We are excited to share the first release of Concrete Carbon: A Guideline for Specifying Low Carbon Ready Mixed Concrete in Canada, provided by the CRMCA (Concrete Canada).
Canada’s concrete industry is committed to low carbon.
Concrete Carbon Guide
This document provides guidance on how to specify low carbon concrete using a project concrete carbon budget approach that also supports achieving performance and constructability needs.
This guide includes information on essential areas of knowledge for sustainable concrete specifying, including:
- EPDs
- Carbon Reduction Goals
- Performance-based Specifications
- Concrete Carbon Project Budgets
- Case Studies from Alberta, Ontario and Quebec
What is Low Carbon Concrete?
Low carbon concrete refers to concrete produced with a lower carbon footprint than traditional mix designs using baseline technology, while still meeting all relevant performance requirements. To employ low carbon concrete, specifiers, contractors and ready mixed producers should work together to use available lower carbon impact materials and the design techniques outlined in this guideline.
Specifying Low Carbon Ready Mixed Concrete in Canada
Achieving low carbon specifications is highly dependent on using the latest concrete technology and local materials with the lowest possible carbon footprint. Since concrete production materials vary across the country, each individual ready mixed producer must use their expertise, experience and available tools to determine and batch the optimal concrete mix design. Giving the ready mixed producers the flexibility to provide concrete that meets the specified performance criteria via the use of a CSA Performance-Based Specification approach will lead to an optimized design AND a more sustainable concrete solution.