Abu Dhabi plans to work with Al Falah Ready Mix to develop low-carbon concrete for building what the government said will be a carbon-neutral city that would powered by renewable energy and built with cutting-edge green technologies.

Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates, began building Masdar City last year, and expects to complete it by 2016. When completed, the 6.5-square-kilometer city could be home to 40,000 people and a host of greentech companies, Masdar officials have said. Masdar already has picked Suntech Power and First Solar to build a 10-megawatt solar farm, which will initially power construction activities. The developer plans to build about 240 megawatts worth of renewable power projects, mostly solar, for the city.

Al Falah Ready Mix, a subsidiary of Al Falah Holding in Abu Dhabi, plans to develop concrete that would use less cement, which takes a lot of water to make. The goal is to reduce the carbon dioxide emitted to make concrete by 30 percent. Al Falah would produce two million cubic meters of concrete for building the first phases of the city. Masdar didn’t disclose how much concrete would be needed to build the entire city.

A growing number of building material suppliers are developing “green” concrete that promise to embody sustainable materials or use less energy to produce. Carlstadt, N.J.-based Hycrete, Newark, Calif.-based CalStar Cement and Los Gatos, Calif.-based Calera are among the American companies developing green building materials.

Marianne Wu, a partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures said at a conference last November that American building material companies ought to aggressively pursue opportunities in countries that are experiencing building booms, such as Abu Dhabi (see Peddling Green Cement and Concrete Abroad).