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After providing a synopsis of global, national, provincial and municipal initiatives to address climate change, a speaker at a Buildings Show Toronto session zeroed-in on the how the cement and construction industries are taking action to lower their emissions.

The audience at the Achieving Net-Zero Emissions in the Cement and Concrete Industry seminar was given an overview of measures by the Cement Association of Canada’s construction innovation vice-president, Rob Cooney.

In late 2022, the association and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada co-launched Canada’s Roadmap to Net-Zero Carbon Concrete by 2050, he pointed out.

A key principle is that more than 15 mega-tons of greenhouse gas emissions by the cement and concrete industries can be reduced by 2030, with annual reductions of more than four mega-tons by 2050, “should the ambition and actions named in the roadmap be realized,” he said.

And that requires collaboration between industry and government to develop effective policies and programs to achieve those targets, said Cooney.

To reach that objective the roadmap recommends a suite of funding programs, strategic finance and tax measures, policies and regulations, and research and development initiatives to support the decarbonization of the cement and concrete sector while allowing it to remain globally competitive, he said.

It also outlines actions across three priority areas: market development, innovation and global leadership.

The cement and concrete industries have also authored Concrete Zero, which is an action plan to achieve net-zero, the audience was told.

“It’s a call to our partners in the government and construction sector to work with us to support opportunities and remove barriers to securing and improving the value of concrete and concrete products in a changing environment and economy.”

The industry’s roadmap to net-zero is dictated by introducing major improvements to its “five Cs” which are its basic components or elements, said Cooney.

Concrete is made from water, aggregates and cement, which is the mineral binder. The primary ingredient in cement is the clinker. The other two Cs is the design and construction phase, and the use of carbon sink.

Implementation of the Concrete Zero Action Plan is well underway and Canadian cement producers have been developing and initiating improvements to those components, such as the clinker and the cement.

As an example of improvements that can be made, Cooney points to the cement plant production, which is most energy-intensive phase of the “concrete value chain.” Emissions generated by that process can be reduced through the use of Portland-limestone cement, supplementary cementitious materials and blended cements.

While advancements in cement and concrete productions can be enacted by the industry, emission reductions in the actual construction are outside of its direct control, said Cooney.

“So it (emission reduction) requires partnership, as well as education and awareness, with the construction industry.”

In the construction phase, there are some ways to lower emissions including minimizing waste generation and simply using less concrete components. An example is the spacing of columns, he said.

Noting that Swiss-based research shows an average of 20 per cent of CO2 emissions can be permanently sequestered when a concrete structure is built, Cooney said a good strategy during the design phase is “for engineers and architects to ask for exposed concrete whenever possible.”

There is a sixth C and that is carbon capture and utilization (CCU), which the speaker emphasized “is vital to the cement and concrete industry reaching net-zero.”

Progress is being made on a number CCU initiatives, said Cooney, who briefly referenced Heidelberg Materials “groundbreaking project” to establish North America’s first full-scale carbon capture and storage facility at its Edmonton cement plant.

In addition to co-launching the net-zero roadmap, the Cement Association of Canada has been collaborating with the National Research Council on a Life Cycle Initiative on reducing embodied carbon in construction.

Some of the objectives include developing and industry specific education and engagement program on low carbon cement and concrete, said Cooney.

Attendees at the seminar also learned about efforts by associated industries to reduce their carbon footprint. Joining Cooney at the speakers’ table was Concrete Ontario president Bart Kanters, Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association president Andrea McChesney and Val Sylaj, president of the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPPCI).

One of the consistent themes in their presentations was the value of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which are labels that list the environmental impacts of a product’s life cycle. The CPPCI has released its third round of industry regional average EPDs, said Sylaj.

“Consider all life cycles stages before you select the materials and systems for your project,” he recommended.