News Detail

Institutionalizing Sustainability and Resilience

8/26/2014

Forums, committee meetings, publications and educational programs. Just a snapshot of ACI’s activities to disseminate and institutionalize sustainability practices.

Examples of new sustainable and innovative concrete technologies from around the globe will be highlighted at the ACI Concrete Sustainability Forum, taking place in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, October 29, 2014. This year’s forum, the seventh in a series of forums, will update attendees on the evolving landscape of concrete sustainability and structural resilience in the concrete industry and will include presentations from industry experts on concrete materials and structures, representatives of international concrete organizations, and concrete- and construction- related experts, and will provide attendees with valuable insight into sustainability and its effect on the concrete industry.

Placing Pervious Concrete Sidewalk - ACI Atlanta Convention

An overview of current code activities from the American Concrete Institute, Fédération Internationale du Béton, and other international concrete organizations will be presented, followed by a panel discussion on the integration of sustainable and resilient theories into plans, projects, and international codes. Last year’s Forum contained presentations on low carbon and negative-carbon concrete, sustainable cement, sustainable concrete structures, standards, Product Category Rules and Environmental Product Declarations, and sustainability standardization in Korea.

2012 Sustainability Forum Presentation

The Forum will be followed by a Luncheon with keynote speaker Henry Green, President, National Institute on Building Sciences, whose presentation is titled “Resilience: It’s a Concrete Notion.” Green notes that “the building industry has a responsibility to assure that the facilities we design, construct, operate, and maintain protect the health, safety and welfare of our nation’s citizens. The concept of resilience is not new. Yet, the world is seeing increasing numbers of hazardous events. For the first time as an industry, we have all come together to formally recognize our role in addressing this increasingly urgent challenge. It is vital to our nation’s communities that we refocus our efforts to address this new paradigm.”

Docent- and curator-led tours of the "Designing for Disaster" exhibit at the U.S. National Building Museum will follow the Luncheon. This tour examines how we assess risks for natural hazards and how we can create policies, plans, and designs yielding safer, more disaster-resilient communities.

Many of the technical sessions at the ACI Washington D.C. convention will cover sustainability issues, and concerns affecting the concrete industry today. Sessions include “Towards Sustainable Infrastructure with Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites” and “Sustainable Performance of Concrete Bridges and Elements Subject to Aggressive Environments: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Rehabilitation” as well as over 300 committee meetings including Committee 130, Sustainability of Concrete.

Throughout the year ACI conducts sustainability web sessions and educational programs, and issues various publications including “The Sustainable Concrete Guide–Strategies and Examples” and “The Sustainable Concrete Guide–Applications.” These two publications are also available to educators for use in the classroom at no charge as part of ACI’s sustainability outreach program.  

Every year ACI honors those who have made contributions in highlighting concrete’s role related to sustainability through its Concrete Sustainability Award. This award was established in 2010 to recognize individuals or teams who have made contributions in highlighting concrete’s role related to sustainability. Past recipients include Aris Papadopoulos, and V. Mohan Malhotra and P. Kumar Mehta. The 2014 recipient will be announced on October 26, 2014.

ACI, together with the Portland Cement Association, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, and nearly 30 other concrete-industry institutes and associations participate in the Concrete Joint Sustainability Initiative–a coalition of industry organizations representing companies who make or maintain concrete structures.  With shared goals of educating ourselves, our members, and our customers about the role and responsibilities of concrete in sustainable development.

For more news, publications, research, committees, events, and free web sessions on concrete sustainability and resilience, visit ACI’s Topics in Concrete web pages on: cementitious materials, environmental, fire resistance, fly ash, high performance concrete, pervious concrete, recycled concrete, sustainability, and tanks.

ACI is committed to working with its members and partners around the world to face industry challenges and achieve its goal of facilitating and communicating the sustainable and environmental benefits of concrete structures. ACI will continue to champion development of scientifically-backed consensus technical resources, advocate for integration of resilience into sustainability activities, and partner with leading authorities.