In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has called for action to reduce global emissions to net-zero by 2050. As we move closer to 2050, and the global net-zero deadline, emissions associated with construction are becoming more important than ever. With global urbanization rates increasing, infrastructure needs will serve as a make-or-break point on the pathway to reducing emissions. Green building certifications like LEED are an important signifier to keep in mind when building toward a greener future.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a certification given to green buildings that make efforts to prioritize decarbonization and sustainability in building design, construction, operations, and performance. LEED was initially developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in the 1990s as a way to encourage and standardize improved environmental performance in new construction projects; it was later adopted by the Canadian Green Building Council (CAGBC) as well. As of 2024, there are over 197,000 LEED projects worldwide in 186 countries and territories.
The LEED rating system is comprised of several criteria a building project can fulfill, with each criterion corresponding to a potential number of points the project can receive. The more points a project receives, the higher its level of certification. LEED-certified buildings must fulfill criteria totalling 40 to 49 points, with 50 to 59 points receiving Silver designation, 60 to 79 points receiving Gold designation, and 80 to 110 points receiving Platinum designation.
LEED has grown to encompass new construction, major renovations, interior fit-out projects, and existing buildings looking to improve their embodied and operational carbon emissions and overall environmental impact. For new construction projects, the LEED Building Design and Construction (BD+C) criteria can allow for a construction team to gain LEED certification for a building from its earliest stages. Reducing a building project’s carbon footprint in its construction phase is crucial for addressing embodied carbon emissions, the newest frontier in emissions reduction.
USGBC and the decarbonization nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) released a report in September 2023 focused on the reduction of embodied carbon in buildings. Embodied carbon, which is comprised of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with “materials and construction processes throughout the whole lifecycle of a building,” can represent anywhere from 20% to 90% of a building’s total emissions.
When it comes to reducing the embodied carbon of a construction project, innovative technologies — like the development of carbon-sequestering products through carbon mineralization — are a powerful new way to lower emissions levels.
The RMI report notes that carbon-mineralized products “lock up atmospheric carbon for centuries, avoiding the question of durability that can plague biogenic materials. Unlike efforts to store carbon underground or in deep ocean reservoirs, these types of products create value-added uses for carbon.”
Carbon-storing building products “offer the building industry an unprecedented opportunity to not only reduce emissions but also eventually reverse the carbon flow from the sector … carbon-storing concrete products are entering the market today. Prioritizing these materials will speed up market transformation.”
In an unprecedented marriage of waste valorization and carbon mineralization, CarbiCrete technology enables the production of carbonation-cured cement-free concrete products that utilize steel slag, an industrial waste byproduct, to replace 100% of the cement used as a binding agent in the concrete mix. Concrete manufactured using the CarbiCrete process not only contributes to the low-carbon building market but incorporates the sustainable principles of the circular economy.
According to LEED guidelines, construction projects can only earn LEED points through the use of multiple products from various manufacturers, in order to encourage sustainable practices across a building’s entire construction process. These guidelines are designed so that simply substituting one product with a green alternative will not garner LEED points. Specifying products made using CarbiCrete technology, along with various other environmentally-conscious construction choices, can help a project achieve LEED certification.
Incorporating cement-free concrete products manufactured using CarbiCrete technology as part of a suite of sustainable building practices can help a project achieve LEED Building Design and Construction (BD+C) points in four key categories: integrative processes (IP), materials and resources (MR), Indoor air quality (EQ), and innovation (IN).
CarbiCrete-enabled concrete products can significantly reduce GWP compared to conventional cement-based concrete products, are in early stages of crucial commercialization into the low-carbon building materials market, and combine waste valorization and circular economic principles with carbon mineralization to produce a product recognized by the USGBC and CAGBC as essential for continued decarbonization.
CarbiCrete is a CAGBC member, in additional to participation in key organization including the concrete masonry and hardscapes association (CMHA), New Economy Canada, and the National Slag Association. Specifying CarbiCrete concrete demonstrates a reliable commitment to innovation.
In order to modernize and update LEED criteria, LEED’s fifth iteration is currently being developed and is expected to be implemented in 2025. As LEED v5 is further developed, the benefits of utilizing CarbiCrete products to garner LEED certification will only improve. Specifying CarbiCrete cement-free, carbon-sequestering concrete is an excellent way to help your project achieve climate-friendly certification through LEED.
Ultimately, using cement-free decarbonized concrete masonry products that have been manufactured using CarbiCrete technology can help a new construction project earn LEED points and demonstrate a commitment to the LEED principles of resilience and decarbonization. Download CarbiCrete’s LEED v4.1 Guide below for a detailed overview of exactly how CarbiCrete can help a project achieve LEED certification.