NRMCA, Build With Strength Host California Low Carbon Concrete Roundtable

NRMCA Director, Building Innovations, Brandon Wray, organized a half day low carbon concrete event in San Francisco last week. The event was structured to pull in experts and stakeholders from various aspects of the built environment to discuss successes, strategies and next steps pertinent to the implementation, growth and acceptance of low carbon concrete. Attendees highlighted the ability of concrete to adapt to the climate demands of owners and designers while still excelling at being a high performance and resilient material.

The roundtable was kicked off by a low carbon concrete policy update and a case study review of the Casa Adelante project, a post-tensioned concrete affordable housing project that achieved a 36% reduction in embodied carbon as supplied by NRMCA Producer member Central Concrete Supply. The event hit its stride with an owner and designer roundtable discussion that was moderated by Wray (seen here at podium) and involved panelists from Lendlease, Google, Amazon Web Services, Gensler, SOM and Tipping Structural. The roundtable closed with a contractor, producer and material supplier discussion was moderated by California Nevada Cement Association Technical Director Nathan Forrest which harnessed the expertise of panelists from Webcor, Turner Construction, Vulcan Materials Company, Cemex and CalPortland.

Attendees departed the event with an expanded and illuminated understanding of low carbon concrete, Wray said. He noted that ‘the planning, design, procurement and installation of low carbon concrete is presently a nuanced process in which the magnitude of success is highly dependent upon early collaboration. Fortunately, this process is becoming more and more commonplace with concrete proving to be a reliable solution to sustainable and resilient design.”

Attendees were encouraged to further collaborate with NRMCA members and Build With Strength consultants to more fully realize the advantages ofo concrete construction.

Download the event flyer here. For more information, contact Brandon Wray at bwray@nrmca.org.