Build With Strength Part of Colorado Conference Aimed at Speeding Transition to Low Carbon Cement, Concrete

Build With Strength recently participated in a two-day conference held by a Colorado-based laboratory centered on how to accelerate the transition to low carbon cement and concrete solutions. NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Patrick Matsche attended the event hosted by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden. "The meeting focused on emerging technologies and how those solutions can be merged with current and future industry needs," said Matsche who was joined by his NRMCA colleague Tiffany Reed-Villareal, Todd Ohlheiser of the Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Portland Cement Association's Michelle Wilson and several NRMCA member companies. (Shown here are, from left to right, Ana Aday, PhD, NREL; Dorian Krause, PE, Pathways/CLF; Reed-Villarreal, Mikaela DeRousseau, Building Transparency/CLF; Hailey Goodale, EIT, Colorado DOT and Matsche.)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded NRMCA a $9.63 million grant aimed at “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Construction Materials and Products.” The grant will fund a five-year project managed by NRMCA and supported by the Build With Strength initiative which includes a team of concrete experts to educate the architectural and engineering communities on designing and specifying low carbon concrete. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced plans to create a low carbon cement and concrete center of excellence to reduce industrial emissions, of which NREL is eligible. The center is part of DOE’s strategy to leverage the convening power of national laboratories to support industrial decarbonization technologies from idea inception to adoption.

Two days of panel discussions, open forum debates and laboratory tours provided insights into the exciting opportunities and challenges ahead in the effort to decarbonize the built environment, Matsche said.

The Build With Strength platform is a leader in supporting structural engineers, architects, end users and specifiers in achieving low carbon, high-performance concrete. For more information, contact Patrick Matsche at pmatsche@nrmca.org or 415-672-5275 or Tiffany Reed-Villarreal, treedvillarreal@nrmca.org, 817-771-3595.