SYNOPSIS

Sustainability and resilience are now key requirements for our future built environment, and we know that CO2 emissions pose a particularly acute challenge. Cement and concrete underpin - often literally – our built environment. Its versatility, inherent performance benefits and widespread availability make it the optimum choice for the vast majority of construction. This presentation will specifically explore how concrete projects can be delivered with lower carbon footprint, and ultimately near zero footprint by 2050. There is no one action that will deliver this lower carbon outcome but a combination of a range of actions. These actions are the responsibility of all stakeholders along the lifecycle and value chain of cement and concrete. For example designers and constructors can contribute to almost a quarter of the CO2 reductions that are required to transition from a business as usual CO2 emissions in 2050 to the ultimate goal of net zero emissions.  


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Dr. Andrew Minson

Andrew is originally from Australia where he graduated from the University of Queensland with a first class honours degree in Civil Engineering before going to the University of Oxford to do his engineering doctorate as a Rhodes Scholar. He then joined engineering consultancy ARUP for 10 years working on projects around the world before joining and leading The Concrete Centre and British Precast in the UK.

He joined the Global Cement and Concrete Association when it was founded in 2018 as Director of Concrete and Sustainable Construction. He led the work to publish “The GCCA 2050 Cement and Concrete Industry Roadmap for Net Zero Concrete” in 2021 and now leads the Net Zero Accelerator Initiative that seeks to take the global commitment to local action. He is responsible for the GCCA Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) tool that enables the cement and concrete industry to meet the demand from designers and clients for EPDs, and leads other initiatives to support decarbonisation of the sector through whole value chain action.

He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers where he has served on the Board and Engineering Leadership Group. He authored the Wiley published book “Sustainable Concrete Solutions” in 2013.