The City of Langford is introducing a new construction policy that will require the majority of future developers, including the city, to use low carbon concrete.
The policy, coming into effect June 1, 2022, will apply to all concrete supplied to city-owned or solicited projects, and private projects requiring more than 50 cubic metres.
The concrete itself will have to be produced with carbon dioxide mineralization technologies or an equivalent low-carbon process. Mineralization technologies inject captured CO2 into concrete during the mixing process, permanently storing it once the concrete has solidified.
The policy looks to offset the high level of greenhouse gases emitted in the traditional making of cement, the main ingredient in concrete. Cement production creates approximately seven to eight per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Langford’s policy will also require development teams to submit a Type 3 Environmental Product Declaration that specifies all materials used in the product, to be verified by a third party.
“Building regulations are important drivers for change. This is an immediate and critical change that local governments can be a big part of,” Mayor Stew Young said in a Nov. 18 news release.
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