Sources: Trinity Consultants, Dallas; CMCM staff A survey of 100 executives representing North American manufacturers or producers with annual revenues exceeding $250 million reveals major challenges for the construction materials sector to align (GHG Protocol-defined) Scope 1, 2, 3 emissions reduction strategies and widely subscribed decarbonization targets. Environmental services provider Read more…
Sources: Lafarge Canada Inc. and ATCOenergy/Canadian Utilities Ltd. Calgary; CMCM staff A 12.5-year virtual power purchase agreement will cover one-third of the annual electricity requirements of the Lafarge Canada Exshaw cement plant, a key supplier to Alberta and British Columbia construction markets, and entail the entire output of the ATCOenergy Read more…
Sources: Global Steel Climate Council, Washington, D.C.; Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C.; CMCM staff The new Steel Climate Standard represents a fair, effective, unbiased tool to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with concrete reinforcing or structural steel, as well as a single, technology-agnostic framework for product certification. Along with providing Read more…
Sources: Carbon Upcycling Inc., Calgary; CMCM staff A $26 million Series A funding round positions Carbon Upcycling to expedite carbon capture and utilization projects at the Cemex Rugby, U.K. and Ash Grove Cement Mississauga, Ontario plants. Work is concurrent on the projects, which represent the first commercial deployments in portland Read more…
Source: American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich.; CMCM staff National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Senior Director, Building Innovations Donn Thompson, AIA, LEED-AP-BD+C will lead “Top 10 Ways to Reduce Concrete’s Carbon Footprint,” a July 18 American Concrete Institute webinar to help design and construction professionals understand the basics of embodied Read more…
Sources: Holcim US, Chicago; CMCM North America’s top portland cement producer is dedicating 100 acres of its Alpena, Mich. site to a solar farm built in partnership with Jackson, Mich.-based NorthStar Clean Energy. Holcim US management anticipates that a 25 MW solar array scheduled for Q4 2024 operation will net Read more…
Sources: Solidia Technologies, San Antonio, Texas; CP staff Solidia Technologies, one of the first carbon-minded disruptors in construction materials to garner backing from leading climate technology investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures, plans a Q3 2024 start for its first concrete production line. Configured to an existing 53,000-sq.-ft. building in Elmendorf, Texas, Read more…
Sources: Heidelberg Materials, Irving, Texas; CP staff The Lehigh Cement plant in Union Bridge, Md. will see primary output shift from ordinary portland cement to the branded EcoCem Portland-Limestone Cement—clinker + up to 10 percent finely graded limestone—by no later than January 2023. Union Bridge is presently the producer’s largest Read more…
Sources: AICrete, Richmond, Calif.; CP staff Billed as the only recipe-as-a-service platform optimizing local materials for cleaner and more cost-efficient concrete, AICrete has raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by CLEAR Ventures and VoLo Earth Ventures, with participation from Cortical Ventures plus a multinational materials producer. The Read more…
New Dodge Construction research reveals how building interests are actively seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete construction. Data shows that 81 percent of structural engineers and 69 percent of contractors working with concrete are tracking the embodied carbon on their projects, and about one third taking action to Read more…