Source: American Concrete institute, Farmington Hills, Mich.
The latest ACI Center for Excellence will focus on transforming the concrete industry into a proactive, unified group actively engaged in developing and employing existing or new technologies to reduce finished structures’ carbon footprint. NEU: An ACI Center for Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete, was launched at the Institute’s spring convention in Orlando.
The ACI Board has approved funds for NEU staffing and initial projects, including research to identify technologies that have the potential to significantly impact the carbon footprint of concrete. Additional core functions for the Center, based at ACI headquarters outside Detroit, include coordination with Institute committees, professional development, plus technology assessment, validation and transfer.
The inaugural NEU member is Baker Concrete Inc., the largest concrete contractor in the U.S. and a specialist in pre-construction, construction, and project management services. The Ohio-based contractor provides expertise in civil, commercial, industrial, institutional, multi-family residential, and mission-critical buildings, and has 5,500-plus employees across the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean.
“NEU envisions a concrete industry where all stakeholders have access to technologies and the knowledge needed to effectively and safely produce and place carbon neutral concrete,” says Executive Director Andrea Schokker. “Concrete plays a major role in a sustainable future and collaboration with members worldwide is critical to developing a comprehensive plan to help make the industry carbon neutral by 2050”.
ACI has been convening key industry authorities to advance sustainability for more than a decade, she adds. Its stature as a standards-developing institution and one of the world’s largest sources of consensus-based information on all facets of concrete construction, moreover, uniquely positions NEU to serve to accelerate the use carbon-neutral concrete in the built environment. — www.neuconcrete.org
Related article
ACI Center, Composites Manufacturers eye FRP plant certification