NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete, recently participated in COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). NEU collaborated with the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) in the Concrete Future Pavilion.
Together, Dean Frank, executive director, NEU, along with Dr. Antonio Nanni, president, American Concrete Institute (ACI), and Karen Scrivener, professor, Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL) presented, “ACI and NEU Unveil Code and Resources for Carbon Neutral Concrete.” The session was moderated by Andrew Minson, Concrete and Sustainable Construction Director, GCCA. The presentation introduced NEU to the Mideast participants and explained NEU's validation program. President Nanni introduced ACI's new forthcoming code Low-Carbon Concrete Code.
“This was an important event for NEU to participate in so international stakeholders—who rely on cement and concrete—can now use NEU as a resource as they seek to reduce the embodied carbon in their buildings and infrastructure,” stated Frank. “COP28 was also a good opportunity to promote our members to the international market.”
NEU Attends ACI Middle East Conference in Saudi Arabia
While in the region, Frank and Nanni participated in the ACI Middle East Conference: Concrete Conference on Codes, Standards, and Best Practices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Frank had the opportunity to provide an overview of NEU and explain NEU’s validation/verification program. It was an excellent opportunity to interact with many local industry experts who are very interested in the work the NEU is doing.
This two-day conference, organized in collaboration with Saudi Building Code National Committee and Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), featured leading local and international experts sharing their knowledge on topics such as new and existing concrete structure codes and standards, innovation, new technologies and sustainability in the building codes, ACI resources on concrete best practices, and more.
NEU at Big 5 Global in UAE
NEU also participated in the Global Leaders’ Summit and Concrete Talks at the Big 5 Global in Dubai, UAE. During the Concrete Talks, Mike Tholen, ACI’s senior managing director of technical operations, presented an update on the new validation program while Frank was attending COP28, which overlapped the event.
Big 5 Global is the largest and most-influential construction industry event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA). This year set a historic record, with Big 5 Global achieving its highest attendance ever, with over 81,000 participants representing 166 countries.