Innovation

To better understand how monumental the Green Sense Concrete initiative really is, one must first understand the history of concrete. Traditional concrete dates back to ancient Roman times, where concrete utilized similar binding agents and materials to what we use in today's world. Yet, as time has progressed, concrete has somewhat evolved, with producers finding ways to minimize production costs and increase the life and durability of the concrete.

While the actual replacement of one or more components in concrete is not a completely novel idea, BASF has truly been an innovator by really pushing the limits to which concrete can be enhanced in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. BASF is using its admixtures to enhance concrete by allowing waste materials to replace cement in the concrete and thus lower the overall CO2 from concrete production.

Green Sense Concrete expert Ken Kruse explained, "Green Sense Concrete is actually a specialized mix design optimization process whereby we take the cement content of a particular concrete mix, and replace it with a wide variety of secondary cementitious materials such as fly ash, silica fume, slag, high-reactivity metakaolin, or glass beads and cement kiln dust. What these materials all have in common is they're all reclaimed by-products of a variety of processes, including power production, etc." The concrete still reaches the desired strength and other required properties, but now the producers are able to do so at a lower cost, with less environmental impact, and they can utilize waste or by-product material.

While BASF's knowledge and successful utilization of chemistry to enhance the concrete is impressive, another large portion of its innovation is with the company's ability to quantify the environmental benefits through various emission reductions and waste material utilization. BASF has a highly complicated proprietary means of calculating these environmental impacts through what is known as Eco-Efficiency Analysesre. These analyses can be used by contractors and building owners to receive LEED certification and continue to prove BASF's strategy as the brand that creates chemistry for a sustainable future.

Inspiration

As industry expert Kenneth Kruse stated, the inspiration for this Green Sense Concrete innovation "was kind of the perfect storm, meaning that...there was a true sustainability dynamic, where things were happening that required a 'greener' approach to construction."

Around 2009, when this technology was first emerging and becoming widespread for BASF, there was a major push across the United States to have residential homes and especially commercial buildings classified as LEED certified. "Obtaining the LEED certification did three things: Made it more desirable to have those types of construction in the community; There were tax breaks related to LEED-certified building owners; and For government projects like buildings for the Postal Service or the Navy, they were not going to build unless you had a sustainable impact and you could prove it."

BASF's involvement as the market leader in the Green Sense Concrete industry came when it found other building material producers such as carpet manufacturers obtaining LEED credentials by utilizing a percentage of recycled content. BASF researched and developed the chemistry, processes, and procedures that allowed concrete producers to utilize waste materials or other by-products, which would have otherwise been sent to landfills, and it replaced a portion of cement in the concrete mix, which dramatically reduced the overall CO2 footprint from the concrete production process.

Overall impact

The overall impact of Green Sense Concrete includes:

• Adding value to BASF's customers and its value chain members: concrete producers, contractors and design engineers, concrete end users, environmental agencies, and the company's shareholders.
• Reducing production costs and some of the hidden costs related to failed or non-optimized concrete.
• Minimizing risks of rejected loads of concrete with superior green sense optimized mixes.
• Creating a new and sustainable future by utilizing chemistry and the company's knowledge of the industry to reduce the overall footprint of concrete and leave the world a better place.

BASF's Green Sense Concrete team defined sustainability as: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This next generation of concrete exemplifies that sustainability mindset by delivering equal or superior concrete performance with drastically reduced emissions and waste streams to landfills.

Business benefit

In order for the customers to succeed with their Green Sense Concrete, they need BASF's expertise for the optimized mix design as well as BASF's superior admixture chemical products to enhance the concrete. Eco-efficiency assessments are required for LEED building certifications, and BASF is one of the leading industry experts on that subject.

The business benefits not only include additional income from increased admixture sales and environmental product declarations but the intangible value to BASF by spreading its brand message of creating chemistry for a sustainable future. As industry expert Ken Kruse explained, "BASF combined its company's expertise relative to quantifying the environmental impact, the concept of taking the mix and changing/optimizing it, and the marketplace's desire to have better construction with lower impact, and BASF was able to do this successfully and grew its market share."

As a result, BASF is able to secure high-profile projects like One World Trade Center, the Atlanta Falcons' football stadium, the Facebook distribution center outside of Dallas, and much more through the company's Green Sense Concrete program. Therefore, BASF can obtain a larger portion of each treated cubic yard of concrete with admixtures, can win projects that previously may have just been price-driven rather than value-added, and can promote the company's motto of providing a sustainable future by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Social and environmental benefit

As previously stated, the major societal and environmental benefits include:

1. Reduction of air, water, and solids emissions that contribute to global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and acidification potential.
2. Reduction of waste and by-products sent to landfills.
3. Reduction of energy consumption for both fossil and renewable resources.
4. Reduction of potential for failed concrete or additional water needed at job sites.
5. Reduction of toxicity potential to human health through occupational illnesses and accidents.
6. Reduction of raw material consumption.

Interview

Kenneth Kruse, Industry Director