At a recent lunch-and-learn hosted at Contra Costa County offices in Martinez, senior sustainability Director Sarah Rege and Webcor Concrete senior construction Manager Owen Brizgys shared the why and the state of efforts to reduce concrete's embodied carbon.
The Contra Costa County Administration Building (CCCAB) project earned TRUE Gold and LEED Platinum status, among other honors, for its green features focused on the Circular Economy. The session enabled Webcor to further solidify our sustainability leadership with the county.
Sarah and Owen began by emphasizing the importance of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for measuring and understanding a product's environmental impact. While using EPDs doesn't immediately translate to carbon reductions, it raises awareness and encourages suppliers to explore lower-carbon methods and materials.
One major challenge raised was "silo space" at local concrete batch plants. Typically, a plant keeps three silos: one for cement, one for fly ash, and one for slag. Adding a fourth silo for new low-carbon materials can be difficult due to real estate constraints and local permitting barriers.
By encouraging investments in additional silo capacity -- and by requiring weighted average GWP limits and EPDs in future project specifications -- local governments can help drive the adoption of innovative, lower-carbon mixes. This collaborative approach has the potential to benefit both the construction industry and the broader community by reducing the embedded carbon in buildings across the region.
