LEARNING CENTER 2024 ON-DEMAND
Concrete Innovations Learning Center On-demand provides recordings and downloads for previously aired Learning Sessions on the latest innovations for sustainable concrete design, construction and manufacturing. Select a year for on-demand learning sessions:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Each session of the Concrete Innovations Learning Center offers AIA Continuing Education and Professional Development Hours. Complete the form provided for each session to receive credits.
SESSION 27: DECEMBER 18, 2024
INNOVATIVE CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS
Towards Innovative Cementitious Materials
Larry Sutter, Professor Emeritus and Research Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Tech
Several innovative cementitious materials are entering the market to support low carbon concrete initiatives. Users should be assured that these materials can produce the required concrete properties. This presentation will discuss some of the types of materials and efforts to develop standards to evaluate and permit their use. The talk will also cover ongoing research, demonstration projects, and federal funding for new cementitious materials.
Product Spotlight - Titan America
Advancements in Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3)
Eric Koehler, Vice President, Innovation and Product Quality, Titan America
This presentation will describe how SCMs, and particularly new and emerging SCMs, contribute to decarbonizing concrete. It will focus on Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) and discuss how new technologies and industrial deployments are advancing the state-of-the art. Recommendations will be given for implementing calcined clay across the concrete construction value chain.
NRMCA's EPA Grant - How Will Concrete Producers Get Reimbursed for Producing EPDs?
Lionel Lemay, Executive Vice President, Structures and Sustainability, NRMCA
This presentation will provide an update on NRMCA's EPA Grant and details on how concrete producers can receive rebates for publishing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Other details of the grant, including specific requirements for receiving rebates, education opportunities, new and improved tools for publishing EPDs will be discussed. Other aspects of the grant including improved carbon footprint benchmarking and EPDs from constituent materials will be presented.
SESSION 26: NOVEMBER 20, 2024
DECARBONIZING CEMENT
Product Spotlight - Heidelberg Materials
Deep Decarbonization with CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage)
Larry Rowland, Sustainability Market Manager, Heidelberg Materials
This presentation will explain the need to decarbonize the industry and the role CCS and CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage) play in the Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality. This session will discuss a variety of technologies being deployed and present real-life examples of how CCS is being used to produce Net Zero Cement and why this is significant. It will provide a in depth information that industry professionals, designers and stakeholders should understand to make informed decisions regarding low carbon concrete produced in association with this emerging technology.
Product Spotlight - CalPortland
Unlocking the Potential of Pozzolanic Materials to Curb CO2 Emissions in Cement Manufacturing
Luis Baquerizo, Director Central Research Laboratory and Karin Perissinotto, Sustainability Manager, CalPortland
Cement manufacturing offers key opportunities to enhance efficiency and cut its carbon footprint in the journey towards global net-zero CO2 emissions. This webinar will delve into the role of natural pozzolanic materials in decreasing the CO2 footprint of cement production. Historically utilized around the world, natural pozzolans can help reduce the clinker factor in cement, resulting in lower process emissions and reduced energy consumption, while also enhancing the durability of the final concrete product. Participants will gain insights into CalPortland's development of blended cements incorporating natural pozzolans, exploring innovative solutions that can transform the cement industry towards a more sustainable future. Join us in discovering how these sustainable practices can contribute to our commitment to reaching net zero by 2045.
Product Spotlight - WAP Sustainability and GCCA
Regulatory Landscape and Support for EPDs
James Salazar, Director of Sustainability, WAP Sustainability
Andrew Minson, Director of Concrete and Sustainable Construction, GCCA
This session will provide an in-depth look at the regulatory landscape and support mechanisms for low carbon procurement through Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). It will discuss the importance of benchmarking and procurement baselines and provide updates on various green procurement schemes and their structures for North America and internationally. For North America, the session will cover federal initiatives such as those by the EPA, GSA, and FHWA. Participants will receive updates on funding mechanisms supporting manufacturers, including the Low Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) program and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) EPD assistance grants. It will also cover international initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions highlighting collaborative efforts of the GCCA and the United Nation's Industrial Deep Carbonisation Initiative (IDDI) in developing proposals for setting emission bands and defining low carbon concrete.
Using Data Visualizations to Identify Opportunities for GWP Reductions
John O’Hagan, Engineer II, Forell Elsesser Engineers
This presentation will discuss how Forell Elsesser Engineers is using data visualizations to identify opportunities for embodied carbon reductions for any project. The Forell Elsesser’s Concrete EPD Availability Tool will be highlighted as an example of how well-structured data visualizations can give project teams confidence in specifying a target GWP for their projects.
