Material standards, performance specifications and carbon accounting for lower carbon cement and concrete.
As the most widely used construction material on the planet, there is a wealth of guidance available through industry associations and member companies across North America.
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is an independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the lifecycle environmental impact of a product.
In Canada, material standards for construction materials are largely developed through the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
Lower carbon concrete is achieved not by any one action, but rather the cumulative effects of many material and design considerations.
Project specifications that are prescriptive in nature often limit the types and quantities of ingredients and material proportions for concrete, which can stifle innovation, increase costs, and limit effective communication and cooperation with local producers.
As codes and standards evolve across Canada, supporting research and testing is constantly being undertaken by industry to profile and demonstrate the performance of cement and concrete materials, from the microstructure of the most basic and innovative ingredients to the durability and resilience of concrete structures.