Italcementi, Webcor Builders Join Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Pilot

Essroc Cement parent company Italcementi Group and leading California concrete contractor Webcor are among 60 corporate participants in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, launched Jan. 20 by WRI and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Sources: World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.; Webcor Builders, San Mateo, Calif.; CP staff

Essroc Cement parent company Italcementi Group and leading California concrete contractor Webcor are among 60 corporate participants in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, launched Jan. 20 by WRI and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). WRI and WBCSD have developed two accounting and reporting standards, Product Life Cycle and Corporate Value Chain, to tally emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Such accounting dovetails with reporting Webcor has logged for at least two years as a California Climate Action Registry Leader. Emissions-reduction efforts the contractor has undertaken include work with Central Concrete Supply. The San Jose-based business of U.S. Concrete Inc. documents for Webcor lower carbon dioxide emissions attributable to the use of fly ash and other supplementary cementitious materials as a substitute for portland cement–the latter a product of one of the most carbon-intensive industrial processes worldwide.

Like other multinational producers, Italcementi maintains greenhouse gas accounting systems for WBCSD’s Cement Sustainability Initiative. In December, CSI members unveiled Cement Technology Roadmap 2009–Carbon emissions reductions up to 2050, indicating how the worldwide industry’s CO2 output could be lowered over the next four decades by 18 percent from current levels.

Webcor and Italcementi appear to be the only construction-related entities on WRI/WBCSD’s diverse range of Greenhouse Gas Protocol participants. We are encouraged by the overwhelming response from the private sector seeking to road test the [Product Life Cycle and Corporate Value Chain] standards, says WRI President Jonathan Lash. There were more than 120 applications across a broad array of sectors and regions worldwide. The road testing will provide critical input in ensuring that the standards generate credible and meaningful data for business and government decision makers, while considering the practical challenges that businesses and programs will face during implementation.

The draft standards were developed over the last year through a global, collaborative multi-stakeholder process, with participation from more than 1,000 volunteer representatives from industry, government, academia and nongovernmental organizations. The road testing process will provide real-world feedback to ensure the standards can be practically implemented by companies and organizations from a variety of sectors, sizes, and geographic areas around the world. The final Product Life Cycle and Corporate Value Chain standards are scheduled for December 2010.