Displaying items by tag: US
CarbonBuilt’s reduced-CO2 concrete block technology win three Fast Company Innovation by Design prizes
24 August 2023US: Carbon Built’s proprietary technology for the production of reduced-CO2 concrete blocks won awards across three categories at the Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards 2023. The product won the Circular Design, Materials and Sustainability prizes. Carbon Built’s technology enables existing concrete block plants to use common alternative raw materials to produce blocks with 70 – 100% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement-based blocks.
US: Block-Lite plans to install a system to cure concrete blocks using direct air capture (DAC)-sourced CO2 at its Flagstaff, Arizona, concrete block plant. The upgrade will implement CarbonBuilt’s low-CO2 concrete production technology and AirCapture’s modular DAC technology, across five or six capture units. Direct air capture will thus remove 500 – 600t/yr of CO2 from the atmosphere, while process changes will reduce CO2 emissions from the Flagstaff plant by over 2000t/yr. The project has attracted fundraising from the 4 Corners Carbon Coalition (4CCC), with a goal of US$50,000. The Arizon Daily Sun newspaper has reported that Block-Lite plans to supply its first shipment of low-CO2 blocks to a 50-home development by Habitat for Humanity in Flagstaff.
US: Prometheus Materials' microalgae biocement-based bioconcrete has demonstrated 12 times greater sound absorption than concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Prometheus Materials' bioconcrete contains its biocement, which is produced at ambient temperature, without process CO2 emissions.
US: Geopolymer cement and concrete producer Renca has supplied its geopolymer 3D printing mortar for the construction of a house in the Western US. The product contains no cement, lime or gypsum due to the non-hydraulic binding properties of the mortar. It contains industrial by-products and has a faster setting time than mortar produced with ordinary Portland cement (OPC), as well as 90% lower CO2 emissions.
Renca said that its geopolymer mortar performed well despite the desert setting of the project, with dramatic changes in temperature. It added, "Even though geopolymer mortars require a specific approach towards the mixing procedure and, unlike cementitious-based products, need to be mixed in a batch mixing system, this milestone opens new horizons. Renca's current research and development seeks to develop a one-component geopolymer mortar for continuous mixers, as well as a 2K system where you can control the setting time right at the nozzle."
C-Crete Technologies celebrates commercial debut of its binder in cement-free concrete pour in Seattle
19 July 2023US: C-Crete Technologies supplied its binder for a pour of 60t of cement-free concrete at a construction site in Seattle, Washington. CNNW News has reported that the binder replaces cement, eliminating 1t of CO2 emissions per tonne of concrete.
C-Crete Technologies president Rouzbeh Savary said "We are thrilled to introduce our cement-free concrete, a game-changer in sustainable construction.” He added “Given that our product meets industry standards and has cost-parity with conventional concrete, it opens up an entirely new era in construction."
Global Cement and Concrete Association and WAP Sustainability launch environmental product declarations for concrete
18 July 2023North America: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has partnered with consultancy WAP Sustainability to launch an on-demand environmental product declaration (EPD) service for concrete products. The partners say that their EPDs will allow concrete producers to show the impacts of their products across metrics including CO2 emissions. This is in line with current market trends, including increasing Buy Clean initiatives in federal and state procurement under the Inflation Reduction Act.
GCCA's concrete and sustainable construction director Andrew Minson said “The cement and concrete sector is playing a key part in sustainable construction, but this requires transparent, objective and accessible data on the environmental impact of our products. Our collaboration with WAP will allow concrete producers to quickly and cost effectively produce EPDs that can demonstrate the contribution of their products to a sustainable world of tomorrow.”
WAP Sustainability’s EPD director James Salazar said “WAP’s partnership with the GCCA leverages the GCCA’s industry-leading computation engine with WAP’s easy-to-use software and full-service support. As requirements for EPDs grow, we’re excited to offer credible and low-cost solutions through close partnerships with industry leaders like the GCCA.”
US: Eco Material Technologies has supplied its PozzoCEM Vite clinker-free cement to 3D printing construction firm Hive 3D for its The Casitas @ The Halles project in Texas. PozzoCEM Vite cement has 92% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The producer said that concrete produced using PozzoCEM Vite is also more durable and longer lasting than OPC-based concrete. Eco Material Technologies and Hive 3D developed a custom batching system to mix PozzoCEM Vite cement and local Texan sand for use in the project. Eco Material Technologies said that the system created a significant cost reduction compared with other available printable mortar technologies.
