Winners Announced for 2023 Concrete Innovations Awards

Earlier this week, Build With Strength and NRMCA announced the winners of the 2023 Concrete Innovation Awards at a ceremony held in Las Vegas during the CONEXPO-CON/AGG Show. Category winners included Innovative Person or Team, Innovative Product or Service, Innovative Project and Innovative Company. All winners were members of NRMCA or an Association member was involved in developing the innovation.

• Innovative Person or Team Award - Abhishek Kumar, founder and CEO of Nanogence, Inc. Nanogence manufactures tailored catalysts that reduce cementitious demand in concrete over 20% by enhancing the product binding process while curtailing carbon footprint by 20%. Mr. Kumar has been working with NRMCA Producer 0member Ernst Concrete to bring Nanogence to the U.S. market.
• Innovative Product or Service Award (three winning entries) - Concrete.ai was recognized for its groundbreaking mix optimization software. The AI-powered software uses the concrete producer’s own data and its active decision-making tool engages users to see all predicted properties, apply constraints and set performance, cost and embodied carbon goals. Urban Mining Industries was acknowledged for its innovative product, Pozzotive, a ground glass pozzolan that has a 5% carbon footprint of cement and recycles waste glass. NRMCA member O&G Industries partnered with Urban Mining Industries to open a Pozzotive plant in Connecticut. And SmartMix by Giatec Scientific, Inc., was honored for its Al-based concrete mix management, analysis and reporting software that enables producers to optimize concrete mixes in real time and reduce cost and carbon footprint. Giatec is an NRMCA member.
• Innovative Project Award (five winning entries) - Boston University’s Center for Computing & Data Sciences is housed in the campus’ most sustainable, energy efficient building which was built with ECOPact low-carbon concrete developed by NRMCA Producer member Holcim. Casa Adelante by Mar Structural Design’s nine-story senior housing development was designed for residents to shelter in place during an earthquake. Mar Structural Design collaborated with NRMCA Producer member Central Concrete Supply to create this building. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s new western headquarters in Black Rock State Park was recognized for achieving LEED Platinum and Net Zero energy standards. O&G Industries, an NRMCA Producer member, supplied the concrete on the project. • Remy Wines’ new winemaking facility was honored for having the world’s first carbon-neutral concrete floor in its new 5,000-square foot facility in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. NRMCA Producer member Wilsonville Concrete Products supplied the carbon negative concrete for this project. And the Seattle Aquarium’s Ocean Pavilion features a 360,000-gallon coral reef ecosystem that is home to more than 120 species. NRMCA Producer member Stoneway Concrete worked with Turner Construction to develop self-consolidating concrete mixes.
• Innovative Company Award (two winning entries) - Carbon Upcycling is a waste and carbon utilization company transforming carbon emissions, local industrial byproducts and natural materials into enhanced supplementary cementing materials to decarbonize the cement and concrete industries. Carbon Upcycling is an NRMCA member. Cemstone Product Company, an NRMCA Producer member, used six million gallons of recycled water and recycled 1,400 tons of concrete aggregates in 2022. It is a leader in NRMCA safety, environmental and quality award programs and participates in NRMCA’s Environmental Product Declaration program.

“The concrete industry is making great strides to improve the way it makes concrete so that it can provide strong, resilient structures at lower carbon footprint,” said Lionel Lemay, executive vice president, structures and sustainability, at NRMCA.

Click here for more details about the nominees and winners, including images, can be viewed at www.concreteinnovations.com.