Webinar Archives

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Green building is the concept of constructing buildings we need today without depleting resources for future generations. In the new world of sustainable building, information about the strength, durability, and indestructible nature of concrete as a resourceful building material is emerging. Amid the teardown-and-replace mentality still pervasive in the world today, concrete stands out defiantly. Try to replace concrete with an alternative building material, and you'll be hard pressed to find a substitute possessing the same thermal qualities, design flexibility, and permanence. This presentation will discuss where we are at as a green industry and the various ‘green” efforts that have been used in concrete production, such as substituting relatively high percentage of cement by fly ash (up to 100%), the use of other natural pozzolans, and development of concrete with recycled or waste materials. The presenter will also discuss where the industry might be headed in the future. Finally, problems in the realization of and potential barriers to green concrete construction are also discussed.

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With increasing discussion about the need to control global warming, engineers are starting to pay attention to how they can reduce the environmental impact of their work. This presentation will review what actions have been taken in recent years to reduce carbon footprint in concrete construction, as well as offer some thoughts on what actions can be taken today, and dream a little about the future.

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Concrete is used in nearly every structure we build today, including buildings, bridges, homes and infrastructure. With greater emphasis placed on sustainability, design professionals are faced with the challenge of meeting traditional design criteria with evolving criteria that support green building and efforts to reduce impact on climate change. Performance-based specifications for concrete represent an important synergy with sustainability initiatives because they provide the opportunity to optimize mixtures for performance that can also reduce environmental impacts. Prescriptive specifications often adversely impact the environmental footprint of concrete structures. This presentation outlines how concrete performance can be improved while lowering environmental footprint by implementing performance-based specifications.

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With a growing interest in sustainability, the construction industry is looking for solutions to help reduce its carbon footprint. The Portland Cement Association’s newly released Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality lays out the cement and concrete industry’s commitment to a lower carbon future. With its proven performance, portland-limestone cement, or PLC, is ready to play a key role, yet many designers and specifiers don’t know about it. This program will explain what PLCs are, how to use them, and their effects on fresh and hardened concrete properties. Several examples of PLC projects in the U.S. over the past decade will show how others have used it successfully.

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Contractors want concrete to be as workable as possible to facilitate placement and consolidation without compromising performance in the hardened state. Concrete producers strive to consistently deliver expected performance attributes. Yet, hydration of Portland cement leads to a change in fresh concrete properties immediately after batching, most notably with respect to mix slump or workability. In air-entrained concrete mixtures, furthermore, modified slump can lead to changes in air content, typically a reduction, and potential rejection of the load. Invariably, rejected loads result in loss of revenue and reduced profits for concrete producers. This presentation will discuss workability retention and the various methods traditionally used to manage it. Additionally, an innovative, new admixture is introduced that provides workability retention without the adverse effects of current practices.

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This webinar will provide a general overview of common horizontal forming systems in use today. We will also discuss some project specific factors that drive the system selection process as well as review examples of building design factors affecting constructability and economy.

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There is a lot more to cold-weather concrete than just preventing freezing. This webinar will discuss the reasons to protect concrete in cold weather, the ACI definition of cold weather, methods to protect concrete from freezing, and other topics beneficial to contractors, designers, owners, and suppliers who design and build projects in cold weather.

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This webinar will explore the use of Insulated Concrete Forms as a viable and enduring building system.  The webinar will explain the many benefits, economies, and attributes of Insulated Concrete Forms.  The presenter will share lessons he has learned, details for implementation, things to avoid, and things to consider.  The presenter will describe how Insulated Concrete Forms can be implemented into the design of net-zero energy buildings.  Finally, a case study will help illustrate the benefits and properties of a thermal mass/thermal reservoir. 

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We live in a constructed world and our lives and livelihoods are inextricably linked to the proper function of our infrastructure and machinery. For this to be safely possible, we must have confidence in the technologies we rely on. Nondestructive testing provides that confidence.  To make smart choices, it’s important to have a sound understanding of the purpose, applications, requirements, and different methods of nondestructive testing. This presentation is intended to serve as an overview of various nondestructive testing applications as they are used in the field.

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Hot weather conditions are not solely related to the air temperature when placing concrete.  Those conditions are defined in ACI and ASTM documents.  This presentation will focus on being able to define hot weather conditions and its effects on concrete in the plastic and hardened state.  This presentation will also provide details on how to overcome the conditions of hot weather when placing concrete.