Think Pozzotive!™ | Urban Mining Industries Tour: Ground Glass Pozzolans for Sustainable Concrete

November 7, 2024 | 4:00 – 6:00pm

  • Tour A: 4-5pm (max. 15/tour)
  • Tour B: 4:15-5:15pm (max. 15/tour)

UMCT, 105A Breault Road, Beacon Falls, CT 06403

Tickets: Members $25, Non-Members $40

1.5 LU AIA Credits Available

The cement component of concrete imparts a large Global Warming Potential (GWP) and replacing the cement with GGPs dramatically reduces concrete’s GWP. GGPs are made from recycled post-consumer bottle glass that would otherwise be landfilled. The glass is sourced regionally, GGPs are manufactured locally and distributed regionally – this constitutes the perfect circular economy. GGPs produce a stronger and more durable concrete with extreme resistance to chloride penetration (road salts), sulfate attack and freeze/thaw damage from water penetration.

Join us and Managing Partners, Patrick Grasso & Louis Grasso, Jr. on a tour of the Urban Mining Industries factory.

Attendees will be able to:

  • Develop an understanding of how pozzolans work in concrete. Specifically through the discussion of the history of pozzolans, the definition of a pozzolan from ASTM C 125, and the definition of a Ground Glass Pozzolan (GGP) from ASTM C 1866. The chemistry of how pozzolans work in concrete is described.
  • Discuss the results of GGP use as cement replacement, through the following technical concrete performance metrics; Rapid Chloride Permeability Test (ASTM C1202), expansion due to sulfate attack (ASTM C1012), compressive strength (ASTM C39), Free Shrinkage (ASTM C 157), Freeze-Thaw Cycling Test of Durability (ASTM C 666) with experts from Urban Mining Industries, who were instrumental in creating and passing of ASTM C1866 Standard Specification for Ground-Glass Pozzolan for Use in Concrete. The technical requirements of this standard are discussed and compared to ASTM C618 the standard specification for fly ash used in concrete.
  • Develop an understanding of the industry solutions created by the manufacture of GGPs and their use in concrete including; GGPs aren’t required to be color separated and glass particles much smaller than 3/8” can be utilized, hence very little glass gets landfilled. And, GGPs help fill the void left by the decline in production of fly ash and slag in the Pozzolan industry. Finally, GGPs dramatically reduces the GWP of concrete.
  • Discover hands-on examples of the use of GGPs in concrete products, including a multitude of projects where concrete block and pre-stressed plank are the primary structural components of the projects. The first ever cast-in-place use of GGPs was demonstrated by the Durst Organization for all the high-strength structural concrete in their Halletts Point project in Queens. 2.2 million square feet of 6000-PSI floor slabs were cast using GGPs in the JP Morgan Chase Global HQ project in Manhattan.

Safety Requirements and Considerations:

  • Closed-Toe Shoes: Steel-toe boots are highly advised, but regular boots or other closed-toe shoes with a thick sole are acceptable.
  • Safety vest: Required, please bring. UMCT can provide if needed.
  • Hard hat: Required, please bring. UMCT will provide a few at the tour.
  • Safety Glasses: Required, please bring. UMCT will provide a few at the tour.

Food:

  • Light Snacks & Refreshments will be provided post-Tour


Presenters:

Patrick A. Grasso | Co-Managing Partner, Urban Mining Industries, LLC

Patrick Grasso is a co-managing partner at Urban Mining Industries. The company manufactures Pozzotive®, a sustainable building material derived  from post-consumer waste glass. Used as a cement replacement,  Pozzotive can reduce the carbon footprint of concrete by up to 40% while  providing a large-scale solution to the ongoing challenges that waste glass  creates in our recycling stream.  

Patrick is responsible for ongoing strategic planning, national site selection, capital market efforts and the coordination of major relationships within the glass recycling industry, developer community and government agencies.  

Patrick’s industry related affiliations include the Glass Recycling Coalition, the Glass Recycling Foundation (where he serves as a founding and  current board member), Northeast Recycling Coalition (serving on the glass  recycling committee), and the Urban Land Institute. He earned his MBA  from the Wharton School and his B.E. (Civil Engineering) from Manhattan  College.

Louis P. Grasso, Jr, LEED AP | Co-Managing Partner, Urban Mining Industries, LLC

Louis P. Grasso Jr., LEED AP, is the Lead Inventor of Pozzotive®, a Founding Partner of Urban Mining Industries, LLC and Chief Executive Officer of Urban Mining CT LLC, a licensed regional producer of Pozzotive®. Louis has over 35 years of experience combined in commercial construction and development and in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of masonry products. As the Lead Inventor of Pozzotive® including several US Patents regarding Ground Glass Pozzolans for use  in concrete, he has committed over 20 years of his professional career toward the commercialization  of the product. Louis is responsible for new product and plant development, operations and ongoing  efforts to educate the design, development and construction industries on the benefits of Pozzotive® and to strengthen the Pozzotive® brand. 

He is a Voting Member of ASTM Main Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates and Member of Subcommittee C09.24 on Supplementary Cementitious Materials and ASTM Work Group Member for the development of ASTM C1866 / C1866M – 20 Standard Specification for Ground Glass Pozzolan for Use in Concrete which operates under C09.24. Louis also serves as a Voting Member of American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 240-00 Pozzolans and ACI 240-TG1 – Test  Methods and Testing of Natural Pozzolans Task Group.


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