SESSION 25: OCTOBER 16, 2024
LOW-CARBON CONCRETE STRATEGIES
Action Steps Towards Low-Carbon Concrete
Logan Kelley, Senior Associate, Mithun
Concrete is both an invaluable tool for resilient and durable buildings, and the single greatest source embodied carbon in new construction. To bring down the construction industry's global warming potential, designers, owners, and contractors must rethink the typical concrete specification process in order to achieve a balance of performance, cost, constructability, and embodied carbon. By championing collaboration and early goal setting, projects can achieve dramatic reductions in their global warming footprint utilizing appropriate specifications, new technologies, and local market realities. Join Logan Kelley from Mithun as he gives an overview of current strategies and case studies including the award winning 681 Florida Street affordable housing project in San Francisco.
Product Spotlight - Climate Earth
The Next Era: EPD Information Management Systems
Chris Erickson, Climate Earth, President and CEO
Discover how to use EPD Information Management Systems to meet emerging low carbon requirements and strategically harness insights at the mix, plant, and company level.
-
Gain new insights: Manage EPD data across all your plants for greater insight and improved decisions.
-
Stay ahead of regulations: ACI 323 automated analysis and reporting.
-
Optimize mix designs with Tarantula Curve mix optimization: In a single click, optimize strength, workability, and sustainability.
-
Integrate with other systems: use API technology to integrate EPD data with all your systems.
Product Spotlight - American Society of Concrete Contractors
Low-Carbon Concrete: Contractor Challenges and Opportunities
Sarah Rege, Senior Sustainability Director at Webcor and Eric Peterson, Director at Webcor Concrete
New requirements and policies for low-carbon concrete are sometimes implemented without thorough consideration of potential coordination issues with other policies and practices that haven’t yet been modified for consistency. Significant changes in cementitious materials and methods of evaluation of these materials are making their way into marketplaces and material standards. Concrete contractors (and designers) must pay closer attention to these changes than they have in the past. For a concrete contractor, it is a time to participate in discussions with producers, governments, code-writing bodies, technical associations, materials suppliers, and contractors associations. Doing so will help ensure that the coordination and information transfer that must occur without disrupting our industry and its economics can be facilitated. The challenge is keeping communication channels open so everyone understands what needs to happen to appropriately facilitate and implement these industry changes. Information awareness and communication are the underlying messages of this presentation.
Prologis Nexus: An Innovative and Sustainable Industrial Building
Alana Guzzetta, National Research Laboratory Manager at Vulcan Materials Company
Prologis partnered with Central Concrete Supply (a Vulcan Materials Company), Whiting Turner, Bradley Concrete, and HSA Structural Engineers to create a state-of-the-art 260,000 sq ft, 40-ft clear height industrial building in San Leandro, CA. Prologis Nexus, is a very innovative and sustainable industrial building with embodied carbon emissions reduced by over 40% without relying on carbon credits. This presentation will discuss how the design and build team implemented low-carbon strategies to reduce embodied carbon from a traditional Prologis warehouse baseline.
SESSION 24: SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
LEVERAGING DATA
EPA's ENERGY STAR Energy Management Program Helps Manufacturers Reduce Their Carbon Footprint and Save Money
Betsy Dutrow, Manager of ENERGY STAR Industrial Partnerships, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ensuring plant operations consume just the right amount of energy to do the job is a primary way to reduce electricity and fuel use in concrete manufacturing. Learn about new benchmarking strategies, tools, energy management training and support for manufacturers seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations and impact the embodied carbon of their products through ENERGY STAR’s new Industrial Assistance Network.
Product Spotlight - CarbonCure Technologies
Making Data Driven Decisions
Hannah Leblanc, CarbonCure Technologies
This presentation will review opportunities to encourage a culture of data-driven decision making across all levels of the organization. Brad will review data analytics tools to identify opportunities for cost savings, operational efficiencies, and strategic investments as well as mix design optimization and effective materials management.
Product Spotlight - Giatec Scientific
Giatec Smartmix: Bringing Artificial Intelligence from Theory to Monetization
Sarah McGuire, AVP, Business Development, Giatec Scientific
This presentation will explore the transformative power of Giatec’s SmartMix, an AI-powered mix management system. It will discuss the evolution of SmartMix, highlighting key insights and challenges learned from numerous implementations across North America. Attendees will discover how SmartMix is paving the way for more efficient and effective concrete mixtures.
