Tech elite enlist WJE to prove low-carbon, data center slab mixes

Sources: Open Compute Project Foundation, Austin, Texas; CP staff The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) has tapped construction materials testing and engineering giant Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. (WJE) to measure a set of low embodied carbon concrete mixes for their potential in data center floors. The mixes use supplementary cementitious materials plus a portland cement alternative binder derived from…

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Mix specs lead off tech giants’ data center carbon calculation

Sources: Infrastructure Masons, Beaverton, Ore.; CP staff iMasons Climate Accord Hyperscale members Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta Platforms and Microsoft have penned an open letter, Greener Concrete for Data Centers, imploring their industry to work together to a) Deliver a technology roadmap to decarbonize concrete; b) Set standard carbon dioxide emissions measurement baselines to measure against; c) Drive transparency through Environmental…

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Google sister company’s timber dream warrants safe building practice search

The bill of goods that purveyors of cross laminated timber (CLT) panels and companion, engineered wood assemblies pitch to building design and construction interests continues to baffle. A campaign to legitimize CLT as viable for mid- to high-rise building is taking shape substantively and symbolically: Recent International Code Council hearings saw mass timber proponents look beyond an 85-ft. height threshold for local building code-sanctioned application of their products. Wood product cheerleaders, meanwhile, skirt matters like occupant safety but stress environmental or building practice milestones when presenting a mid- or high-rise structure for which mass timber is the primary load-bearing material.

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Google anchors group promoting building product information transparency

36 Quartzv 600

Flux, a San Jose-based technology company founded to deliver collaboration tools for increasing efficiencies in building architecture and engineering, has teamed with Google, a global tech company committed to creating healthy and sustainable workplaces; Healthy Building Network (HBN), a nonprofit devoted to reducing toxic building materials; and, thinkstep, a global sustainability software, data and services firm, to launch the Quartz database.

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