International Code Council launches “Code on a Mission” challenge

The International Code Council, a leading global source of model codes or standards and building safety solutions, presents its “Code on a Mission” challenge with an eye to having over a third of the U.S. population covered by the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) by the end of 2023. To make this a reality, ICC encourages the building industry…

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NRMCA joins global effort targeting net-zero carbon emissions

Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and Build With Strength initiative have aligned with a global consortium of concrete and cement trade associations or organizations committing to a net-zero carbon dioxide emissions industry by 2050. Their action dovetails release of Global Cement and Concrete Association’s (GCCA) 2050 Cement & Concrete…

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Cement producers formally approve carbon neutrality roadmap

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff True to a timeline announced in late 2020, the Portland Cement Association has adopted a Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, billing it as an ambitious journey to low carbon dioxide emissions across the cement and concrete value chain by 2050. The document demonstrates how the U.S. cement and concrete industry, along with parties…

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GCC schedules Montana mill’s portland-limestone cement shift

Sources: GCC of America, Denver; CP staff The GCC Trident Plant near Three Forks, Mont. will fully convert to portland-limestone cement (PLC) production early next year. With capacity upward of 350,000 tons, the 110-year-old operation can potentially lower its net carbon dioxide emissions by 25,000 tons annually, based on the blending of fine limestone at 5 percent to 15 percent…

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Lehigh Hanson seals green message in packaged PLC

Sources: Lehigh Hanson Inc., Irving, Texas; CP staff EcoCemPLC portland limestone cement will arrive at big box and construction supply accounts next month in redesigned bags whose graphics emphasize the material’s key metric: A carbon dioxide emissions factor about 10 percent below that of ordinary portland cement. Evolved packaging dovetails an ongoing Lehigh Hanson commitment to carbon footprint reduction and…

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Key Holcim (US) mill all in on portland limestone cement

Sources: LafargeHolcim U.S. Cement, Chicago; CP staff A Texas concrete materials supply chain fixture, the Holcim (US) Inc. Midlothian plant is the first cement mill in the country to fully convert to production of portland limestone cement (PLC), where fine limestone at 5 percent to 15 percent volumes is ground with clinker. The finished binder exhibits performance comparable to ordinary…

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EPA ‘Clean Trucks Plan’ nixes NOx, embraces zero emissions models

Sources: Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff The Environmental Protection Agency plans a 2022-24 release of rulemakings to extend the sharp reduction of heavy-duty truck emissions realized from the 2010 measure that standardized diesel particulate filter, selective catalytic reduction, and related exhaust treatment system components in on- and on/off-highway fleets. 

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Lehigh Redding moves to mill SCM from CO2-rich kiln emissions

Lehigh Hanson Inc. and Fortera Inc., a Silicon Valley technology developer wise to calcium carbonate chemistry and mineralization, are teaming to commercialize a process with optimal output for an era of greenhouse gas scrutiny: Converting the carbon dioxide gas emitted to the environment at the front end, or calcining phase, of ASTM C150 powder production into a blendable supplementary cementitious…

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CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure teams take $20M global competition

Sources: CP staff; XPrize Foundation, Culver City, Calif.  Processes proved at commercial scale to mineralize and sequester carbon dioxide gas in finished concrete have earned their developers, CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure Technologies, top honors in NRG Cosia Carbon Xprize, a six-year global competition centered on managing and monetizing emissions from coal and natural gas combustion. 

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Golden State cement producers release roadmap to carbon neutral operation

Sources: California Nevada Cement Association, Anaheim; CP staff The California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) envisions three major pathways for the industry to attain net zero carbon operation by 2045: reducing production process emissions, reducing combustion emissions through fuel switching, and increasing distributed electricity generation.  

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