Setting Carbon Footprint Rules for Concrete

“There is a real opportunity for improving the carbon footprint of concrete through mix design,” says Kate Simonen, AIA, assistant professor in the Architecture Department at the University of Washington and director of the Carbon Leadership Forum. “Concrete is both a material with significant global impact and one that can be customized without re-tooling a factory,” Simonen explains. When environmental performance is called out as a consideration, she notes, suppliers can readily customize mixes to reduce impacts (see “Reducing Environmental Impacts of Cement and Concrete,”

EBN Sept. 2010).