Product Spotlight - WAP Sustainability and GCCA
Leveraging LCA Data in an Organization
James Salazar, Director of Sustainability, WAP Sustainability
This session will delve into how organizations can harness Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data to boost operational efficiency and support sustainability efforts. It will explore the use of LCA as a research tool for product development, highlighting how one can use LCA to consider environmental variables across the supply chain. Additionally, the session will discuss creating Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) at scale, emphasizing the need for both product-specific and plant-specific EPDs to enhance procurement processes. The importance of digital EPD data flows from producers to purchasers and verifiers will also be addressed, underscoring the role of efficient data transfer in achieving sustainability goals. Participants will be introduced to software and services designed to streamline data flows and tackle bottlenecks. The session will offer practical tools for procurement and verification, helping to overcome internal and external challenges.
SESSION 23: AUGUST 21, 2024
MEASURING PERFORMANCE
Pushing the Boundaries on Low Carbon Concrete at SFO
Frances Yang, Structures and Sustainability Specialist, Arup
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has often leveraged its unique integrated design approach to push project teams to employ low carbon solutions at the cutting edge. As one of the first projects in the nation to specify GWP limits in the concrete specifications for Harvey Milk Terminal 1, they have also poured test slabs with carbon sequestering aggregate and updated the concrete requirements in their campus-wide design and construction standards with aggressive GWP targets. This presentation will share the evolution of SFO’s requirements for low carbon concrete and approach to implementation.
Product Spotlight - Master Builders Solutions
Delivering Superior Concrete Handling: The Innovative Admixture Contractors Want
Serpil Boy Aral, Product Marketing Manager, Master Builders Solutions
From alternative concrete constituents to stricter specifications, rapid changes in the construction industry have caused fresh concrete handling to be increasingly challenging. Contractors desperately need a solution for their pumping, placing, consolidation, and finishing problems. Thanks to a novel, innovative admixture by Master Builders Solutions - MasterEase 5000 - a water-reducing, conditioning admixture, ready mix producers can now deliver concrete with superior handling characteristics.
Product Spotlight - Concrete Sustainability Council
Low-Carbon Construction with CSC Certified Concrete
Christian Artelt, Heidelberg Materials and Michael Scharpf, Holcim
Concrete carrying the Concrete Sustainability Council’s “CSC”-certification label provides assurance that its production meets stringent environmental, social, management and economic sustainability criteria. CSC-certified concrete supports responsible sourcing of materials, efficient use of resources, recognizes the use of recycled materials and supports the reduction of carbon emissions. Choosing CSC-certified concrete demonstrates a leading commitment to sustainable construction practices and contributes to the development of environmentally friendly buildings and infrastructure.
The Concrete Industry Progress Towards Carbon Neutrality
Lionel Lemay, Executive Vice President, Structures and Sustainability, NRMCA
In 2011, NRMCA set a goal for reducing concrete’s embodied carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 to align with Architecture 2030 Challenge. NRMCA helped published the first PCR for Concrete and became an EPD Program Operator for concrete and constituent materials; helped develop and verify two on‐demand EPD tools for concrete; and published the first Industry‐Wide EPD (IW EPD) and Benchmarks at the national level and for eight multi‐state regions for nine classes of concrete. This presentation will provide an update to NRMCA's carbon reduction programs and the tools available for concrete producers and design professionals to measure carbon footprint of concrete and concrete products.
SESSION 22: JULY 17, 2024
MIX DESIGN OPTIMIZATION
Less Clinker in Cement, Less Paste in Concrete: A Two‐fold Strategy Towards Decarbonization
Franco Zunino, Physical Chemistry of Building Materials, Institute for Building Materials, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Concrete is by a substantial margin the most widely used construction material. Projections indicate that the demand for concrete it will continue to increase to sustain the development of emerging economies. This paper presents a new perspective of low‐carbon concrete by refocusing on the actual final product, highlighting the tremendous CO2 saving opportunities of reducing the total paste volume of concrete while simultaneously using high performance, low‐clinker cements in the so‐called two‐fold strategy (low clinker content, low paste volume concrete formulations). Different aspects of low paste volume concrete formulations are discussed based on a combination of published and new concrete performance data, showing the potential for CO2 savings of the strategy and the technical opportunities to retain the robustness and reliability that make concrete such a versatile and widely used material. Chemical admixtures play a crucial role in reaching those objectives, as they enable to reduce the cement content while retaining the needed workability (slump and slump retention) for each application. The key issues relating to using those admixtures in low carbon concrete are highlighted.
