Because of its durability concrete will not rust, rot or burn and it requires less energy and resources over time to maintain, repair or replace. Structures built with concrete have optimal energy performance, incur little waste and it can be readily recycled.
From a material standpoint, Cemstone is a leader in the use of locally sourced aggregates and supplemental cementitious materials such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume. These materials help reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as make concrete stronger, more durable and more resistant to the elements of nature. Product availability varies by location.
Portland-limestone cement (PLC) is a blended cement with a higher limestone content, which results in a product that works the same, measures the same, and performs the same, but with a reduction in carbon footprint of 10% on average. PLC manufacturers have developed a modified formulation of their most important product to respond to growing calls for reducing embodied carbon associated with construction.
Portland-limestone cement (PLC) is a blended cement with a higher limestone content. It results in a product that works the same, measures the same, and performs the same, but with a reduction in carbon footprint of 10% on average.
Sustainability encompasses many aspects designed to improve construction practices, including more efficient use of natural resources, better thermal performance of structures, and reduced environmental impacts, with a focus on embodied carbon. One area of growing concern to environmental leaders is CO2 emissions. Like all building materials, portland cement has an environmental footprint, and it is often described in terms of greenhouse gas equivalents. Cement is made by grinding clinker—the main energy intensive ingredient—to a fine powder. Producers know that replacing some of the clinker in portland cement with ground limestone offers benefits, the most important being that it reduces the embodied CO2 of the cement.
Cemstone is proud to have participated in the National Ready Mixed Concrete Associations (NRMCA) industry-wide Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Program.
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is defined by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14025 as a Type III declaration that “quantifies environmental information on the life cycle of a product to enable comparisons between products fulfilling the same function. The EPD methodology is based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool that follows ISO series 14040. EPDs are primarily intended to facilitate business-to-business transactions, although they may also be of benefit to consumers who are environmentally focused when choosing goods or services. Cemstone has implemented EPDs in order to improve our sustainability goals and to demonstrate a commitment to the environment to customers.
To date, Cemstone has developed EPDs for 20 of our manufacturing facilities in accordance with strict international standards that include a transparent verification process for adopting Product Category Rules by which EPDs are developed and verified. Working with the NRMCA, Cemstone has performed comprehensive Life Cycle Assessments on our concrete from these 20 facilities and reported the results in the industry-wide EPD.
The Portland Cement Association
By using materials that “do more with less”, valuable resources are conserved. For example, by increasing the use of fly ash (an industrial byproduct) in place of cement, material is re-used while the carbon dioxide emissions from cement manufacturing are reduced. Supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) contribute to the properties of hardened concrete through hydraulic or pozzolanic activity.
Typical examples of SCMs are fly ashes, slag cement (ground, granulated blast-furnace slag), and silica fume. These can be used individually with portland or blended cement, or in different combinations. SCMs are often added to concrete to make concrete mixtures more economical, reduce permeability, increase strength, or influence other concrete properties.
Fly Ash is the most used pozzolan in concrete, is a by-product of thermal power generating stations. Commercially available fly ash is a finely divided residue that results from the combustion of pulverized coal and is carried from the combustion chamber of the furnace by exhaust gases.
Slag Cement, formerly referred to as ground, granulated blast-furnace slag, is a glassy, granular material. It is formed when molten, iron blast-furnace slag is rapidly chilled – typically by water sprays or immersion in water – and subsequently ground to cement fineness. Slag cement is hydraulic and can be added to cement as an SCM.
