Pave Ahead Discusses Low Carbon Concrete with Portland, OR, City Officials

NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Greg Halsted recently participated in a Low Carbon Concrete Initiative meeting with officials from Portland, OR. This meeting came about through the efforts of the Northwest Cement Council (NCC) Executive Director Diane Warner to continue discussions between the city and the cement and concrete industry regarding the current state and future direction of Portland's recommendations for concrete embodied carbon thresholds and how to implement strategies to reduce the carbon intensity of concrete used on city projects. Portland Sustainable Procurement Program Manager Cary Watters noted that discussions between the city and industry had slowed over the past couple of years and asked those in attendance (eight from the city and seven from industry) their thoughts on joint interaction moving forward.

Halsted presented an overview of the current state of NRMCA’s Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) program and how the recently received $9.6 million grant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would increase both the quantity and quality of ready mixed concrete EPDs by providing monetary assistance to producers to create EPDs. This overview kicked off a lively and productive discussion regarding new concrete mixes with Type IL cement; higher percentages of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), ternary concrete mixes and how these should be implemented.

Joining Halsted and NCC at the meeting were representatives from NRMCA members Knife River, Wilsonville Concrete Products, Euclid Chemical Company, CalPortland and Heidelberg Materials. The consensus from the group was that it would be a great idea to “get the band back together” and continue discussions on a more regular basis, Halsted said.

For additional information, contact Greg Halsted at ghalsted@nrmca.org.