Product Spotlight - Heidelberg Materials
Slag Cement, Today’s Strongest Carbon Reduction Tool
Larry Rowland, Sustainability Market Manager, Heidelberg Materials
Heidelberg Materials has the industry’s most aggressive carbon reduction targets. To achieve our Sustainability Commitments 2030, we are improving manufacturing efficiencies, applying carbon capture utilization and storage technology, and expanding our product line offerings to become the largest slag cement supplier in North America. Slag cement is an efficient, proven, low carbon, supplementary cementitious material that improves concrete performance. This program will highlight some of the many benefits this material delivers and use EPD data and specific project case study information to demonstrate why slag cement is considered the strongest tool for decarbonizing concrete mixtures on a broad scale.
Product Spotlight - Climate Earth
EPD Advantage Pro™ - The first EPD Information Management System
Chris Erickson, CEO and co-founder, Climate Earth
Carbon as a procurement metric is a game changer for how concrete is evaluated and purchased. As sustainability benchmarks tighten, producers grapple with balancing constructability and carbon requirements. In this session you will learn how EPD Advantage Pro transforms EPD data into strategic intelligence. With company and plant-level analytics, it empowers producers to navigate their EPD portfolio, assess underperforming plants, and bid precisely ensuring every low carbon project gets the right mixes.
SESSION 21: JUNE 19, 2024
DECARBONIZATION STRATEGIES
Improving the Efficiency of Concrete Structural Design through Alternative Reinforcement: A Serviceability Based Design Approach
Dr. Barzin Mobasher, PhD. PE. FACI, FRILEM, Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
One of the most inefficient and unsustainable guidelines for structural design of concrete is to ignore the potential for tensile load-carrying capacity of concrete. When dealing with concrete brittleness, our traditional approach is to use more reinforcing steel to carry tensile loads leading to larger volumes of concrete and steel, resulting in reduced durability and increased carbon footprint. This presentation will focus on reducing the reliance on conventional reinforcing by introducing fiber reinforcing materials at the microscale, allowing the integration of tensile properties in structural design to improve durability and efficiency. New test methods will be presented to validate the potential benefits by identifying the controlling mechanisms of various fibers and textiles. Applications to address improved ductility-durability measures including correlation of ductility, crack width, stiffness degradation, and fatigue response with service loads will be presented. Several case studies will showcase the significant cost savings, and enhanced performance of these methods.
Product Spotlight - Chryso/GCP
Innovations in Low-carbon Cement Additives and Concrete Admixtures
Mike Stanzel, Technical Sales Representative, Cement Additives - North America, CHRYSO & GCP
Terry Harris, Senior Director Technical Services & Ductilcrete Slab Systems, CHRYSO & GCP
Portland limestone cement (PLC) and new blended cements using pozzolanic materials (fly ash, natural pozzolan and calcined clay (CC)), as well as ternary binders based on several supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), are promising alternatives to conventional Portland cement. These options hold great potential for reducing the carbon footprint of concrete. Chryso has developed a new generation of cement and concrete strength enhancers that improve the viability and performance of PLC and blended cements in North America. These additives help overcome some of the challenges associated with these alternative cements, such as increased water demand, reduced strengths, and pack set issues.
Biochar-Cement Concrete: The Path to Carbon Neutrality and Strength Parity
Lori Tunstall, Assistant Professor, Colorado School of Mines
In the last decade, biochar has emerged as a promising partial cement replacement to significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with concrete. This is because biochar is a carbon negative material, sequestering more than twice its weight in CO2. The more cement that can be replaced with biochar, the lower embodied carbon the concrete will have; however, most researchers have found that replacing the cement with more than 5 wt% of biochar results in decreased strength, which limits the environmental benefit. In contrast, through a study of 22 distinct biochars, we have found that up to 44 wt% of the cement can be replaced with biochar, resulting in comparable or improved mortar strength and the potential to completely offset the carbon footprint of the cement. Using advanced data processing techniques, we identify three key biochar characteristics that control strength development of biochar-cement mortars: available water sorption capacity, oxygen-to-carbon ratio, and soluble silicon.
