The White House and General Services Administration have marked the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)-funded low embodied carbon (LEC) construction materials procurement program pilot, noting “a dramatic increase of thousands more environmental product declarations used to identify sustainably-manufactured construction materials over the past year. EPDs are a key tool for gaining visibility into a product’s environmental impacts…
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SCM developer Progressive Planet tests plasma-processed quartz silica
Sources: Progressive Planet Solutions Inc., Kamloops, British Columbia; CP staff Progressive Planet cites promising compressive strength performance of concrete specimens prepared with PozPyro, a supplementary cementitious material processed with plasma technology and abundantly available crystalline silica feedstock. Designed in collaboration with Pyrogenesis Canada, the binder exhibits potential as a partial portland cement replacement. Mortar cube testing on four separate PozPyro…
Read MoreEco Material and Southern Co. perpetuate ash harvesting
Fly ash market leader Eco Material Technologies has announced a collaboration with Southern Co. subsidiary Alabama Power to harvest and process millions of tons of stored coal combustion products from Plant Barry, a Bucks, Ala. power station. The project is the third such venture with the Atlanta-based utility giant, following CCP harvesting and processing contracts at Plants Bowen and Branch…
Read MorePerformance specs drive dematerialization strategy
Building Transparency, the Seattle-based organization behind the environmental product declaration-fueled Embodied Carbon Calculator (EC3), raises a “less is more” premise for carbon emissions-minded architectural, engineering and construction professionals. Authors of its latest report, Manufacturers Guide to Embodied Carbon, frame “dematerialization” as a strategy where the lowest cost, lowest carbon footprint specification results from a design requiring less raw material per…
Read MoreFive Questions to Ask at World of Concrete
WOC 2024 is about YOUR Customers, and how you can help them. This year marks the 50th anniversary of World of Concrete, an event that often has seen crowds of more than 50,000 attendees—mostly contractors. For producers, it’s an opportunity to feel the pulse of the industry, including current trends and what’s to come. This year’s event offers new ways…
Read MoreArgos USA merger moves Summit Materials into U.S. cement elite ranks
Sources: Summit Materials Inc., Denver; CP staff At levels just under 100 percent, Summit Materials shareholders approved proposals at the heart a September 2023 agreement with Colombia-based Cementos Argos S.A., paving the path for a January 12 merger of Summit Materials and Argos North America Corp. Valued at $3.2 billion, the merger creates the fourth-largest U.S. cement producer—behind Holcim US,…
Read MoreDecode Customer Behavior to Control EBITDA!
Well-structured quotes based on customer behavior will help control variable costs and boost cash flow and earnings. A company often calculates its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to measure financial health. Stripping out “nonoperational” expenses provides a clearer picture of your company’s ability to generate cash flow for its owners and for judging operational performance. The primary…
Read MoreEagle Materials secures rights to three 240K-tpy Terra CO2 SCM plants
Sources: Eagle Materials Inc., Dallas; Terra CO2 Technology, Golden, Colo.; CP staff Eagle Materials has entered an agreement granting exclusive right to build and operate three facilities processing up to 240,000 tons per year of Terra CO2’s supplementary cementitious material, Opus SCM, from common quarry byproducts or other silicate-rich feeds. The facilities would be earmarked for specific geographic areas. They…
Read MoreCalifornia 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,…
Read MoreEmpire State sets Clean Concrete procurement and EPD submittal terms
Beginning in January 2025, concrete producers will be required to provide environmental product declarations for New York State agency project deliveries above $1 million and 50 yards, or NYS Department of Transportation work above $3 million and 200 yards. Under just-adopted Buy Clean Concrete guidelines, producers will also need to demonstrate that their mix materials exhibit environmental impact below certain…
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