Preface 

This is the first edition of CSA/ANSI R118, CarbonStarⓇ: Concrete carbon intensity quantification and verification . It replaces CSA SPE-112, CarbonStarⓇ : Technical specification for concrete carbon intensity quantification and verification, published in 2021. This Standard was prepared by the Technical Committee on Concrete Carbon Intensity Quantification and Verification, under the jurisdiction of the Strategic Steering Committee on Environment and Business Excellence, and has been formally approved by the Technical Committee. This Standard has been developed in compliance with Standards Council of Canada requirements for National Standards of Canada. It has been published as a National Standard of Canada by CSA Group. This Standard has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an American National Standard. 

Scope 

1.1 General 

This Standard provides minimum requirements and recommendations for the quantification and verification of the carbon intensity in a unit of concrete, including any carbon that is permanently sequestered during the production of the concrete and/or its input materials. Therefore, this number could be either positive or negative. The quantification calculation results in a CarbonStarⓇ rating expressing: a) the carbon intensity of concrete in kilograms (pounds) of CO2 and/or CO2e per cubic metre (cubic yard), subject to the methodology in this Standard; and b) where applicable, the net CO2 sequestered in kilograms (pounds) per cubic metre (cubic yard), or as otherwise required for the purposes of carbon credits, offsets, or tax incentives. Note: This Standard provides a methodology for quantifying carbon emissions and sequestration for a declared unit of 1 m3 (1.308 yd3) of concrete. When selecting concrete options for a given application, functional criteria, including strength, constructability, performance, and durability, also need to be considered. For example, in Canada, CSA A23.1 provides performance and durability requirements for ready-mixed concrete, CSA A23.4 covers these same requirements for precast concrete, and CSA A23.3 covers structural requirements; for specific types of structures, CSA S6 covers bridge construction, and CSA S413 covers parking structures. In the USA, ACI 318 covers structural and durability requirements for buildings, ACI 350.5 covers environmental structures, and ACI 562 covers concrete repairs. Annex D provides a sample template that can be used for documenting the use and outputs of this Standard.