Holcim, a leader in innovative and sustainable building materials, today announced its collaboration with Stoneway Concrete in the construction of the state-of-the-art Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance, a winner of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NRMCA) Concrete Innovations Award.
The NRMCA Concrete Innovations Awards celebrates outstanding achievement in concrete design and construction, particularly projects that excel in performance while reducing environmental impacts, including embodied and operational carbon footprint.
“Working closely with Stoneway Concrete showcases our shared commitment to fully understanding and meeting the specific needs of our customers,” said Cory Cannon, vice president of cement sales and logistics. “Being part of our operations in the Pacific Northwest, projects like the Seattle Storm Center demonstrate how we combine our expertise and deliver effective, customer-focused solutions that improve sustainability, performance and success within the construction industry.”
Holcim’s supplementary cementitious material, slag, played a significant role in reducing carbon emissions and achieving sustainability goals at the Seattle Storm Center. Through this initiative with Stoneway Concrete, the project exceeded regional averages, achieving over a 40% reduction in carbon emissions compared to typical average mixes in the area. Moreover, it has successfully achieved 80% of the targeted reductions outlined by the First Movers Coalition for Concrete by 2030.
“We had solutions that might not be obvious,” says Michael Gardner, technical services manager at Stoneway Concrete. “However, as we were armed with detailed knowledge of the locally available materials, their potential impact and mix optimization expertise, we were able to get creative and ultimately exceed everyone’s expectations for both performance and CO2 reduction. No doubt the ability to quantify our decisions through CO2 impact using EPDs strengthened the validity of our plan.”
Located in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood, the 50,000-square-foot facility will serve as the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) dedicated practice facility for the Seattle Storm. The construction of the project began in Spring 2023 and is expected to be completed in time for the 2024 WNBA season’s training camp and achieve LEED® Gold certification.