In mid-September, Thomas Concrete Inc. hosted a presentation on sustainable practices to a group of contractors and specifiers at the Old Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. The event centered around digital tools available to increase efficiency and the use of alternate binders to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete. Special attention was given to Ground-Granulated-Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) as an effective cement replacement in concrete mix designs.
GGBFS, commonly referred to as slag, is a recovered material from the steel industry that carries the same reactive properties and standardized quality requirements as Portland cement, with a significantly lower CO2 footprint. Thomas Concrete Inc. silos in North Carolina are now stocked with slag, which can be used alone or combined with fly ash to replace portions of cement in concrete, leading to embodied carbon reductions of up to 50%.
Another highlight from the presentation emphasized the benefits of digital technology in construction. One example, Digital Strength Measurement, allows Thomas customers to monitor strength progression in real time via live data sent from jobsite sensors to the MyConcrete mobile app. This tool applies the Maturity Method, a long-standing, reliable calculation for estimating early compressive strength of in-place concrete. This valuable insight can facilitate the selection of lower-carbon mix designs.
The event concluded with an overview of the multi-lever approach adopted by the cement and concrete industries to reach net zero concrete by 2050, including carbon-capture-utilization-storage (CCUS), the decarbonization of electricity, and efficiency in design and construction.
Presenters included Joy Davidson, Sustainability Manager for Thomas Concrete Inc, Justin Lazenby, Director of Technical Services for Thomas Concrete Inc, and Karin Gäbel, Chief Sustainability Officer for Thomas Concrete Group.
