Victoria Firm Launches Redi-Green Eco-Concrete Brand, Lowers Carbon Footprint Further
Independent Concrete Ltd. trucks ready to head out to the job site
VICTORIA – Independent Concrete Ltd. has become one of the greenest concrete producers in all of North America.
They’re telling everyone about it, as their trucks are emblazoned with green Redi-Green eco-concrete to announce the arrival of their newest, latest product.
“We’ve just launched our green brand and trademarked it, and it will reduce our total embodied carbon footprint,” says General Manager Todd Hanson. “We’ve been working on this for the past five years. We recognized there was a desire and will for the industry and the general public to embrace greener technology and brands, and we’ve delivered.
Independent Concrete Ltd. General Manager Todd Hanson in front of one of their new Redi-Green trucks
“At the end of the day we are probably about 50 per cent lower in our carbon footprint than the national average. The measurement that is used to determine how many kilograms of C02 per cubic meter of concrete produced is called the Environmental Product Declaration which is a like a nutrition label for concrete, and we are now 30 per cent below the BC benchmark, which is the lowest in North America.
Independent Concrete has a staff of 29 and 19 trucks that serve customers throughout Greater Victoria, including Sooke and Port Renfrew. The size and experience of their operation gives them the ability to service all segments of construction including Ministry of Transportation infrastructure projects, residential, commercial and even the backyard weekend warrior.
They’ve been investing capital into new equipment such as a reclaimer and filter press to reduce waste and help lower their carbon footprint.
“This enables us to use recycled water for truck washouts and to recycle returned concrete. The washout and returned concrete are put through a process that separates the aggregates and slurry for reuse in our concrete production. Only 0.6 per cent waste is generated from our site,” Hanson says. “80 per cent of the water we use for batching concrete is recycled water, and 6 per cent of our aggregate usage is from our reclaimer system.
“In addition to that, we’re working with our supply chain partners towards using products such as GUL Cement, which is a general use limestone cement, and we source our raw materials locally such as Lafarge’s GUL cement out of Richmond and Vancouver Island aggregate sources. We also use Supplementary Cementing Materials (SCM) to replace cement by an average of 25-40 per cent which further reduces our carbon footprint. All this easily lowers our carbon footprint by up to 30 per cent, or more, depending on the mix design used.”
Independent Concrete started in 1998, and Kory Gronnestad purchased the company in 2008.
“The last several years, we’ve been experiencing exponential growth,” Hanson notes. “The only thing that keeps us from growing more has been supply chain issues and a shortage of workers. We’ve had trucks on order for over two years, and it’s taken us that long to get just two. The demand is there.”
Hanson says the employees have been a key to the success of Independent Concrete, as most of the workers have been with the company since day one, including employee number one, who still drives one of their trucks.
“We’re really excited about the Redi-Green launch and brand,” Hanson says. “The industry is committed to lower emissions, and using our new Redi-Green product line will help reduce the carbon footprint in the construction indus-try dramatically.”
By Mark MacDonald