Videos, Webinars & More

Barzin Mobasher, PE, FACI, FRILEM, Arizona State University, discusses alternative reinforcements such as fibers, textiles, and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) as well as hybrid designs that tend to reduce the amount of rebars used by means of conventional design approaches and make a significant improvement in the overall load-carrying capacity while reducing the overall carbon footprints. New test methods are presented to validate the potential benefits by identifying the controlling mechanisms. Several applications developed in the past five years are highlighted as case studies and showcase the significant cost savings, enhanced performance, and carbon emissions reduction.

New materials and technologies are slow to be adopted within the construction industry largely due to risk, both real and perceived. To move technologies forward, there needs to be demonstrated cases where the material was used and it performed, to help eliminate the perceived risks and provide information on the constructability and performance to minimize real risks. Proof of performance can be established through demonstration projects but for these projects to be successful, there needs to be post-construction testing, monitoring, analysis, and reporting of the results. This talk will discuss a recent demonstration project performed at MnROAD, a research test site operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The talk will discuss the planning and execution of the project and will share lessons learned that may assist others that are planning similar projects. Presented by Lawrence Sutter, Ph.D., P.E., Sutter Engineering LLC.

Ignacio Cariaga, commercial sustainability director with Heidelberg Materials, discusses how there is no single technology, lever, nor single company that can achieve net zero concrete without proper education, collaboration and advocacy work to ultimately change building codes.

Join Dr. Matthew Adams, an associate professor and co-director of the materials and structures (MatSLab) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, as he discusses how governmental agencies - local, regional, and federal - are the primary purchasers of concrete materials within the U.S. and around the world. Governments are positioned to lead the way in procuring low embodied carbon concrete (LECC) systems, reducing the global impact of concrete on climate change. Despite rigorous scientific research showing many options for reducing concrete's embodied carbon below standard levels, many agencies in the U.S. are still specifying concrete using prescriptive approaches that support outdated, high embodied carbon mixtures. Procurement processes, lack of technical understanding, and a lack of will amongst specifying agencies are all barriers to the implementation of LECC mixture design techniques. This presentation discusses the current range of policy initiatives to encourage procurement of LECC, the difficulties experienced in their implementation, and the impact that the active policies have had on procurement.

NEU Technical Director Sureka Sumanasooriya, PhD, introduces the functions of NEU and how NEU is helping with the education and implementation of low-carbon cements and concrete.

Join Dean Frank, P.E., executive director of NEU, as he explains the alphabet soup of LCAs, EPDs and PCRs and how they are all involved in sustainability.