Nominee
Remy Wines Carbon Sequestering Concrete Slab
Category
Innovative Project
Description
I am nominating the Remy Wines project for the Innovative Project Award. The Project Summary is as follows:
Project Summary
Client/Project: Remy Wines Winery
Location: Dayton, OR (June 1, 2022)
Project: Adaptive Reuse Conversion of Ag Barn into Production Winery
Concrete: 5,000 square foot slab dosed at 100lbs admixture per yard
Sequestration: 10,230lbs of CO2 Equivalent locked into concrete
This project was a collaboration between NRMCA member company Wilsonville Concrete Products and general contractor Vesuvian Forge. The principals of each of these firms have partnered in launch Solid Carbon a concrete admixture company focused on biogenic carbon sequestering technology in the concrete admixture market.
Evidence
The Remy Wines Project is an extraordinary example of a concrete building that used an advanced admixture (a novel carbon sequestration technology) to dramatically improve the sustainability of the project while maintaining the performance characteristics of the concrete.
Adding biochar to concrete has been a topic of numerous studies and academic papers. What is unique about this project is the application of this technology in the commercial space. NRMCA member company Wilsonville Concrete Products took the lead in testing and validating the performance characteristics of dozens of mix designs in identifying the right candidate for this project. Once the mix design was identified WCP led a technical deep dive in testing the concrete for:
• Strength Lab Testing (ASTM C39)
• Shrinkage Testing, Freeze-Thaw and Abrasion Testing (ASTM C944, C157, C666)
• Strength Testing Truck Trials
• Air, Slump and fresh quality assessment
• Finisher assessment
There are many carbon capture technologies and ideations discussed in climate change circles. However, there is already an abundance of carbon capture taking place all around us in the form of trees and plants. The premise of the project collaborators is the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere can be dramatically improved through sequestration of carbon that has already been captured by mother nature.
Normally at the end of life all biogenic carbon will be re-released into the atmosphere. Biochar products provide the opportunity to flip the script. By converting biomass into biochar, the carbon captured through photosynthesis is transformed into a durable form. While there are many companies entering into the biochar manufacturing arena, there is currently more biochar capacity than productive uses for the product. Solid Carbon exists to bridge the gap between biochar products and the built environment through use in concrete, and the Remy Wines project proves this technology is viable.
The project demonstrates a dramatic improvement in the concrete GWP compared to incumbent approaches. Where gas phase carbon dioxide approaches might expect to sequester on the order of 1/2 Kg per yard, the Solid Carbon approach sequestered 50Kg of direct carbon sequestration with another 140Kg of avoided emissions. The concrete slab at Remy Wines establishes the time for carbon neutrality is possible much sooner than the industry goals of 2050.
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