On 1 October 2026, Innovate UK and Carbon Limiting Technologies hosted a special session at UK Construction Week demonstrating that the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for next-generation low-carbon concrete is already accelerating innovation and delivering tangible value for the organisations that have signed up.

As part of the Construction Reset, we heard directly from signatories about how the AMC is helping construction change for the better – developing a common language, encouraging collaboration in project teams and earlier conversations with suppliers with the same mission to decarbonise concrete. The panel discussion with Natalie Bird (BAM), Charlotte Downes (WSP) and Panagiotis Stratos (AtkinsRéalis) demonstrated that signatories are working together and with the supply chain to build confidence in innovative solutions aligned to the AMC and driving movement towards specifying and procuring such low carbon solutions.

A practical framework for action

Many organisations acknowledge that they want to reduce the embodied carbon of construction projects, but often struggle to identify which emerging technologies are credible, how they should be assessed, and how to introduce them into projects without increasing risk.

The AMC addresses these challenges by providing a common framework, shared definitions and independent expert assessment. WSP highlighted this as an important benefit. While the organisation already had significant expertise in carbon reduction and low-carbon materials, the AMC provided a focal point that brought together activities taking place across different sectors and business units.

Rather than every organisation having to evaluate dozens of competing low-carbon concrete innovations independently, signatories can draw upon an agreed industry framework and the expertise of the AMC’s Independent Expert Group. This significantly reduces the burden on project teams and helps organisations make informed decisions with greater confidence.

Accelerating organisational change

For BAM, the AMC has become an important component of a broader decarbonisation strategy. Participation has helped drive the development of new internal processes, guidance and tools that enable low-carbon concrete considerations to be incorporated much earlier in the project lifecycle. Carbon reduction opportunities are now being explored from the point of client engagement and tender development through to design team selection and procurement activities.

This illustrates a key benefit of the AMC: it helps organisations move from aspiration to implementation. By creating an external commitment and a structured pathway for delivery, it provides a catalyst for internal change and encourages organisations to embed decarbonisation into everyday business processes rather than treating it as a standalone innovation activity.

Community of leaders with shared challenges

The panellists agreed that the commitment has given teams a shared language, a common set of objectives and a recognised industry platform through which to engage with clients and partners. The result has been increased collaboration with contractors, clients and supply chain partners who are facing similar challenges. Because organisations are working with the same framework and definitions, conversations are more productive and solutions can be developed collectively.

For prospective signatories, this provides a particularly compelling advantage. Joining the AMC does not simply add an organisation to a list of supporters; it provides access to a growing community of industry leaders actively working together to overcome common implementation challenges.

Reducing risk and building confidence

One of the most frequently cited barriers to adopting innovative construction materials is risk. Project teams often lack the time, resources or specialist knowledge needed to evaluate innovative concretes and justify their use.

AtkinsRealis described how the AMC is helping address this challenge by creating a common benchmark for technical, commercial and carbon performance. Instead of relying on marketing claims or undertaking extensive individual assessments, project teams can evaluate innovations against agreed industry criteria. The AMC provides access to independent technical expertise that can help validate solutions and give organisations greater confidence in conversations with clients and suppliers.

This increased confidence is already changing procurement discussions. AMC signatories report that they are moving away from requesting generic “lower carbon” alternatives and towards specifying clearly defined performance requirements. This creates greater certainty for suppliers while enabling more consistent decision-making across projects.

Building stronger relationships with innovators

The AMC is also creating direct opportunities for engagement with innovators and technology developers.

BAM described how it has begun engaging with innovators identified through the AMC network, organising introductory sessions between them and project champions. Low-carbon concrete innovations are now being considered as part of longer-term supplier relationships rather than one-off project trials.

For innovators, this means access to potential customers and future demand. For signatories, it provides early visibility of emerging technologies and the opportunity to influence future product development. The result is a more connected and collaborative innovation ecosystem.

Sending a signal to the market

The main ambition of the AMC is to create a powerful market signal that helps unlock investment, manufacturing scale-up and commercialisation activity. Presentations from concrete producers demonstrated that this is already beginning to happen. Both Bill Yost (Reclinker) and Josh Bennett (Tarmac) highlighted how credible future demand provides confidence to invest in production capacity, product development, certification activities and market deployment. Bill explained that the AMC is helping bridge the gap between Reclinker’s current industrial validation and their growth. Josh listed six different ways the AMC is helping suppliers including transition from project demonstrations to commercially scaled deployment and, critically, identified how the AMC is facilitating the deployment of calcined clay in live projects with signatories. The collective demand signal is starting to support the investment decisions required to scale-up supply of these new products.

The power of collective demand and action

Ultimately, the AMC is all about creating sufficient market confidence and demand to enable those innovations to scale. The encouraging signs emerging from this latest event is that this is beginning to take hold: innovators are finding it easier to bring products to market while signatories are finding that by acting collectively, they can reduce risk, increase confidence and accelerate progress towards their own decarbonisation goals while helping transform the wider construction sector.