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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SCM-driven Queens Carbon lands $14.5M DOE grant, seeks cement partner

Sources: Queens Carbon, Pine Brook, N.J.; CP staff The U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded Queens Carbon $14.5 million to help fund a pilot supplementary cementitious materials facility engineered for 10 metric tons/day output and built at an existing portland cement operation. The startup company applies hydrothermal technology to produce Q-SCM binder, milled…

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ASTM C09 schedules Next Generation Cements and SCMs workshop

Sources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; CP staff ASTM Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates will present Workshop on Next Generation Cements and SCMs: Towards Specification on June 9 in conjunction with standards development meetings in Philadelphia. Workshop organizers cite the rise of new concrete binding agents, often from start-up operators, that do not fall under existing specifications. The…

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Master Builders rheology conditioner eases Type IL concrete mix work

Sources: Master Builders Solutions, Beechwood, Ohio; CP staff World of Concrete 2024 marked the formal North American market debut of Master Builders Solutions’ MasterEase, a next generation rheology-modifying, water-reducing admixture. Recently developed polymers enable the new ASTM C494 Type A agent to lower concrete viscosity compared to prior water reducing admixtures. The polymers reduce yield stress, the main indicator of…

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A brief history of Environmental Product Declarations and the arrival of EPD 3.0

Increasing demand for low carbon concrete, transparency, and digitization are driving a radical transformation in how EPDs are developed and used.  Industry demand for low carbon concrete and the critical need to measure reduced carbon metrics are driving radical change in the concrete industry, which increases monthly with new legislation, investor and commercial demand influencing construction materials production and specifications.…

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National Science Foundation funds Roman concrete investigation

A researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, is looking to solve the problems of tomorrow by using chemistry from the distant past. Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Dr. Monday Uchenna Okoronkwo is investigating how to mimic the chemistry and composition of ancient Roman concrete while also applying modern technology to make today’s slabs, structures and…

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Cement Association of Canada delivers Concrete Zero

Sources: Cement Association of Canada, Ottawa; CP staff Along with member producers and downstream partners, the Cement Association of Canada has released Concrete Zero, an action plan for carbon emissions reduction measures up and down the industry’s value chain. The document builds on formal CO2 benchmarks that CAC and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada officials outlined last fall in Roadmap…

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