🚘 Road to zero

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Good morning! Wax up those moustaches, boys. Movember is once again upon us - a cause of growing importance in the industry. Construction is overwhelmingly male and has disturbingly high rates of suicide, substance use and depression. The industry also had to keep working through one of the worst modern health emergencies in human history, COVID-19. That’s a lot of pressure.

Do your part and contribute to some of the construction teams participating in Movember efforts across the country. More than $100,000 has already been raised!

But if you're strapped for cash, read all the way to the bottom. It just might make you $100 richer...

- Russell Hixson, editor

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 10:15PM ET

Markets: RIP to FTX, a major cryptocurrency exchange that has filed for bankruptcy in one of the swiftest collapses of wealth in recent memory. FTX was one of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms, boasting $16 billion in assets. Now customers are struggling to recoup their funds and allegations of fraud are being investigated. The impacts of its collapse are still being untangled.

THE BIG STORY

Concrete plots path for net-zero future

Concrete, the most consumed product on earth other than water, is going from grey to green. Government of Canada and the cement and concrete industry took their first steps this month, revealing their roadmap to net-zero emissions by 2050. Officials noted that demand for the material is expected to continue to grow due to population growth, urbanization, and economic development, making decarbonization efforts more pressing.

Here’s the deal: Wood is nice. We like wood. We talk an awful lot about the benefits of wood products. But concrete is no slouch. It’s here to stay as a necessary part of construction and part of decarbonization efforts must include it. Canada will produce some 55 million tonnes of cement and 400 million tonnes of concrete over the next 5 years – filling enough concrete mixer trucks to circle the globe 4.5 times.

The big picture: It won’t be easy. It will have to be comprehensive change on a massive scale. The decarbonization pathways for the cement industry include...

• Low carbon fuels

• Performance-based codes

• Standards and procurement policies

• Material efficiency

• Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)

That last one is especially pertinent. With approximately 60 percent of cement emissions resulting from industrial processes in the manufacturing of clinker - the key ingredient in cement - clean technologies like CCUS are needed for the industry to meet net-zero emissions. The good news is companies like Carbon Engineering, CarbonCure Technologies, CO2 Solutions and others are researching better ways to do CCUS, including directly grabbing carbon from the air, preventing it from escaping cement plants and even using it in concrete mixes.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

• 🏢 Apartment building is booming in Alberta as demand for rental units has reached new heights. Developers say high interest rates and migration to the province have pushed more into the rental market, creating intense pressure to construct apartment buildings.

• 🏦 Bundle up for a rough winter. Bank of Canada believes that growth will be nearly zero for the next few quarters. Bank officials added that while the economic slowdown will be short and not particularly deep, the impacts will be felt.

• 💸 Housing costs are weighing heavy on people. A recent survey found that 40 per cent of Canadians worry about making rent or mortgage payments. More than half said that NIMBYism is one of the main barriers between them and having a place to live.

• 💻 Faber, a digital service that helps construction companies connect with local trades and labour, is looking to expand in Canada and the U.S. after finding success in the Vancouver market.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Improvements coming for Alberta cancer patients

Approaching the finish line: The $1.4 billion Calgary Cancer Centre is expected to open to the public in 2023. The goal of the project is to provide cancer treatment services and serve as a hub for cutting edge cancer research. It will also increase cancer care capacity in southern Alberta by consolidating and expanding existing services in the Calgary Zone to support integrated and comprehensive cancer care. The facility is being built at the Foothills Medical Centre by PCL to allow cancer care to be integrated with current key programs and services.

PROJECT UPDATES

B.C. is looking to finalize the last contract needed to build its SkyTrain out to Langley.

An RFP has been issued for an innovative highway pilot project in Ontario.

A $70.5-million high school will open next fall in Calgary after concerns over access to labour and materials.

Construction is set to begin on the expansion of a stretch of Highway 1 in Langley, B.C.

WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT

Read: 🏗️ Going up! A skyscraper race is underway in Toronto.

Watch: 🌉 This is the longest cantilever in the WORLD!

Tweet: 🪚 A living legend. Meet B.C.’s first ever female red seal carpenter.

Watch: 🌱 Companies must focus on global net zero, says this scientist.

Read: 🏒 Can Deadpool even skate? Ryan Reynolds is looking to buy another sports team.

BY THE NUMBERS 

Counting up concrete

• More than 1,100 ready mixed concrete, precast concrete, concrete pipe, and masonry plants are located across Canada.

• The industry is responsible for approximately 158,000 direct and indirect jobs.

• Our exports of cement to the U.S.have increased from $840 million in 2016 to $1.1 billion in 2019.

• Cement production accounts for approximately 7 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

SUBSCRIBER DRIVE

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🙏🏻 Thanks for reading!

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