Made-in-Calgary clean technology on display in Alberta’s construction sector; poised to scale and create jobs

New Economy Canada’s “Getting things built” cross-Canada tour comes to Calgary’s Carbon Upcycling’s facility

/EIN News/ -- Calgary, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Local elected officials, construction industry and business leaders and tradespeople met today to discuss how clean tech is being unleashed in the construction sector to optimize operations, create jobs and grow Calgary and Alberta’s economy. The event was New Economy Canada’s first Albertan stop on their “Getting Things Built” cross-Canada tour — showcasing companies that are investing, building and hiring locally. The event was hosted in partnership with the Calgary Construction Association and Carbon Upcycling.

The group convened at Platform Calgary for a vibrant discussion on the future of clean tech, then toured Carbon Upcycling’s demonstration facility in Calgary. During the tour, participants saw first-hand how the Alberta-based company is revolutionizing the building sector with tech that captures carbon and combines it with waste byproducts from the steel, mining and energy sectors to create high-performance, low-carbon cement for building foundations and roads. The cement industry supports over 160,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada and demand is expected to soar in the coming decades, creating the ideal conditions for this made-in-Calgary technology, and the job opportunities that come with it, to scale.

Merran Smith, President of New Economy Canada said: 
“When we think about the places and people who know how to get things built, Albertans are right at the top of the list. Alberta has a long history of getting energy and infrastructure projects off the ground, using clean tech to decarbonize, optimize and make operations more competitive, and of diverse sectors coming together to collaborate, innovate to make supply chains stronger. We’re thrilled to showcase Carbon Upcycling, a Calgary-based innovator that is revolutionizing the cement and concrete sector by creating a low-carbon, high-quality products and creating jobs while they’re at it.”

Juliane Kniebel-Huebner, Chief Operating Officer of Carbon Upcycling said: 
“Prioritizing local sourcing of materials could have profound short and long-term impacts for Canada, and that’s part of what Carbon Upcycling is doing: offering Canadian cement producers a local, secure and high-quality supply chain, that also happens to be low carbon. We’re excited to be getting things built in Canada by working with builders, manufacturers and governments, powered by Canadian resources, Canadian innovation, and Canadian workers.”

Honorable Rajan Sawhney, Alberta Minister of Advanced Education and MLA for Calgary North-West said
“Alberta’s economy is growing, we have record housing starts…but the limiting factor is a qualified, talented workforce. We’re investing in having more seats at our polytechnics to make sure that we have more tradespeople. When it comes to clean tech and evolving technology, we know that we are going to need electricians, welders, plumbers, sheet metal workers and more. We are trying to skate to where the puck is going to be in terms to anticipating what that economy is going to look like, particularly as it pertains to the construction industry.” 

Greg McLean, Member of Parliament for Calgary-Centre said: 
“Congratulations to Carbon Upcycling for great success – 47 employees now. And also, congratulations to the government of Alberta for having the foresight to build the facility at the Shepard Power Plant, to actually find a way to capture some of the carbon and develop technologies from there. I’m so pleased that we’re having some successes that are actually leading towards what will be the decarbonization of much of our economy…These solutions are the ones that are going to move forward, the ones that are going to actually add value to our economy, they’re going to add value to the environment, they’re going to add value to Canada.”

Bill Black, President and CEO of Calgary Construction Association said:
“The construction industry needs all the edge it can get. We have growing needs for high-performance buildings and at the same time we’re in an alternative supply chain world. It’s forcing us to look at new ways of doing things to optimize our operations. It’s difficult for builders to try something new on their own, and we look to partner with pioneers like Carbon Upcycling to make progress together.”

About New Economy Canada 
New Economy Canada is a non-partisan initiative uniting business, labour, and Indigenous leaders committed to driving Canada's economic transition. Our members represent diverse industrial sectors who are acting now to unlock the power of resilient, affordable clean energy and technology to grow investment and jobs. A full list of our members can be found at neweconomycanada.ca.  
  
Our quickly growing membership employs or represents over 410,000 workers and generates annual revenues of over $200 billion CAD. 

Attachments

• Panelists at New Economy Canada's #GettingThingsBuilt tour stop in Calgary on Feb 19 2025 (c) Merran Smith/New Economy Canada
• Tour of Carbon Upcycling Facility on Feb 19 2025 (c) Alexa Young/New Economy Canada

Rebecca Spring
                    New Economy Canada
                    647.338.6274
                    rebecca.spring@neweconomycanada.ca