Videos, Webinars & More

An overview of the 2022 activities of the ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete and programs the organization is currently building. NEU was established by ACI in early 2022 to collaborate globally to drive education, awareness, and adoption of the use of carbon-neutral materials and technologies in the built environment. The NEU Center has seen rapid growth since its inception.

This presentation will provide a brief update on current projects being coordinated by NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete, which was established by the American Concrete Institute to collaborate globally to drive education, awareness, and adoption of the use of carbon-neutral concrete materials and technologies. Topics will include a brief overview of NEU, the status of the NEU Validation/Verification Program, and a summary of a recent survey of suppliers of materials and technologies.

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This presentation will discuss how slag cement and other supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) can help reduce the carbon impact of concrete products and show attendees how to use industry wide documents and tools. Topics covered include: • Key terms and definitions commonly used when discussing the carbon impact of concrete; • How initiatives like the LEED point system, Architecture 2030, and the Carbon Leadership Forum are influencing the use of concrete materials; • How to reduce the carbon impact of concrete using SCMs like slag cement; and • How to use product specific information on slag cement including EPDs and LCA Calculator tools to show customers sustainable and durable options for concrete.

Cement is typically the largest individual contribution to the embodied global warming potential (CO2-equivalent) of a concrete mixture. The cement industry has developed roadmaps to reaching carbon neutral concrete by mid-century, both for the US and globally. This presentation will identify how cement and cementitious materials are expected to evolve in the roadmaps and discuss how effective updates to codes and standards can help to accelerate the achievement of carbon neutral concrete.

Portland cement is the most mass-produced human-made material on earth. Since the invention of Portland cement, it has become an indispensable material for building structures and social infrastructure, and it is now the cornerstone of modern society. The CO2 emitted by the cement industry is estimated to account for approximately 7% of the world's total emissions. From this background, the sector of concrete industry reacts against CO2 emissions. In this contribution, activities of government, societies, and each company in concrete sector of Japan are summarized and discuss the direction of the required research, activities, and pathway to collaboration.