Originally published as a Real Clear Energy op-ed, January 2025 Natural disasters are projected to cost the U.S. nearly $40 billion annually by 2075, highlighting the escalating financial burden of climate-driven disasters. The mounting devastation caused by these extreme events underscores a sobering reality: inaction on current and future construction will only deepen the economic and human toll. The Trump…
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EPA stresses construction material PCR, EPD data integrity
The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pollution Control, tasked with assisting the General Services Administration and Department of Transportation in construction materials procurement tied to Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) programs, closed out 2024 with a call for stakeholder input on draft technical documents framing carbon dioxide emissions accounting and metrics. Officials bills a new program and banner, Construction Material Opportunities…
Read MoreLabor Department reports lower year-over-year work fatalities
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,283 fatal work injuries in 2023, down from 5,486 in 2022. The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers versus 3.7 the prior year. At those rates, a worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022. Transportation incidents were…
Read MoreMnROAD demonstration proves binders’ CO2 reduction efficacy
Carbon Upcycling Technologies Inc., Calgary-based developer of supplementary cementitious materials and carbon management methods, has completed a three-year study on the use of low-carbon cement in highway pavement, teaming with Minnesota Department of Transportation and the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA). Managed by Sutter Engineering LLC of Michigan and sponsored by the NRRA, the study rigorously tested 16 unique concrete…
Read MoreState DOTs land Low Carbon Transportation Materials grants
The Inflation Reduction Act-funded Low Carbon Transportation Materials Discretionary Grant Program will provide $1.2 billion with reimbursement and incentive funding to purchase American-made low carbon construction materials and products, primarily concrete, asphalt, glass and steel. The program is part of the White House Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages federal government buying power to spur demand for materials or products of…
Read MoreUpdated OSHA rule sizes up construction PPE requirements
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s revised Personal Protective Equipment in Construction rule explicitly requires garments, head or eye protection gear and other PPE to fit properly. Revisions the agency finalized late last year align the standard for construction with corresponding language in PPE standards for general industry and shipyards. “Ill-fitting PPE may not protect an employee at all, and…
Read MoreEPA enforcement action, industry compliance metrics climb in 2024
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s FY2024 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Annual Results indicate 1,800-plus concluded civil cases; over 120 criminal defendants charged; 2.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions reduced, treated or eliminated; and, inspections totaling north of 8,500. Work completed in FY 2024, EPA contends, “has established a solid foundation for fulfilling the agency’s mission to protect…
Read MoreCement Products rebrands as Cement Optimized
SEMCO Publishing announced that Concrete Product’s sister publication, Cement Products, the leading voice for North American cement producers, will change its name to Cement Optimized, effective 2025. Cement Optimized will expand its focus on supplementary cementitious materials processing, distribution and uptake in the North American market, where public and private construction interests are streamlining levels of carbon-intensive portland cement in…
Read MoreDOE, Prometheus Materials frame carbon removal accounting
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is providing $10 million to a private/public team tasked with establishing methods for measuring, reporting and verifying carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and sequestration in cement and concrete. The agency’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will team with Colorado-based Prometheus Materials, whose biological process yields a calcium-rich…
Read MoreAgency, California Commission support C-Crete Technologies
C-Crete Technologies LLC, San Leandro, Calif. developer of a concrete binder processed from non-carbonate feedstocks, was recently awarded grants totaling $10.4 million from the California Energy Commission and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to increase production capacity. The funding shows confidence in the firm’s portland cement-free concrete products, dubbed C-Cretes, and recognition that such novel materials align with both Golden…
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