WEBINAR: Practical Approaches for Reaching Carbon Neutrality with Your Concrete Construction Materials
February 19, 2025 | 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Achieving carbon neutrality requires an “all of the above” approach across infrastructure projects’ life cycles, and it starts with the manufacture of construction materials. That’s why the cement and concrete industry have developed a Roadmap outlining the opportunities and actions to reach carbon neutrality. The Roadmap involves the entire value chain, starting at the cement plant and extending through the entire life cycle of the built environment to incorporate the circular economy. This approach to carbon neutrality leverages relationships at each step of the value chain, demonstrating to the world that this industry can address climate change with ambition and audacity.
As an example of leveraging relationships to drive change, the cement and concrete industries have collaborated with government consumers, researchers, and other advocates to write voluntary guidelines that provide design professionals, contractors, code officials, elected representatives, non-governmental organizations, and the public with a framework for developing a lower carbon protocol for concrete. The voluntary guidelines address materials, methods, and metrics by integrating carbon reduction among all aspects of the built environment. A protocol developed with this approach is intended to lower the carbon of a concrete project without sacrificing long-term performance characteristics like strength, durability, and resilience while also advancing the circular economy.
Additional examples of putting Roadmap levers into practice include using blended cements and supplementary cementitious materials. Creating new cements with existing and even alternative materials reduces emissions from mining for new materials; and optimizing the amount of clinker used ensures emissions correspond to necessary production. For example, Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) is an existing lower-carbon blend, and its expanded acceptance and use will reduce clinker consumption and decrease emissions. Further, concrete mixes may be optimized when engineers and designers consider the specific needs of the construction project and use only the materials necessary. Optimizing the ingredients in cement and concrete not only enhance the benefits of cement-based construction materials, but it also reduces the carbon intensity of the final product.
*Participation in this webinar will satisfy one elective hour toward ENV SP credential maintenance.
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Webinar Presenters:
Lindsey Geiger, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, ENV SP | Director, Environment & Sustainability (Portland Cement Association)
Lindsey Geiger is the Director of Environment & Sustainability at Portland Cement Association. In this role, she develops narratives to illustrate PCA’s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality goals and show progress. Ms. Geiger holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI. She is a Professional Engineer (PE), registered in Virginia and Colorado, and has earned two sustainability credentials: Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction (LEED AP BD+C).
Joshua Gilman, P.E., ENV SP | Director, Sustainable Infrastructure (Portland Cement Association)
Mr. Gilman is the Director of Sustainable Infrastructure at the Portland Cement Association. He has over 14 years of experience relating to geotechnical and civil engineering on a wide variety of infrastructure projects. He is responsible for subject matter expertise and outreach on infrastructure applications for conventional concrete, mass concrete, and cement-specific applications with an emphasis on sustainable solutions in support of PCA’s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality.Prior to joining PCA, he held geotechnical engineering positions with consulting firms in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States, and most-recently managed a satellite office for a large firm performing geotechnical and construction materials testing services. Water resources, especially dam engineering and dam safety, have been a focus throughout his career including employment with a multi-discipline consulting firm that served the hydropower industry.
Tiffany Reed-Villarreal, P.E., ENV SP | Director Sustainability Codes and Standards (National Ready Mixed Concrete Association)
Tiffany Reed-Villarreal is the National Ready-mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) Director, Sustainability Codes and Standards. She is a licensed Professional Engineer and a credentialed Envision Sustainability Professional. Based in Texas, Ms. Reed-Villarreal supports NRMCA members and state affiliates in sustainability codes and standards development, education, and advocacy for the ready-mixed concrete industry. Tiffany earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She holds over 15 years’ experience in structural engineering and consultancy and has been involved in codes and standards development, sustainable infrastructure advocacy, and government relations. Prior to joining NRMCA, Tiffany worked as structural engineer for buildings and as a consultant with product manufacturers, engineering firms, and agencies on technical product issues, business strategies, and technical marketing in the construction industry. Tiffany was awarded Civil Engineering Advocate of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and continues to serve ASCE as the Region 6 Governor and as voting member on the ASCE Committee on Sustainability. Tiffany also holds current positions in American Concrete Institute (ACI), ASHRAE 189.1, ASTM International, and Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI). Tiffany Reed-Villarreal can be reached at treedvillarreal@nrmca.org.
Jim Mack, P.E. | Director, Market Development – Infrastructure & Sustainability (Cemex USA)
Mr. Jim Mack joined CEMEX in September 2007 as Director, Market Development. He has over 34 years of pavement engineering experience and works with state agencies, cities, and other agencies and professionals to identify and develop concrete and cement-based pavement solutions for all pavement applications. Mr. Mack is active in many concrete and transportation industry activities. He is a member of the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) Board and was Chair of the Board of Directors in 2019. He is currently a Member of TRB’s Concrete Pavement Design Committee, Sustainable and Resilient Pavements Subcommittee, and a Friend of the Concrete Pavement Construction Committee. He is also the Technical Co-chair overseeing pavement research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub. Mr Mack has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business with a specialization in Finance, and a Masters of Science and a Bachelors of Science in Civil / Pavement Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois and Texas. Mr. Mack has been the recipient of several industry awards and honors including the 2022 Presidential Award for recognition in Championing Concrete Pavements from the American Concrete Pavement Association.
