On June 17, the Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece by journalist Vince Beiser titled “Concrete is the stuff civilization is made of. But for all its blessings, there are huge environmental costs.” In it, Beiser misrepresents the cement and concrete industry’s environmental impact and negates the positives of resilient, non-combustible concrete construction. Build With Strength Los Angeles, a diverse coalition of community organizations advocating for a safer built environment in Los Angeles, responded:
"We are members of the Build With Strength Los Angeles Coalition, and together we represent diverse communities united in the effort to advocate for the use of safe, non-combustible, and sustainable building materials. We were disappointed with the inaccuracies in Vince Beiser’s LA Times article last week regarding concrete’s place in modern construction. Amidst our ever-increasing population density, it is non-combustible construction that keeps us safe in our homes, work-places, schools and places of worship. While infrastructure upgrades are always welcome, the assertion that a non-combustible construction material be replaced leaves us vulnerable to development with cheaper materials that put lives in danger, like wood. The author links concrete to global carbon emissions, but only tells half the story by omitting that the sustainable and insulating nature of concrete contribute the lower lifetime energy usage and costs to heat and cool these structure, not to mention the implied alternative of clear-cutting for building materials threatens the ability of forests to remove carbon from the air; and the devastating impact of a fire on structures built with combustible materials can bring a community to its knees."
Allied construction materials organizations have also responded:
• Man-made and natural disasters, like the wildfires and hurricanes of 2017, demonstrate the need for resilient construction. When considering carbon released rebuilding after disasters, the greenest building is the one left standing. Concrete’s durability has helped save lives, and allowed highways and hospitals to be quickly returned to service following a major disaster. In turn, less carbon is released from the production of materials like wood used in reconstruction. Michael Ireland, president and CEO, Portland Cement Association
• Unless we choose to limit development, which goes against social and ethical standards of fairness, we will need solutions that embrace a long-term and life cycle perspective. We should focus on changing the incentives for development so that this perspective is embraced and we can make the most out of the concrete that is used. Dr. Jeremy Gregory, executive director, MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub
• New research shows concrete in the built environment absorbs CO2 through carbonation. Globally, 4.5 gigatonnes of CO2 has been sequestered in carbonating cement materials from 1930 to 2013, offsetting roughly 43% of CO2 emissions from cement production over the same period. Concrete absorbs CO2 over its lifespan. Wood products once removed from living trees continue to emit CO2. Frank Came, communications director, Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition
• In a truly sustainable world we must not only have a low impact on the environment, but the environment must have a low impact on us. Sustainability requires that the buildings in which we live and work be resilient to the environment as much as being sensitive to it. Evan Reis, executive director US Resiliency Council.
For more information on Build with Strength Los Angeles, please visit www.buildwithstrength.com.
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association