Eco Material Technologies recently launched a new 99% reduced CO2 PozzoCEM formulation, which it expects to use in future projects with Hive 3D. Other reduced-CO2 cements produced by Eco Material Technologies include its PozzoSlag 50% ground granulated blast furnace slag cement. In total, Eco Material Technologies has supplied 1Mt of reduced-CO2 cements across 4000 construction sites since 2012. It said that it expects to announce multiple new infrastructure projects and strategic partnerships later in 2023.
Eco Material Technologies' CEO Grant Quasha said “Hive 3D’s commitment to building the first 100% cement replacement 3D printed homes aligns with our goal of transitioning the construction industry away from using materials that generate approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions each year."
Holcim US launches ECOPact concrete in Colorado
11 May 2023US: Holcim US has begun selling ECOPact reduced-CO2 concrete in the Colorado Springs, Denver and Pueblo markets in Colorado. The producer says that the range offers 30 - 90% lower CO2 emissions than concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Colorado aims to achieve CO2 emissions reductions of 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050.
Holcim US' Mountain regional general manager and senior vice president Kevin Peart said "Sustainable construction is essential to building a net-zero future in Colorado and across the nation. Denver has consistently ranked as one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, and Colorado Springs is projected to become the state's largest city within the next 15 years. Low-carbon, high-performance building solutions such as ECOPact are essential to mitigating climate change and creating a more sustainable, resilient urban landscape."
US: Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) have developed a method for making low-carbon concrete using cement and biochar, a type of charcoal made from organic waste that is nearly as strong as standard concrete. The team, led by doctoral student Zhipeng Li, strengthened the biochar with concrete wastewater. The biochar was able to suck up to 23% of its weight in carbon dioxide from the air.
Previous attempts to add biochar as a substitute in cement have significantly reduced the strength of the resulting concrete. However, the WSU project found that by treating the biochar with concrete washout wastewater it was able to add up to 30% biochar to cement mixtures. The paste made of the biochar-amended cement was able to reach a compressive strength after 28 days comparable to that of ordinary cement. The researchers used calcium in the concrete washout water to induce the formation of calcite, which benefits the biochar and, eventually, the concrete that incorporates it.
Xianming Shi, professor in the WSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said, “We’re very excited that this will contribute to the mission of zero-carbon built environment.” He added, “Most other researchers were only able to add up to 3% biochar to replace cement, but we’re demonstrating the use of much higher dosages because we’ve figured out how to engineer the surface of the biochar.”
The synergy between the highly alkaline wastewater that contains a lot of calcium and the highly porous biochar meant that calcium carbonate precipitated onto or into the biochar, strengthening it and allowing for the capture of carbon dioxide from the air. A concrete made of the material would be expected to continue sequestering CO2 for the lifetime of the concrete, typically 30 years in pavement or 75 years in a bridge.
The researchers have been working with the WSU Office of Commercialization to protect the intellectual property and have filed a provisional patent application on their carbon-negative concrete work. They recently received a seed grant from the Washington Research Foundation to produce more data for a variety of use cases. They are also actively seeking industry partners from the building and construction sector to scale up production for field demonstrations and licensing this WSU technology.
US: A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a new method to sequester CO2 in concrete before curing it. The method is based on the addition of bicarbonate of soda, which reacts with cement to produce a calcium carbonate-calcium silicone hydrate composite. The Journal of Engineering has reported that the method adds the benefits of CO2 mineralisation during production and casting, doubling the mechanical performance of early-stage concrete. It also eliminates the effects of carbonation reactions in cured concrete, which weaken the concrete by lowering its alkalinity, which accelerates the corrosion of rebar. The method has the potential to sequester 15% of CO2 emissions from cement production.
The team said “The pre-curing capacity of concrete to sequester CO2 has been largely underestimated and underutilised. Our new discovery could further be combined with other recent innovations in the development of lower carbon footprint concrete admixtures to provide much greener, and even carbon-negative, construction materials.”