Videos, Webinars & More

This talk will discuss the demand for low-carbon cement and concrete by architects and owners to achieve more sustainable structures. Also addressed will be current and proposed legislative and executive measures that would require lower carbon materials for public and private projects.

Some CO2 emissions during cement production process are inevitable and cannot be eliminated using established techniques of clinker substitution and alternative fuels. Therefore, new approaches are needed to deal with this CO2 in order to reach our vision of carbon-neutral concrete. Carbon capture technologies provide a solution to ultimately reduce hard-to abate emissions.

To reach the crucial milestone of generating efficient decarbonization pathways in sustainable concrete constructions, new technological developments to increase carbon sequestration in concrete are needed, well beyond the current carbon mitigation approaches limited to cement manufacturing. The objective of this presentation is to design sustainable and eco-friendly concrete by replacing cement with carbon-based agricultural byproducts and reinforcing it with graphene-based nanomaterials. This is a promising way for developing eco-efficient and highly resilient concrete, with at least 2x increased tensile load carrying and strain energy absorption capability; and 2-3x higher CO2 sequestration ability. The output of the proposed study will help promoting low-cost pathways for nullifying the greenhouse gas emission in the concrete and construction industry, while optimizing concrete’s carbon uptake and mineralization capacity, by engineering the nanostructured interfaces to accelerate carbonation kinetics.

This presentation will discuss experiences with high SCM (low carbon) concrete mix designs and a discussion of items for consideration for all project team members when these mixes are specified and used.

The benefits of binders produced with significantly reduced, little, or no process energy that have a small carbon footprint, are composed of recycled and/or renewable resources, and have minimal environmental impact will be discussed.

Concrete is unique among building materials. Its formulation is highly influenced by its application. Design professionals and contractors have a greater influence on concrete formulation than they do with other building products. Concrete can be made stronger, lighter, more flowable, stiffer, less permeable, and even weaker depending on performance needs. No other building material is that versatile. This presentation will discuss how design and construction teams can implement ten simple strategies to reduce concrete’s carbon footprint today. The recommendations are listed broadly in order of priority, but not in order of impact reduction. All are important and should be implemented. In addition, the strategies are meant to achieve a lower carbon footprint without impacting other desired performance capabilities for the concrete.