Objectives

To contribute to and educate the future generation of civil engineers on the sustainable development of concrete, this student competition aims to promote the idea of environmental performance in concrete mix designs. Teams thus have the mission to develop an innovative concrete mixture, which will have the lowest possible environmental impacts while maintaining or improving the durability performance. To achieve this goal, teams are encouraged to seek out and use local resources of ecofriendly materials such as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs).

After designing their concrete mixture, teams are asked to perform a simplified life-cycle assessment (LCA) and present their results in a written report and a recorded presentation. The format of this report is inspired by an environmental product declaration document, which is favored by the industry to communicate the environmental footprint of products.

In addition to the report, teams shall prepare the simulation results of their mixtures using the Life 365™ software. This open-source tool has been extensively used by concrete designers and engineers to predict the durability performance of concrete against chloride attacks. In this competition, teams will also have to present a recorded video on their concrete mix designs to the judges, with an emphasis on the environmental aspect considered in their decision.

FOR ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS MENTIONED IN THE RULES AS APPENDICES, PLEASE USE THE BUTTONS TO THE RIGHT.

Prizes

The durability performance improvement, quality of the report and recorded presentation, as well as answering judges’ question during an online interview, and environmental score from the simplified life-cycle assessment, will be the parameters in determining the winners. First-, second-, and third-place entries will each be awarded a certificate of recognition and will be recognized on the ACI website as well as Concrete International magazine if space allows. In addition, the first-place team will receive a $750 award, the second-place team will receive $500, and the third-place team will receive $250. Winners will not be announced and prizes will not be awarded until the student lunch on Tuesday following the competition.

Note: Teams are highly encouraged to read the following Concrete International article to learn from the challenges and students’ outcomes related to the previous versions of the Eco Concrete Competition:
The Eco Concrete Competition: Lessons learned by (and from) students

Rules

For a PDF version of the Eco Concrete Competition official rules, click here.