CeraTech announced the release of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for ekkomaxx cement concrete. This is the first EPD completed for a non-portland bulk cement. It enables architects, leading design firms and contractors to independently substantiate and confirm the tremendous environmental differences between portland and non-portland cement technologies.
The EPD quantifies CeraTech is producing a cement system with a virtually zero carbon footprint, 95 percent reduction in the use of virgin resources, and dramatic 50 percent reduction in the use of water.
The CeraTech cement system, developed in 2001, is comprised of 95 percent recycled fly ash and 5 percent liquid additives. Meeting ASTM International C1157 as a hydraulic cement system, it is accepted by industry standards, codes, and rating systems including the American Concrete Institute (ACI), International Code Council (ICC), and United States Green Building Council (USGBC), according to the company.
“The growing interest in sustainable construction has fueled industry wide interest in CeraTech. Our recently completed EPD and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for ekkomaxx is critically important. It independently validates our having established a new industry standard as the ‘greenest,’ most sustainable concrete available in the world,” said Jon Hyman, CeraTech’s president and CEO.
Release of the third-party validated EPD prepared by Martha VanGeem, PE, LEED AP, BD+C, FACI, follows guidelines set forth by the Carbon Leadership Forum’s North America Product Category Rules (PCR), with findings from CeraTech’s ekkomaxx cement concrete’s LCA. Independent verification was conducted by the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute under the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NRMCA) Program Operator Rules.
As one of the top revenue grossing concrete construction companies in the United States, McCarthy Companies’ Project Director Grant Guerri exclaimed, “The bottom line is CeraTech’s cement mixes are viable for a broad range of applications including wastewater, parking and bridge decks, pavements, chemical/caustic containments, high heat applications, and virtually all green, low carbon construction projects.”
According to Narayanan Neithalath, senior sustainability scientist and associate professor of the School of Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment at Arizona State University, “This Environmental Product Declaration and Life Cycle Assessment quantify the environmental benefits of well-designed cementitious systems that do not use portland cement as a binder. CeraTech’s next generation, ‘environmentally responsible’ cement is eminently suitable for several high-end, special-performance applications, and should be well-received by companies and organizations committed to sustainable, green construction.”
