The American Concrete institute (ACI) recently announced the launch of NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete, at its spring convention in Orlando, Florida. According to the group, NEU aims to collaborate globally to drive research, education, awareness, and adoption efforts of carbon neutral materials and technologies in the industry.

Located at ACI Headquarters in Farmington Hills, Michigan, NEU plans to focus on transforming the concrete industry into a proactive, unified group actively engaged in developing and employing both existing and new technologies to reduce the concrete industry’s carbon footprint.

The ACI Board of Direction has approved funds for staffing and initial projects, including research to identify technologies that have the potential to significantly impact concrete’s carbon footprint. Additional core functions include technology acceleration, coordination with ACI committees, technology transfer and professional development, and technology assessment and validation.

Initial Member

NEU also announced Baker Concrete, Inc. as the center’s initial member. Baker Concrete is the largest U.S. concrete contractor, according to ACI, and specializes in pre-construction, construction, and project management services. They provide expertise in civil, commercial, industrial, institutional, multi-family residential, and mission-critical buildings, and have over 5,500 employees across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean region.

“NEU envisions a concrete industry where all stakeholders have access to technologies and the knowledge needed to effectively and safely produce and place carbon neutral concrete and concrete products,” said Andrea Schokker, NEU’s executive director. “Concrete plays a major role in a sustainable future and collaboration with members worldwide is critical to developing a comprehensive plan to help make the concrete industry carbon neutral by 2050”.

Built Environment

For more than a decade, ACI says it has been convening the industry’s brightest authorities to advance sustainability in the concrete industry.

With ACI’s stature as a standards-developing institution and one of the world’s largest sources of consensus-based information on all facets of concrete construction, the group believes its NEU initiative is uniquely positioned to serve as a catalyst in incorporating ACI’s knowledge into the further acceleration of carbon-neutral concrete for the built environment.

For more information, contact: NEU, (248) 848-3764, neuconcrete.org