At the recent Canadian Concrete Expo in Mississauga, Ont., attendees at a seminar appropriately titled Sustainable Concrete as a Competitive Advantage were advised to not just accept, but to embrace changes in the concrete industry.
“Sustainability is no longer operational. We are starting to see sustainable competitive pressure,” said guest speaker Master Builders Solutions product manager Philip Matisak.
As examples of sustainable competitive pressure, he cited the 2030 to 2050 carbon goals of large tech firms such as Google, Amazon and Samsung.
“They require low-embodied carbon materials — today.”
The pursuit for concrete sustainability in the industry isn’t just confined to development in large urban areas. It’s also occurring in the rural areas of eastern Ontario, the Maritimes and the middle of Alberta, said Matisak.
Noting cement manufacturing is the most energy-intensive component of concrete production, he also pointed out cement producers such as Holcim and Titan have set ambitious carbon dioxide reduction targets.
The thrust of the presentation was that designers, contractors, producers and other industry members can capitalize on a readily available range of products and programs to meet clients’ sustainable goals, overcome challenges and, in the process, become competitive.
“Blended cements are here to stay and next generation materials are coming,” said Matisak, citing a number or examples.
They include limestone blends greater than 20 per cent, ternary cements and polozzan blends. Other products include concrete condition admixtures that improve flow and levelling.
In another example he referenced a product intended to overcome the problem of returned or wasted concrete. Over 400 million tons of concrete in the United States and Canada are wasted every year, which is more than five per cent of the produced total.
“What can be done with this concrete?” said Matisak, citing the costly and time-consuming process of landfilling or crushing the material for road base.
An alternative solution is the Master Suna RCT 223 which converts returned/leftover concrete to granular fill, which then can be repurposed as backfill, road base or recycled aggregate. Another product is the MasterSet DELVO hydration stabilizer which is approved for use in Canada and is used to stabilize concrete slump and workability for long haul transportation.
In response to an email query, he pointed out the reuse of returned concrete into new batches is not approved in Canada, unlike the United States where it is approved under the ASTM C1798/C1798M specification.
“It would be great if a similar standard was approved in Canada.”
Recycled and reused concrete reduces use of virgin material, saves both water and cement and reduces carbon emissions, he emphasized.
“How do we quantify sustainability benefits?” asked Matisak, who then provided the answer.
The best way for concrete producers to validate their carbon footprint is through Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which Matisak likened to nutrition labels.
EPDs are third-party verified documents that list the “cradle to gate” environmental impacts to create a product or service. Producers can use the information from an EPD to optimize their concrete mixture and lower emissions.
“EPDs publish impacts, but not proportions or mix designs and are valid for five years. They will help you market differently and win new business.”
There has been a 23-per-cent increase in the number of EPDs for the concrete sector in Canada since 2023, he pointed out.
The audience was also urged to visit and make use of the EC3 Building Transparency online portal. Building Transparency is a coalition of industry groups which developed the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3), among other initiatives.
“It’s where architects and designers go.”
