News Detail

ACI at the Forefront of Sustainable Concrete Construction

12/2/2024

I’m not a road warrior, as have been many of my predecessors, now distinguished past presidents, but when I did fly, I found being seat-bound yet isolated in a confined crowd to be conducive to continuing education. During flights over several years, I studied the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) materials, eventually passing the test and earning professional accreditation. This happened long ago, years before ACI started to address sustainability and took the first full step by establishing ACI Committee 130, Sustainability of Concrete.

Perhaps, it is little known that I am a licensed architect and member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). This is in addition to—or perhaps despite!—working as a structural engineer. There is no question that the initial push for sustainable design in the built environment came with substantial efforts from AIA architects, arguably as an extension of their traditional but increasingly circumscribed role as master builders.

I’m not seeking a pat on the back for being an early LEED Accredited Professional in the structural engineering community or to tout LEED. My point is that ACI was relatively slow—like many other engineering and construction associations—to embrace sustainable design and construction.

Interestingly, ACI Committee 555, Concrete with Recycled Materials, of which I am a long-standing member, was well ahead of the curve. Minutes from the November 29, 2001, committee meeting include a letter from Tony C. Liu (Committee Chair) and Christian Meyer to the Technical Activities Committee (TAC) urging TAC to begin guiding the Institute to address “sustainable development … [which] will have a major impact on the concrete industry.”

ACI is now at the forefront of sustainability in concrete construction. ACI Committee 130 has continued its strong start, with several documents and active subcommittees, a waiting list for full membership, and standing-room-only technical sessions. ACI Committee 323, Low-Carbon Concrete Code, developed its industry-advancing eponymous document in record time, with release previewed at COP 28 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference) in Dubai, UAE. And many if not most other technical and educational committees are addressing concrete sustainability in some manner.

Bolstering ACI’s leadership, NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete is aggressively pursuing its mission “to drive education, awareness, and adoption of carbon-neutral concrete materials and technologies.” Core functions include technical validation, technology transfer, education and professional development, and technology acceleration. For more information and to become involved, visit www.neuconcrete.org.

As one of ACI’s three Centers of Excellence, along with NEx: An ACI Center of Excellence for Nonmetallic Building Materials and PRO: An ACI Center of Excellence for Advancing Productivity, NEU is focused on a critical aspect of our concrete industry and is empowered to expedite “always advancing” with results measured in months, if not real time.

The concept and goal of resilience increasingly is being coupled with sustainability. Concrete construction that is robust and durable can earn high marks for sustainability precisely because it does endure, enabling continued beneficial use. I humbly submit that our overarching goal is that of careful and considered stewardship—the ethical practice of responsible planning and management of resources (per www.wikipedia.org). This importantly includes attention to our large stock of existing concrete construction—maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, and, as a last resort, recycling.

Nothing is more sustainable than continuing beneficial use.

Michael J. Paul

Overall winner of the 2023 ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards—Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, NSW, Australia: Upcycling an existing high-rise commercial building achieved the top rating of “6 Green Star” from the Green Building Council of Australia. Sixty-five percent of the existing tower’s concrete beams, columns, and slabs and over 95% of its existing concrete core walls were retained, resulting in an embodied carbon saving of over 12,000 tons, meeting objectives outlined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) net-zero carbon budget in 2050