The forerunner in environmental product declaration development tools for ready mixed and manufactured concrete producers kicked off 2025 with a major EPD Information Management System update. Climate Earth has programmed new features into EPD Advantage Pro, led by Tarantula Curve Mix Optimization and ACI 323 Low-Carbon Concrete Code analytics. The company’s flagship program leverages a new, advanced cloud-based architecture to address security, scalability, performance, and information technology integration needs of concrete producers and public or private construction accounts.
Climate Earth presents the Tarantula Curve feature as the first fully digital tool of its kind, yielding optimal trial mix designs that factor strength, workability and sustainability targets plus draft versus published EPDs. Developed at the Oklahoma State University, the Curve charts fine and coarse aggregate gradations best suited to particle packing characteristics that yield target compressive and flexural strengths while minimizing cement paste requirements. Meeting low carbon standards and all constructability targets can be challenging and time consuming for concrete producers and their customers, Climate Earth notes. The Tarantula Curve Mix Optimizer accelerates and simplifies the process of developing a trial mix design. EPD Advantage Pro’s draft EPD and integrated concrete design report capability enables sharing of the optimized mix design with project principals or the lab, prior to publishing the declaration. Upon mix design approval, the saved draft EPD can be published at any time with a single click.
LOW-CARBON CODE
The EPD Advantage Pro update coincides with the ACI 323 Code premier at the 2024 American Concrete Institute Fall Convention in Philadelphia. Climate Earth programmers have equipped the platform so concrete producers can quickly analyze and report on code compliance or alignment. Producers and project stakeholders can also see how EPD-indicated global warming potential (GWP) metrics for proposed or specified mix designs compare to National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Industry Average EPD and California or New York State carbon benchmarks for concrete. Climate Earth programmers will add other thresholds as carbon metrics emerge in federal, state or local agency procurement policies. Anticipating broader adoption of thresholds among public and private construction stakeholders, Climate Earth equips EPD Advantage Pro users to generate high-quality graphics showing weighted GWP for a project and how the performance of each mix meets agency or client standards.
“Concrete sustainability metrics come to life, making informed decisions a breeze. By integrating ACI 323 into EPD Advantage Pro, we’re advancing and simplifying sustainability practices across North America,” says CEO Chris Erickson. “ACI 323 is a fundamental stepping stone toward reducing the concrete industry’s environmental footprint, shifting the focus from individual mixes to whole project impacts.” — Climate Earth, Point Richmond, Calif., 510/831-6350; www.climatearth.com
EPD ADVANTAGE PRO DASHBOARD
TARANTULA CURVE MIX OPTIMIZER
