Alamo Cement Co. will source up to 15 percent of annual electricity requirements for its San Antonio plant from a new 24,700-panel solar field built adjacent to the operation’s limestone quarry. Full use of the 45-acre renewable energy infrastructure will position the plant to lower carbon dioxide emissions by 8,000 tons/year. As energy demands rise, Alamo Cement notes, the on-site…
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Building Energy Efficiency in Roofing and Walls
According to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, homes and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy used in the United States. The average American spends at least $2,000 annually paying for energy, with about $200 to $400 of that bill going towards regulating temperatures caused by drafts, air leaks around openings and…
Read MoreClark Pacific halves embodied carbon in new mix design offering
Sources: Clark Pacific, West Sacramento, Calif.; CP staff Clark Pacific, a top West Coast precast, prestressed concrete and design-build operator, has announced Carbonshield, a mix with 50 percent less embodied carbon than conventional concrete alternatives. By leveraging factory-controlled, accelerated curing techniques, Carbonshield offers the same performance as traditional mixes with significantly less portland cement, and affords architects and their clients…
Read MoreCemex to test electric device’s kiln readiness
Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. is the first cement producer to announce testing of Coolbrook Roto Dynamic Heater (RDH) technology, which uses electric power to attain the 1,500-1,700°C kiln temperatures required to calcine and convert limestone and other raw feeds to clinker. At plant scale, an RDH apparatus running on renewable energy sources could potentially replace fossil fuel combustion for the…
Read MoreClark Pacific taps arrays on fast track to renewable energy-powered plants
Sources: Clark Pacific, West Sacramento, Calif.; CP staff A top player in West Coast precast, prestressed concrete production and related design-build work, Clark Pacific has entered a partnership with NewGen Energy that will see solar array installations meeting nearly 100 percent of electricity requirements across three California concrete operations. Enlisting the Loomis, Calif. array engineer and installation services provider in…
Read MoreCement, concrete, and carbon conversation turns to intellectual honesty and plausibility
A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) survey of cement and concrete production builds on U.S. General Services Administration measures, noted here last month, to guide federal construction procurement policy toward lower embodied carbon levels in finished structures. Along with the Departments of Defense and Transportation, General Services stands to favor material or product specifications backed by carbon data presented in…
Read MoreRebar leader Nucor switches to renewable energy for Texas operations
The top concrete reinforcing steel producer and rebar fabricator has signed a 15-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with EDF Renewables North America for 250 megawatts of new solar array-derived energy in Texas. A first for Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp., the agreement represents the steel industry’s largest electricity procurement vehicle of its kind and positions EDF Renewables to add more clean…
Read MoreRebar top gun Nucor wires renewable energy into steelmaking loop
Sources: Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C.; CP staff Leading concrete reinforcing steel producer and fabricator Nucor has signed a 15-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with EDF Renewables North America for 250 megawatts of new solar array-derived energy in Texas. A first for Nucor, the agreement positions EDF Renewables to add more clean energy to the South Central power grid and becomes…
Read MoreZero energy building project activity spikes
Sources: New Buildings Institute, Portland, Ore.; CP staff Demand for zero energy buildings across the U.S. and Canada is growing exponentially, according to new data from New Buildings Institute. The group’s 2020 Getting to Zero Buildings List shows the total number of verified and emerging zero energy buildings in North America has grown to nearly 700, representing a 42 percent…
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