the next innovation for you and the team?
“The next innovation for us is utilizing the various chemical and mechanical characteristics of biochar, along with other technologies, to develop additional carbon-negative building materials. By harnessing the unique properties of different biochars, we aim to create a range of sustainable construction products that further reduce the carbon footprint of the industry while improving critical functionalities.”
Impact Logic, a technical recruitment leader for impact-driven founders, sponsors our jobs section below. Reach out to them here as you look to fill critical roles.
Jobs (with a focus on reducing construction and housing emissions) that are worth looking at today include
HR and Manufacturing roles at Connect Homes
Product, Engineering, and Operations roles at Zero Homes
Product Development roles at EcoLocked
Logistics, Sales, Finance, and Account Executives roles at Neustark
Starting next week, and for the month of August, the newsletter will be paused since we have the opportunity during that time to advance some large things with our partners. It will restart in September as we have unique profiles, data, and ideas to share. Feel free to still reach out during this time with thoughts as always.
Was this forwarded to you? Become one of our subscribers by clicking below.
Thank you for your time and your thoughts!