SESSION 20: MAY 15, 2024
THE IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION
De-Risking Lower-Carbon Concrete – The importance of innovation and the value proposition of leadership
Don Davies, Co-founder, Davies-Crooks Associates
Sara Neff, Head of Sustainability, Lendlease Americas
James Murray-Coleman, Director of Sustainability, Trammel Crow Company
Trammell Crow and Lendlease are industry leading developers, each with portfolios in the billions of dollars. They are placing a high value on future lower-carbon construction, and are championing a series of lower-carbon concrete pilot studies across the country. What is driving their decisions to innovate? What do they need from industry to support their goals? Moderated by Don Davies of Davies-Crooks Associates, a structural engineering veteran and leader of the Lower-Carbon Concrete Task Force, this panel will explore the motivations, risks, and value these efforts look to achieve.
Product Spotlight - AICrete
The Future of the Concrete Industry Using AI-Driven Solutions
Dr. Parham Aghdasi, Founder and CEO, AICRETE
This session will provide insights into the future of the concrete industry and how AICrete is leading the charge with AI-driven solutions. The presentation will dive into the heart of innovation with the newest features of AICreteOS. Attendees will experience first hand how this transformative operating system is reshaping the concrete production landscape, optimizing workflows, enhancing quality control, and revolutionizing every aspect of production. The session will highlight how strategic partnerships and integrations further amplify the power of AICreteOS and how collaborative efforts are driving innovation and delivering unparalleled value to the concrete industry.
Product Spotlight - Master Builders Solutions
Concrete Strength and Sustainability Redefined
Tyler Grissom, Product Manager, Master Builders Solutions
Nanoscale particulate-based admixture technologies are leading the way in concrete innovation. They effectively tackle the obstacles presented by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and Type IL cements, paving the way for the creation of cost-effective and environmentally sustainable concrete mixtures with lower cement content.
SESSION 19: APRIL 17, 2024
ARCHITECTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable Concrete in the Building Industry: Opportunities and Challenges
Chris Flint Chatto, Principal, ZGF Architects LLP
Chris Chatto is a sustainability expert who found his way to architecture after a decade of work in environmental activism. As one of ZGF’s resident sustainable design experts, Chris develops simple, yet powerful tools to analyze data and understand how a project will impact and respond to the natural environment. This presentation demonstrates how ZGF used those tools along with collaborative approaches to sustainable design to ensure meaningful impact reductions, including embodied carbon of concrete.
Proactive CO2 reduction with TiO2-based surface treatments: Overview of methods, initial results & future perspectives in pavement applications
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION (coming soon)
Mirian Velay-Lizancos, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
It is known that TiO2 is a photocatalyst that can be used in construction materials applications as it provides them with photocatalytic properties, such as NOx removal. In addition to this property, our recent studies have shown the potential to increase the CO2 capture abilities of construction materials by adding nano-TiO2 into cementitious materials as part of the mix. These studies showed that these additions promoted the CO2 uptake to a certain level, depending on the samples' w/c and age, through carbonation acceleration, reducing the material's environmental footprint. However, the cost of nano-TiO2 and the potential increase in risk of corrosion if used in steel-reinforced concrete may reduce its applicability in the short term. Thus, our new study assesses the potential use of a TiO2-based surface treatment and its effect on CO2 concentrations and carbonation. These treatments present a cost-effective way to deliver TiO2 to pavements. However, their effect on the pavements differs from the effects of adding TiO2 into the mix since a surface treatment applied after the pavement has hardened will not modify the hydration process. Thus, we developed a new technique to assess the potential proactive effects of the surface treatment over the pavement's service life. Results showed that samples with the surface treatment reduced the concentration of CO2 to a greater extent than untreated samples. Furthermore, results also showed that, in this case, the reduction of CO2 concentration is not related to an increase in carbonation depth. Treated samples also showed self-cleaning ability. Thus, these treatments present a cost-effective way to deliver TiO2 to pavements, providing them with a long-lasting CO2 reduction ability.
Product Spotlight - Euclid Chemical
Decorative Concrete Innovations in Sustainability
Rich Cofoid, Sr. Marketing and Product Line Manager, Euclid Chemical
As sustainability and reduction in carbon emissions continue to drive innovations in concrete mix designs and construction, the decorative side of our business has not been left behind. In this presentation we will discuss some of the trends and evolutions in decorative concrete systems that combine aesthetics and sustainability.
2024 Concrete Innovations Award Winners
Lionel Lemay, PE, SE, LEED AP, Executive Vice President, Structures and Sustainability, NRMCA
The NRMCA Concrete Innovations Award Program recognizes outstanding achievement in concrete design and construction. Innovative projects that demonstrate outstanding achievements in performance while lowering environmental impacts including embodied and operational carbon footprint are awarded. This presentation will highlight the nominees and winners of the 2024 Concrete Innovations Awards.