Concrete Sustainability Council
The Concrete Sustainability Council is an industry organization and standards body focused on decreasing the environmental impact of cement, concrete, and aggregate. The group was originally launched by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development project Concrete Sustainability Initiative in 2013. The project has been managed by its members with the support of the Global Cement and Concrete Association since 2019.
The initiative's initial goal was to establish a certification system for responsibly sourced concrete and its supply chain. The initiative launched the CSC certification system, which is an industry certification that can be used to evaluate green building certification such as BREEAM, DGNB or LEED. The process evaluates both supply chain and process used for the production of concrete, and other Environmental and Social consequences. Parts of the certificate are optional, such as the CO2 certification -- so not all CSC certified products are low carbon. The certificate is administered by "regional system operators" such as Bundesverband der Deutschen Transportbetonindustrie in Germany. As of 2021, 485 concrete industry organizations had the certification.
The certificate comes in four levels Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze -- with platinum complying with more of the certification requirements. The standards for cement, aggregate and concrete are different.The certification allows designers and architects to better understand the lifecycle and impact of concrete in their construction projects. Cement plants that are retrofitting or trying to become more sustainable, can use the standard to redesign their processes.
Beyond certification, the initiative also supports research for the cement industry, such as a technology roadmap of the cement industry with the IEA.