2024 Award Winners and Nominees
Project Name
Cement-Free Concrete in Hubbard's Corner Project
Description
C-Crete has pioneered and deployed over 200 tons of a breakthrough pourable cement-free concrete product that is essentially CO2-emision free and actually absorbs CO2 from the air over time while exceeding Portland cement concrete in performance. C-Crete’s patented binder is based on activating natural rocks and industrial by-products WITHOUT any Portland Cement. C-Crete binder is a drop-in replacement for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete, making its use extremely easy and scalable. The inaugural pour occurred recently where 6o tons of C-Crete was poured in the foundations and shear walls of a commercial building in Seattle, so called Hubbard's Corner Project, which belongs to Don Davies, former president of Magnusson Klemencis Associates. C-Crete used Heildelberg Materials as the ready mix company for this pour. Heidelberg Materials is a NRMCA member. This pour got intense media attention (see for example https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/groundbreaking-cement-free-concrete-made-by-c-crete-technologies-gets-inaugural-pour-in-seattle-building-301879897.html) and since then we are ramping up our production scale and started commercial revenue.
Key product features of C-Crete are:
1-Zero use of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
2-Decarbonizing concrete: saving up to 1.1 tons CO2 per ton of binder: Avoidance of ~800 Kg CO2 by not using OPC plus up to ~300 Kg active CO2 sequestration in the binder (measurable by TGA)
3-Ultra-low embodied energy by using natural rocks and/or industrial by-products as binder
4-Saving Water: C-Crete concrete product requires up to ~15% less water, helping environment
5-Meeting standards: ASTM C1157, Freeze-Thaw, Alkali-Silica Reaction, Chloride/Acid resistance, etc
6-No need for new code development: Our product falls perfectly under existing ASTM C1157
7-Superior properties: mechanical strength (~8000 psi), durability, etc
8-Compatibility with conventional admixtures (superplasticizers, air entrainment, retarders, extenders, etc)
9-Optimal heat of hydration: meeting ACI 301, even for large mat foundations
10-Cost-parity with conventional cement/concrete (without any carbon tax/credit)
11-Scalable (both in raw materials feedstocks and manufacturing process)
Evidence
C-Crete's carbon-zero product can reach 6000-8000 psi in strength, more than sufficient for many projects, as verified by several ready mix companies such as Heidelberg Materials and Central Concrete. See enclosed image of Heidelberg Materials truck used for the inaugural pour in Seattle, and here a video of the flowability and pumpability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5cg9EudbRcI
In Dec 2023, C-Crete introduced the world’s first zeolite-based concrete devoid of Portland cement and carbon dioxide emissions and deployed 20 tons of the product in an outdoor slab-on-grade foundation in Hubbard's corner project. Read more here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/c-crete-technologies-develops-and-deploys-the-worlds-first-zeolite-based-concrete-302007893.html
C-Crete has met several key industry standards such as ASTM C1157 (alternative cements), ASTM C666 (freeze-thaw resistance), ACI 301, etc followed by verification of various mechanical and durability properties of our products through multiple independent third parties such as Terracon (https://www.terracon.com/) and American Engineering Testing, Inc.
C-Crete was selected by Engineering News-Record as one of the top Newsmakers and Visionaries making the path to decarbonization easier to follow. Read more here: https://www.enr.com/articles/58056-rouzbeh-savary-the-chemistry-is-just-right-for-a-mineral-substitute-for-portland-cement-that-can-save-one-ton-of-co-emissions-for-each-ton-of-cement-it-replaces
C-Crete's product was recognized and awarded near $4 millions by the US Department of Energy and ARPA-E and California Energy Commission to expand our cement-free breakthrough technologies. See below links for the latest two awards:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/c-crete-technologies-awarded-2-million-by-the-us-department-of-energy-to-supercharge-its-cement-free-carbon-negative-concrete-product-301944132.html
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-department-of-energy-awards-c-crete-technologies-nearly-1-million-to-accelerate-the-companys-innovative-work-in-cement-free-concrete-301923435.html
C-Crete commenced generating commercial revenues by selling our product to ordinary end-users and developers at an equivalent price to conventional products (no green premiums). This aligns with our vision that sustainability should not be a luxury but a norm in order to combat the torrent of CO2 emissions at scale.
Images
