Fostering a Circular Economy and Carbon Sequestration for Construction Materials

Industry leaders are increasingly turning to the concept of a circular economy to address a global need for reducing construction waste and reusing building materials. At the same time, stakeholder pressure is mounting to produce concrete that has lower embodied carbon or that consumes carbon in its manufacture. Join your industry colleagues for an informative workshop to identify measurement science needs that lead to standards development related to the circular economy of, and lower embodied carbon in, building materials with a focus on concrete.

Measurement science is needed to underpin scientifically-sound standards for (1) the broader use of recycled aggregate and cement in new concrete and (2) cement chemistries and construction methods that have a lower embodied carbon content and/or consume carbon. NIST sees potential strong synergies between (1) and (2) hence the inclusion of both topics in this workshop. One of the concerns addressed is maintaining material durability while still achieving lower embodied carbon and greater product reuse. This viewpoint will guide the thinking of the workshop. The output of the workshop will be a report that identifies the needed measurement science to advance these changes. This report will guide NIST’s development of a research program in these areas by identifying priorities for near-term measurement science needs that will support standardization efforts.

Workshop Sessions

FOSTERING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS-1

FOSTERING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS-2

FOSTERING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS-3

FOSTERING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS-4