Net Zero School Summit at Yale University Highlights Carbon Positive Future with Concrete

The Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council in conjunction with the CT AIA, CT Green Building Council, NRMCA and Build With Strength recently hosted a NetZero Schools Summit at Yale University’s Hastings Hall (seen here). This critical conversation on carbon mitigation and innovations showcased experts from across the U.S. who discussed sustainability, carbon sequestration in construction and methods to achieve Net Zero schools.  The summit was an encouraging first step toward a growing awareness from the design and construction industries of a carbon positive future with concrete, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Doug O'Neill.

The all-day event attracted 180 attendees and received very high marks from the evaluations reviewed.
The line-up of speakers was formidable, including Dr. Jeremy Gregory, PhD. from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub; Dr. Brent Constantz, PhD. from Blue Planet; Dr. Sean Monkman, PhD. from CarbonCure Technologies; Dr. Gaurav Sant, PhD from UCLA; Dr. Nicholas DeCristofaro, PhD. from Solidia Technologies; Jennifer Mitchell, LEED AP from LinkedIn Corporation; Ken Stanfield, AIA from Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects; Tony Hans PE, RCDD, LEED AP from CMTA Engineers and Dr. Christopher Drew, PhD., from Smith + Gill Architecture.

The evolution of this event began with Dominic Di Cenzo, executive director of the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council, accepting an invitation from Tom Evans, executive director of the Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association, to attend a USGBC conference on net zero schools in the Washington, DC, area. Seeing the need to bring a similar program to his state, Di Cenzo then contacted his local AIA chapter which immediately saw this as a great opportunity to educate its members. NRMCA’s Gregg Lewis was a key contributor to the success of this event by compiling the impressive list of speakers, along with negotiating with Yale University to host the event and helping to promote the event through different media sources.

For more information on how to organize a similar event in your area, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org, Gregg Lewis at glewis@nrmca.org, Dominic Di Cenzo at ctconcretepromotion@gmail.com or Tom Evans at tom@marylandconcrete.com.