Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff National Ready Mixed Concrete Association producers have lowered their carbon footprint by 21 percent in seven years, according to a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report and Industry Wide Environmental Product Declaration (IW EPD) published earlier this month. NRMCA has tracked environmental impacts—carbon dioxide emissions, energy and water use, and waste…
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Life cycle-attuned Institute updates Impact Estimator for Buildings
Sources: Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, Ottawa; CP staff
The Athena Institute includes updates for concrete masonry and ready mixed concrete in the just-released version 5.4 whole-building life cycle assessment (LCA) software tool, Impact Estimator for Buildings. The software models any building type at any point in the design stage and eases side by side comparison of material specifications and methods. It also helps users reduce projects’ environmental impact, earn the LCA credit in LEED green building rating system, or report embodied carbon.
Read MoreReport chips away at wood industry’s low carbon building narrative
Sources: International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, Manitoba; CP staff
A Cement Association of Canada-funded report exposes the limitations of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies whose results have thus far painted a more favorable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions profile of wood versus concrete or steel buildings. As the main tools to measure building products’ carbon footprints at the production, use and end of life phases, LCA studies as presently executed can exaggerate the importance of embodied GHG impacts when they discount or ignore other significant life-cycle emissions, according to “Emission Omissions: Carbon accounting gaps in the built environment.”
Read MoreSustainability specialist economizes plant-specific LCA, EPD preparation
A catalyst behind much of the environmental impacts in concrete production database, the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute has released an online calculator affording ready mixed producers instant Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declaration figures for any mix, easing preparation of full LCA and EPD reports for green building certification candidate projects.
ASTM-led consortium eyes improved PCR, LCA and EPD for green building interests
Sources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; CP staff
A first-of-its-kind consortium in the green-building industry convened 15 manufacturers and industry representatives in a roundtable discussion on the needs for enhancing product transparency and stewardship through effective product category rules (PCR), life cycle assessment reports (LCA), environmental product declarations (EPD), and Sustainable Minds Transparency Reports.
Read MoreASTM, ICC ES pool resources in PCR-, LCA-, EPD-centered consortium
Officials from ASTM International, the International Code Council’s ICC Evaluation Service subsidiary and Michigan-based NSF International have announced the first Program Operator Consortium, serving as an expert resource for creating product category rules (PCR), reviewing life cycle assessment (LCA) reports, plus verifying and publishing environmental product declarations (EPD).
Read MoreASTM, ICC ES pool resources in PCR-, LCA-, EPD-centered consortium
Sources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; CP staff
Officials from ASTM, the (International Code Council) ICC Evaluation Service and Michigan-based NSF International have announced the first Program Operator Consortium, serving as an expert resource for creating product category rules (PCR), reviewing life cycle assessment (LCA) reports, plus verifying and publishing environmental product declarations (EPD).
Read MoreNRMCA certifies five Graniterock plants’ Environmental Product Declarations
Northern California’s leading independent aggregate and concrete operator, Graniterock, has issued Environmental Product Declarations covering 30 mixes at three central and two transit mixed plants serving Silicon Valley and coastal markets south. National Ready Mixed Concrete Association certified the documents as an EPD Program Operator, adding them to a growing industry library hosted on its website.
Read MoreLCA, carbon deployment, resilience topics highlight Concrete Sustainability Conference
Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
Speakers have been selected for NRMCA’s 10th annual International Concrete Sustainability Conference, to be held May 12-14, in Miami. Over 60 world-renowned experts will present the latest developments related to design, specifying, manufacturing, testing, construction, maintenance and research of concrete as they dovetail sustainability. Keynote speakers and topics include:
SOFTWARE EXTRACTS MATERIALS’ LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT FROM LEADING BIM PROGRAM
Philadelphia architect KieranTimberlake has released a beta version of Tally, a software application allowing users to measure building materials’ and products’ environmental impact directly in Autodesk’s Revit—a key software program to support building information modeling.
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