In an ongoing effort to continuously explore sustainable building practices and products, EllisDon is proud to share the completion of its first test concrete pour with Bio Graphene Solutions (BGS) and Tomlinson.

This partnership is in alignment with EllisDon working to be at the forefront of the construction industry by utilizing sustainable construction building practices. Our teams continuously search for effective solutions we can implement with long-term positive effects for sites and the communities we work in. The test consisted of a sidewalk pour at one of our projects in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Journey to Sustainability

In 2023, BGS developed a graphene-enhanced admixture for commercial concrete uses that tackled CO2 emissions head on; reducing cement, the binding material in concrete mix contributes more than 8% of global CO2 emissions. This trial has removed 10% of the cement content in concrete due to the graphene-enhanced mixture without sacrificing the compressive strength performance of the overall concrete product. BGS continues to evaluate the opportunity to reduce cement content by up to 20% to understand what can be done without affecting performance or cost.

“Decarbonizing the construction industry is an all-hands-on deck effort,” said Jolene McLaughlin, Vice President, Climate and Sustainability, EllisDon. “We're committed to working with our clients, design partners, and particularly sub trades and suppliers to bring credible and practical low carbon solutions to the market.”

At EllisDon, we strive to be at the forefront of sustainable building practices and push the envelope as we look to the future of our industry. These findings and how they will have a direct impact on the construction industry is what drives us to be ahead of the curve.