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- Reducing Reclamation’s Carbon Footprint Through Modernizing Concrete Materials, Specifications and Construction Practices
Reducing Reclamation’s Carbon Footprint Through Modernizing Concrete Materials, Specifications and Construction Practices
Project ID: 23050
Principal Investigator: Catherine Lucero
Research Topic: Improving Geotechnical Infrastructure Reliability
Funded Fiscal Years:
2023 and
2024
Keywords: None
Research Question
What is the guidance on best practices for reducing Reclamation's carbon footprint as it relates to concrete materials and construction?
Reclamation has recently been asked to join several teams of concrete experts forming to evaluate the topics surrounding concrete sustainability/carbon neutrality. Two such teams are American Concrete Institute – NUE: Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete and a National Institute of Standards (NIST) Working Group on Fostering a Circular Economy and Carbon Sequestration for Construction Materials.
The PI hypothesizes that by having dedicated time and personnel to focus on these recent publications and to joining/participating in these collaborative teams we will more quickly and efficiently understand the new and evolving technologies and be in a better position to evaluate them and their potential impacts (positive or negative) on Reclamation water infrastructure. We aim to use this knowledge to inform the industry of future research needs and to develop a guidance document for Reclamation and our stakeholder on best practices for reducing Reclamation's carbon footprint through modernizing concrete materials, specifications and construction practices. American Concrete Institute – NUE: Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete was recently formed to provide access to technologies and the knowledge needed to effectively and safely produce and place carbon neutral concrete in the built environment. Reclamation was requested to be a Specifying Agency Member.
Need and Benefit
Currently Reclamation does not have a guidance document that explains modern approaches to cement and concrete sustainability. The 2010 Bureau of Reclamation Sustainable Buildings Implementation Plan discusses only two options for use in the implementation of occupied buildings, fly ash and recycled concrete aggregates. Our current guide specification allows for the use of fly ash, a by-product of the coal power plant, as a replacement of a portion of the total cementitious materials in a concrete mix to meet EPA Recycled Content recommendations (per Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for EPA-designated products). However, quality fly ash which is acceptable for use in concrete is becoming less available due to the close of, or modifications to, coal powerplants. Reclamation has allowed the use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), concrete construction and demolition wastes which is crushed down to aggregate sizes to replaces conventional natural aggregates such as rock or sand. But RCAs are not reliably manufactured which a reasonable haul-distance to our project locations. These historical approaches to sustainability are a very small part of where the industry is going.
The concrete industry is looking into new and modern techniques that reach further into the cement manufacturing processes, new supplementary cementitious materials, concrete batching and mixing process, and at concrete construction technologies. Cement production has been targeted for its contribution to global warming due to the high levels of carbon emitted by cement production and the overall concrete construction process. Many teams are currently being formed (with and without government partners) to look for ways to improve the concrete industry while maintaining strong, durable, and long-lasting infrastructure. There is a great push for the concrete community to become carbon neutral. New cements and supplementary cementitious materials are being developed. Carbon sequestration plants are coming online (where collected carbon is introduced into the concrete matrix to bind with the constituents) and other agencies are developing guidance suited to their construction niche.
Reclamation has been asked to join many of these partnerships as a contributing member due to our unique facilities across the United States and because of Reclamation's reputation for being an industry leader in concrete practices, leading back to the Hoover Dam era. Having dedicated time and personnel to focus on these recent publications and to joining/participating in these collaborative teams we will more quickly and efficiently understand the new and evolving technologies and be in a better position to evaluate them and their potential impacts (positive or negative) on Reclamation water infrastructure. We aim to use this knowledge to inform the industry of future research needs and to develop a guidance document for Reclamation and our stakeholder on best practices for reducing Reclamation's carbon footprint through modernizing concrete materials, specifications and construction practices.
This research is imperative for Reclamation for two key reasons. As the concrete industry tackles this challenge, we must be part of the discussions so that our unique infrastructure needs are also considered in the potential solutions. Solutions that do not include our input could be wholly impractical for larger-scale dams or water conveyance projects. In addition, we must maintain public trust and demonstrate that we are actively working to address this world-wide concern and not merely standing on the sidelines.
Contributing Partners
Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.
Research Products
Contact the Principal Investigator for information about these documents.
