Two structures down, two to go for PCA, CTLGroup campus demolition contractor

Source: CP staff The former Portland Cement Association and CTLGroup campus along Old Orchard Road in Skokie, Ill. is giving way to a residential and commercial development befitting valuable acreage just north of Chicago and in close proximity to Interstate 94. Demolition commenced in late 2023 on four buildings that for decades supported one of the world’s principal cement and…

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Buzzi Unicem and Ash Grove East executives lead PCA Board

Portland Cement Association members have elected Buzzi Unicem USA CEO Massimo Toso as board chairman and Ash Grove Cement East President Monica Manolas as vice chair, both for two-year terms. Toso succeeds Votorantim Cimentos North America CEO Filiberto Ruiz, who took the helm shortly after the October 2021 release of the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality. A call to action…

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GSA backs low embodied carbon material spec commitment

The General Services Administration has released a list of more than 150 federal building construction or upgrade projects across 39 states and District of Columbia where low embodied carbon (LEC) material specifications will be supported by $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding. Contract language will favor LEC material use, net estimated deliveries totaling:  The funding advances the Buy Clean…

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Buzzi Unicem’s Toso, Ash Grove East’s Manolas lead PCA officer slate

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Portland Cement Association members have elected Buzzi Unicem USA CEO Massimo Toso as board chairman and Ash Grove Cement East President Monica Manolas as vice chair, both for two-year terms. Toso succeeds Votorantim Cimentos North America CEO Filiberto Ruiz, who took the helm shortly after the October 2021 release of the PCA…

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California producers’ carbon volley

Two years of major gestures surrounding greenhouse gas emissions in cement and concrete production or procurement solidify California’s reputation for incubating policy. In October 2021, the California State Senate passed SB 596, charting a regulatory course for Golden State cement producers to attain net-zero carbon operations by 2045. The California Nevada Cement Association concurrently published an SB 596 action plan,…

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Low-Carbon Cement Protocol propels SCM project financing

Sources: ClimeCo, Boyertown, Pa.; CP staff Sustainability consultant ClimeCo and a stakeholder working group have secured approval of U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol v1.0 by the board of Climate Action Reserve, Los Angeles-based global carbon market offset registry. The 72-page document proposes terms for generating voluntary carbon credits from production of novel alternative or supplementary cementitious materials: Raw or calcined natural…

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DOE confirms cement industry’s near-term CO2 emissions reduction

U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk led off a Climate Week New York City session last month noting how proven processing approaches will enable cement producers to book a 30 percent greenhouse gas emissions reduction by the early 2030s and perhaps an additional 10 percent cut by 2050. The metrics set an upbeat tone for the Portland Cement…

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Build America, Buy America fine print contrasts cast-in-place, precast concrete

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has formally delineated Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements as they relate to concrete materials for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)-funded building or nonbuilding construction projects. Final BABA sourcing requirement guidance issued last month indicates procurement interpretations relating to cast-in-place and precast concrete. It puts to rest questions surrounding IIJA…

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Climate Week NYC organizers open cement, concrete panels to the public 

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Climate policy stakeholders will join North American and global cement executives at Climate Week New York City to review how carbon capture technology, alternative fuel and raw material adoption, and government regulations or incentives are helping the industry’s quest for net zero carbon emissions. They will convene 8-11 a.m. on September 19…

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Harvard, MIT researchers peg cement + carbon energy storage prospects

Sources: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; CP staff An investigation based at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has revealed the potential of portland cement, water and carbon black, a common industrial mineral resembling ultrafine charcoal, to create a supercapacitor material suited to low-cost storage of energy derived from solar, wind and tidal power sources. MIT and Harvard University researchers see the…

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