T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Sustainable Concrete Design in the Green

Revolution: A Producer’s Perspective

Ryan Henkensiefken, P.E.

LEED Green Associate

INTERNATIONAL

CONCRETE SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCEAUGUST 9-11, 2011 BOSTON

Mike Donovan, P.E.

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

How Far We Haven’t Come

1970 2011

Compressive Strength: 3,000 psiSack Content: 6 sack

Compressive Strength: 4,000 psiCement Content: 550 lbs

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Environmental Impact of Construction Industry

P2P Initiative

Current Design Codes

Four-Point Curve Method

Mixture Submittal Process

Four-Point Curve and Sustainability

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Environmental Impacts

Buildings 49%(49.6 QBtu)

Transportation 28%(27.0 QBTu)

Industry 23%(21.7 QBtu)

Building Operations 77%(29.99 QBtu)

Transportation 0.2%(0.07 QBTu)

Industry 23%(8.96 QBtu)

LEED® rating system addresses the issue

LEED focuses on energy use during building operation

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Typical Building Energy Consumption

This is the focus of LEED

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

LEED Building Energy Consumption

This piece should not be

forgotten

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Concrete’s Contribution to GHG Emissions

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Electricity Food Construction

Sco

pe

1, 2

, & 3

(% o

f to

tal

U.S

. GH

G E

mis

sion

s)

Concrete

This reaction takes a considerable amount of energy input, i.e. CO2

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Prescriptive-to-Performance (P2P)

• NRMCA led initiative to provide an alternative specification that stipulates performance, not a prescriptive list of constituents

• Started nearly 10 years ago• Apple has 4 versions of the

iphone in half the time.• Faltered as the industry is not aligned to promote

innovationNeed a Value-Proposition that is As Seamless As

PossibleTrying to be high-tech in a low-tech industry

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

• Environmental Impact of Construction Industry• P2P Initiative• Current Design Codes• Four-Point Curve Method• Mixture Submittal Process• Four-Point Curve and Sustainability

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Current Design Codes

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Four-Point Curve

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Four-Point Curve Performance

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65

Rel

ativ

e P

erfo

rman

ce

com

par

ed to

w/c

0.3

9

w/c

Strength

Shrinkage

RCP

MOE

Carbon Equivalent

Data will commonly show a linear relationship

Other mixture designs and their properties can be interpolated easily

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Mix Catalog

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Performance Mixture Submittal

Still provide a prescriptive piece, but are continually expanding the designers

comfort zone

Performance measures are also included to get

designers comfortable

Carbon Footprint is only as good as the Carbon

Calculator

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Environmental Impact of Construction Industry

P2P Initiative

Current Design Codes

Four-Point Curve Method

Mixture Submittal Process

Four-Point Curve and Sustainability

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Concrete & Sustainability

How to make concrete more sustainableLower cement contentsReplace cement with SCM’s

How do we control thisWe can’t control what we can’t manageWe can’t manage what we don’t measureA bad measurement can be worse than no

measurement

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Concrete & Sustainability

• Must have a standard method for determining a carbon footprintWorld Resource Institute Standards

Scope 1 – Direct EmissionsScope 2 – Indirect EmissionsScope 3 – Supply Chain

Carbon Leadership ForumCategories for how to determine carbon footprint

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Concrete & Sustainability

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

1 3 7 28 56

Com

pre

ssiv

e S

tren

gth

(psi

)

Age (Days)

100% Cement - 598 lbs CO2

15% Ash - 500 lbs CO2

20% Ash - 477 lbs CO2

EFv2 - 358 lbs CO2

5,000 psi

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

Concrete & Sustainability

-0.060

-0.050

-0.040

-0.030

-0.020

-0.010

0.000

7 14 21 28

Dry

ing

Sh

rin

kag

e (%

)

Age (Days)

100% Cement - 598 lbs CO2

15% Ash - 500 lbs CO2

20% Ash - 477 lbs CO2

EFv2 - 358 lbs CO2

0.036%

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

In Summary

Sustainability can be an impetus to change the industry

Need a methodology to measure “Sustainability”

Need an As Seamless As Possible Value Proposition

P2P is a good start, but current design codes are trailing slowly behind

Current methods are available, but should be developed further

T H E N E W R E S O U R C E F O R G R E E N C O N S T R U C T I O N

The Future of Concrete isThe Future of Concrete is Green.Green.

Questions?