ASCE-hosted Institute pens Lower Carbon Concrete Guide

A new American Society of Civil Engineers/Structural Engineering Institute guide advances adoption of concrete mixes with lower than normal embodied carbon, outlining best practices across a building’s design, specification, procurement, and construction phases. Targeted to project principals overseeing mix designs and schedules, Lower Carbon Concrete Guide supports the core objective of the SE 2050 Commitment Program, where participants prioritize embodied carbon reduction “through the use of less and/or less impactful structural materials.”

The mission of the SE 2050 Commitment is to support the SE 2050 Challenge and transform the practice of structural engineering in a way that is holistic, firm-wide, project based, and data-driven. By targeting embodied carbon through the use of fewer and/or less impactful structural materials, participating firms can more easily work toward net zero embodied carbon structural systems by 2050.

The Lower Carbon Concrete Guide frames carbon criteria around the Global Warming Potential (GWP) metrics—widely referenced in Environmental Product Declarations—emerging in public or private construction policies, certifications and procurement guidelines. “The industry is working towards but currently lacks consensus on how to effectively utilize this information for decision-making in construction projects and for tracking GWP,” authors contend. “The guide seeks to address this gap within cast-in-place concrete, one of the larger point sources of emitted carbon in construction. With example calculations and language, this guide emphasizes the use of GWP benchmarks and thresholds, performance-oriented specifications, testing for new mixtures, and competitive bidding that rewards those advancing lower carbon concrete use.”

The SEI Lower Carbon Concrete Task Force prepared the guide under the leadership of Don Davies, Seattle-based engineer and veteran executive of structural engineering powerhouse Magnusson Klemencic Associates. Joining him on the guide development were Anne Ellis, P.E., Virginia-based engineer and past American Concrete Institute president; Larry Sutter, P.E., Michigan-based consultant; and, Thomas Van Dam, P.E. principal of Illinois-based testing and consulting giant Wiss Janey Elstner. Among recent activities dovetailing their SEI work, Sutter and Van Dam have helped spearhead the American Concrete Pavement Association Reduced Carbon Concrete Consortium and steer a low embodied carbon concrete mix demonstration for the major technology leaders’ Open Compute Project Foundation.