Slag Cement Association - Slag Cement Creates Concrete At Its Best

Sustainability and Slag Cement

Did You Know...

That slag cement has been in worldwide use since the late 1800's, and was used in projects such as the Paris Underground, and the Empire State Building?
During the last 10 years, there has been over 29 million metric tons of slag cement consumed in the U.S. saved the equivalent:

Carbon dioxide emissions of 4.1 million passenger cars;
Energy consumption of 596,000 homes;
Virgin materials to produce enough portland cement for 22,000 lane-miles of 8-inch thick concrete roads?

That slag cement can replace up to 50% of portland cement in most common concrete mixtures, and up to 80% in massive concrete elements and other specialized structures?
That replacing portland cement with slag cement in concrete can save up to 59% of the embodied carbon dioxide emissions and 42% of the embodied energy required to manufacture concrete and its constituent materials?
That the EPA recognizes the benefits of using slag cement, and requires (in EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines) that Federally-funded projects, in most cases, include slag cement in concrete specifications?
That if all the blast furnace slag in the U.S. were converted into slag cement and used in concrete (and other applications), an additional 7.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 35 trillion BTUs of energy could be saved? This would increase the current level of savings by more than 200%!

What is Slag Cement?

Slag cement is a byproduct of an iron blast furnace, part of an integrated steel mill. When molten slag is separated from iron in a blast furnace, it can be rapidly quenched with water (“granulated”), dried and ground to a fine powder. At this point it becomes slag cement (or ground granulated blast furnace slag). Learn more...

How Is Slag Cement Used?

Slag cement is generally used to replace between 20 and 80% of portland cement in concrete, depending on application, job requirements and environmental conditions. Slag cement can also be used in other construction applications such as stabilized bases or soils, grouts, flowable fills, and solidification/fixation of hazardous wastes.
Learn more...

Why Is Slag Cement Sustainable?

Slag cement is one of the most sustainable construction materials available because it (click on hyperlinks below to learn more):

Recovers an industrial byproduct through beneficial use when incorporated into concrete or other construction applications.
Avoids disposal of blast furnace slag, when beneficially utilized.
Reduces portland cement in concrete, resulting in:

Reduces the urban heat island effect by increasing the reflectivity of concrete.
Increases structure life by improving the durability of concrete to various types of deradation such as corosion of reinforcing steel, external and internal chemical attack, and cracking due to thermal stress.

(Click here to download an information sheet on Slag Cement and the Envioronment)

Can Slag Cement Contribute to LEED Certification?

LEED™ stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a product of the U.S. Green Building Council. It is a set of national standards used to certify high-performance, sustainable buildings.

LEED-NC is the most widely-used of these standards and is used for new construction or major renovations. LEED-NC utilizes a point-based system to rank specific levels of sustainable performance in six categories. Slag cement can contribute to achieving 13 specific LEED-NC points. For more infomation on slag cement and LEED, download the following SCA publications:

Slag Cement and LEED™, an information sheet summarizing how slag cement can aid in achieving LEED-NC points.

LEED™ Guide Guide: Using Slag Cement in Sustainable Construction , an handbook that details the documentation and calculations required for using slag cement to help achieve LEED-NC points (applies to LEED-NC versions 2.1, 2.2 and 3.0).

External Resources

EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG), EPA website describing requirements for using recycled/recovered materials in Federally-funded projects

Cement and Concrete requirements from the CPGs
Specifications for cement and concrete from the CPGs
Buy Recycled Series - Construction Products fact sheet

Green Highways Partnership, a public/private initiative that is working to incorporate sustainable concepts into highway design and construction
Ready Mixed Concrete Industry LEED Reference Guide, a comprehensive handbook from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, detailing how concrete can help achieve LEED points
ConcreteThinker.org, a comprehensive website from the Portland Cement Association, focusing on all aspects of concrete sustainability
U.S. Green Building Council, the authoring organization for the LEED green building certification programs:

LEED website
Greenbuild conference and trade show website

Whole Building Design Guide, The U.S. Government's web portal for green building requiremnts and guidelines:

Greenspec, the Federal green construction guide for specifiers

Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES), a National Institute of Standards and Technology website with software to help choose sustainable building products
Concrete Joint Sustainability Initiative
The Concrete Joint Sustainability Initiative is an Industry coalition dediated to educating ourselves, our memebers, and the public about the role and responsibilities of concrete in sustainable development.

SCA Resources

SCA provides several resources to designers, specifiers and contractors, to establish the sustainable benefits in a project, and to ensure that applications with slag cement are specified and contructed properly:

LEED™ Guide: Using Slag Cement in Sustainable Construction, a detailed manual for achieving LEED-NC points with slag cement (updated for LEED-NC 2.1, 2.2 and 3.0).
Slag Cement and LEED™ (SCIC No. 28), an information sheet summarizing how slag cement can help achieve LEED-NC points.

Life Cycle Inventory of Slag Cement Concrete, a whitepaper detailing energy, emissions, and materials required to produce concrete with slag cement, and establishing the savings when compared to non-slag concrete. This report is based on the following technical investigations, which were developed in accordance with ISO 14040 and 14041:

Life Cycle Inventory for Slag Cement

Life Cycle Inventory for Concrete Mixtures Incorporating Slag Cement

Slag Cement and the Environment (SCIC No. 22), an information sheet summarizing the sustainable benefits of slag cement.

Concrete Proportioning (SCIC No. 2), an information sheet that provides guidance regarding appropriate levels of slag cement to use for specific applications.

Suggested Specification Provisions for Slag Cement in Concrete (SCIC No. 13), an information sheet that details appropriate specification language to incorporate slag cement for general and special concrete applications.

Slag Cement and Life Cycle Prediction Models (SCIC No. 23), an information sheet that discusses how service life prediction models can help designers determine appropriate strategies (including the use of slag cement) that produce durable concrete which will last for a given service life.

Life-365, a widely-used software model for predicting the service life and life-cycle costing of steel-reinforced concrete. SCA is a partner in the development of Version 2, which is currently undergoing beta testing. Version 1.1 is available as a free download, through the Silica Fume Association or the Concrete Corrosion Inhibitors Association.

Tools for Exploring Slag Cement in Concrete, a resource CD with many of SCA's publications--including SCA's LEED Guide and all 28 Slag Cement in Concete information sheets--as well as case studies, and other resources. Send an email to info@slagcement.org to request this CD.