British Columbia industry reaching milestone

Just two years after its launch in Canada, a new cement type that results in 10 per cent lower CO2 emissions is rapidly becoming the preferred standard for the majority of new concrete construction projects in British Columbia, according to the Cement Association of Canada.

The BC cement industry reports that Contempra now accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the domestic cement consumed in the province. This rate will accelerate as more and more developers and builders specify the carbon-reduced cement for their new projects.

The rapid rate of conversion to Contempra-based concrete achieved to-date in BC means that some 23,000t of GHGs per year have been taken out of the atmosphere, which is the equivalent to saving 9,760,000l of gasoline or not burning 9800t of coal.

"Contempra is a shining example of the cement industry's continued commitment to innovation and to lowering our collective environmental footprint," said Michael McSweeney, President and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada.

"We are delighted with the market's enthusiastic response and with the tremendous strides both Lafarge and Lehigh Hanson have made in establishing this lower carbon cement as the cement of choice in British Columbia."

Contempra further reduces the environmental footprint of concrete structures which, according to life cycle assessment studies conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of British Columbia, is already lower than that of those constructed with other building materials thanks to concrete's durability and the energy efficiency benefits of its thermal mass.

Among the many Contempra projects already completed or underway in BC are the Arthur Erickson Building, the Wall Center False Creek Development and ONNI's Evelyn master-planned community, all in Vancouver, as well as a multitude of condominium, commercial and institutional projects throughout the province.??The lower carbon cement is manufactured by Lafarge in its Richmond cement plant and by Lehigh Hanson in its Delta cement plant.