Holcim and Stoneway Concrete Power Green Building at Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance

• Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance wins Concrete Innovations Award from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 
• Use of supplementary cementitious material, slag, provided by Holcim’s North America region contributes to over a 40% reduction in carbon emissions, surpassing regional averages

CALGARY, AB, May 8, 2024 — 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.

About Stoneway Concrete

Stoneway Concrete is a locally owned supplier of ready mix concrete, gravel located in the Seattle, Washington area.  The company has been in business since 1928. Stoneway is believed to be the first company in Washington State to produce concrete that replaces 80% of the cement with supplemental cementitious materials (SCM). On past projects for the City of Seattle and WSDOT, Stoneway successfully replaced up to 50% of the cement with Granulated Ground Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS or “slag”) in structural applications. Stoneway Concrete was a 2023 NRMCA Innovation award winner for the Seattle Aquarium.

About Holcim

Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions with net sales of CHF 27.0 billion in 2023. Driven by our purpose to build progress for people and the planet, our 63,448 employees are on a mission to decarbonize building, while improving living standards for all. We empower our customers across all regions to build better with less, with a broad range of low-carbon and circular solutions, from ECOPact and ECOPlanet to our circular technology platform ECOCycle®. Through innovative systems, from Elevate roofing to PRB insulation, Holcim makes buildings more sustainable in use, driving energy efficiency and green retrofitting. With sustainability at the core of our strategy, we are on the way to becoming a net-zero company with 1.5°C targets validated by SBTi.

Lafarge Canada, a subsidiary of Holcim, employs over 6,900 people and manages 400 sites across the country. We provide green products to build the infrastructure and communities where Canadians live and work.

Contacts

Kristen Marston
Lafarge Canada Inc.
kristen.marston@lafarge.com

Michael Gardner
Stoneway Concrete
michaelg@stonewayconcrete.com