CarbonCure Technologies, the Halifax cleantech company dedicated to low-carbon concrete products, has signed a licensing agreement with Northfield Block, a division of publicly listed Oldcastle Inc., the largest producer of concrete masonry and precast products in North America.

Taken together with recent agreements with Central Concrete Supply Inc. of California and Midland, Ont.-based concrete manufacturer Atlas Block, the Northfield agreement shows that CarbonCure is attracting clients that should soon generate top-line growth.

The ultimate parent of Northfield is Dublin, Ireland-based CRH plc, one of the world’s leading building products and materials companies. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, CRH is the parent of Oldcastle, which has 35,000 employees. Its Oldcastle Architectural Products Group (which includes Northfield) is the leading North American manufacturer of concrete masonry, precast, lawn, garden and paving products and a regional leader in clay brick.

“This agreement with Northfield means that we will be completing a demo at their plant in Morris, IL., in the next few weeks,” said CarbonCure Vice-President Marketing Jennifer Wagner. “Once we run the demo, Northfield will be given the chance to decide whether to proceed with the full installation. If Northfield agrees to the full installation, then we can anticipate a revenue stream through royalties.”

Last month, Central Concrete announced it had partnered with Basalite Concrete Products and CarbonCure to produce many first-of-its-kind sustainable design and construction products in the Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Winery at the University of California at Davis.

In January, Atlas signed a licensing agreement with CarbonCure to make its products available in Ontario. The two companies had been testing the technology for several months.

CarbonCure’s process cures concrete blocks by injecting waste carbon into them, thereby seriously reducing the CO2 emissions in the manufacture of concrete products.  Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world, and is responsible for about 5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.

CarbonCure recently received a "positive" rating from Lux Research, which will help it in its bid to raise $1 million to $3 million by the autumn.The company previously secured an investment from 350 Capital of Toronto, though CarbonCure has declined to say how much 350 Capital invested.

The company successfully raised its first round of funding in February 2012, landing a $1.1 million investment from Innovacorp, and $400,000 from private investors, mainly from Atlantic Canada.