Engineered flowstones · Piloting in New York City
We build flowstone installations that capture CO₂ from ambient air on buildings and other urban infrastructure, and turn it into solid carbonate.
Our innovation
In caves, flowstones form over thousands of years as mineral layers build up on rock. Stalactites and stalagmites are the best-known examples.
Our engineered flowstones take that idea onto existing buildings and other urban surfaces. They draw on ambient air, capture CO₂, and store it as solid carbonate that can be harvested and put to use.
Because they mount on surfaces cities already have, flowstones can be spread across many buildings instead of concentrated at one site. The bigger idea: cities that act as carbon sinks and as sources of sustainable materials.
The installation works with the air already moving around a building.
Flowstones mount on walls and surfaces that are already there.
Captured CO₂ is stored as a solid material with a range of end uses.
Example end uses for harvested carbonate
Our pilots
Our first public installation ran continuously for about a month at the Climate Imaginarium. Harvested carbonate was cast into a cement cylinder and 3D-printed into small pieces that visitors took home.
Our second public pilot adds monitoring so we can follow the installation over time. We opened it to the public at an event on October 22, 2026.
K-12 educator workshop · October 2026
Nine educators joined us at SolarOne. Their average confidence teaching carbon capture rose from 2.8 to 4.2 out of 5.
Our next installation, at Columbia's Mudd Building. Alongside it we are starting a life cycle assessment and customer discovery with building, HVAC, education and materials stakeholders.
Visit us
Our pilots run in public spaces, so you can see carbonate growing for yourself.
Stuyvesant Cove Park, East River waterfront, Manhattan
To arrange a visit, email communitycarbonates@gmail.com
Plan a group or class visitColumbia University, Morningside Heights
Dates to be announced
Follow for the launch dateClimate Imaginarium, Governors Island
Summer 2026 · about one month
See the resultsWho is this for
We're in customer discovery, learning where flowstones fit best. These are some of the spaces we're looking at.
Offices, campuses, lobbies and other spaces people use every day. Air quality and comfort are potential co-benefits we are studying.
Highways, tunnels, airports, and subway and train stations: large surfaces that are already part of city life.
Classrooms, museums and other learning spaces where people can watch carbon capture happen over time.
Carbonate as a material, with possible uses from cement and aggregate to soil stabilization.
Work in one of these spaces, or another we haven't listed? Talk to us
Global North · Global South
Since 2005, total CO₂ emissions have fallen in New York and London and risen in the five African cities shown here. Per person, most of those African cities still emit a small fraction of what New York does.
Global North
In cities like New York and London, emissions are falling, and much of the building stock is already in place. Flowstones are designed for existing infrastructure, so they can be added to buildings that are already standing.
Global South
In fast-growing cities like Cairo, Lagos and Nairobi, emissions and construction are both rising. Flowstones could be part of new buildings from the start, and the carbonate they produce could serve local needs, from cement and aggregate to soil stabilization.
We are exploring both contexts. Our pilots so far are in New York City.
2005 = 0%
Relative change in total daily territorial CO₂ emissions compared with 2005.
Dashed lines: Global North Solid lines: Global South
Fastest-growing large emitter
+63.5% Cairo, 2005–2026
Cairo rose from 82,400 to 134,760 t/day, close to New York City's 139,450 t/day, with about a third of New York's emissions per person.
Highest per person
7.11 t/yr Johannesburg
Coal-heavy power keeps Johannesburg above New York City (6.1 t/yr) per person. Its 22.3% per-person drop was outpaced by growth: total emissions rose 45.0%.
Steepest decline
−39.1% London, 2005–2026
London cut 48,230 t/day, or 49.2% per person. Nairobi (+167.0%) and Kinshasa (+141.7%) grew fastest, from small bases.
Team
Entrepreneurial Lead
Technical Lead, PhD Candidate
Device and demo
Partners and support
Community Carbonates is part of the Global Impact Lab accelerator at the Columbia Climate School, now in Phase III. A provisional patent has been filed through Columbia Technology Ventures.
Updates
FAQ
Our SolarOne pilot at Stuyvesant Cove Park is running now. A pilot at Columbia's Mudd Building is coming next. See Visit us for details.
We harvest it. At Governors Island, we cast harvested carbonate into a cement cylinder and 3D-printed small pieces that visitors took home. End uses include a clinker substitute in cement, aggregate and soil stabilization.
We are measuring this through our pilots and a life cycle assessment now under way. We will share figures, labeled as estimated, once they are validated.
We are in customer discovery, talking with people who manage buildings, transportation infrastructure, learning spaces and materials. Book a call to tell us about your space.
We believe indoor installations can deliver energy savings, especially when paired with HVAC systems, and we are actively evaluating this now. These savings are still being verified. Air quality and comfort are further potential benefits we are studying, including with CO₂ air-quality sensing at SolarOne.
We are exploring ways to bring flowstones into classrooms and other learning spaces. In October 2026 we ran an educator workshop with SolarOne. Get in touch if you would like to be involved.
Yes. A provisional patent has been filed through Columbia Technology Ventures.
Get involved
We are speaking with people across buildings, transportation, education and materials to learn where flowstones fit. A short call is the best place to start.
