Sudler Companies completed a new 206,140 square foot manufacturing and distribution center as the first building of its 2.5M square foot Fox Hill Business Park, setting new standards for the construction industry through its pioneering use of CarbonCure Technology.
Fox Hill Business Park is the first new substantial logistics center in Greenville County, addressing the growing logistics appeal of the region but also tenant-driven initiatives for environmentally sensitive construction techniques that respond to the corporate ESG movement.
Utilizing CarbonCure’s ready mix concrete technology supplied by local producer Thomas Concrete, the process transformed the concrete at the Fox Hill development into a carbon sink.
“The largest companies in the world have been announcing their climate pledges – their Environmental Social Governance commitments,” says Brian Sudler, Principal with Sudler Co. “We are proud to be the first developer utilizing CarbonCure concrete in South Carolina. We’re not only dedicated to providing jobs and commercial growth to the state but are also committed to doing it in an environmentally responsible way.”
CarbonCure, recently been by Bill Gates in a CBS 60 Minutes interview, made a pledge to reduce 500 megatonnes of CO2 emissions from the construction industry by 2030. CarbonCure was also announced as the winner of the 5-year global NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE challenge on Monday.
“CarbonCure takes carbon dioxide, which is normally considered a harmful greenhouse gas, and we create value from that by using it in the production of concrete,” said Rob Niven, CEO of CarbonCure. “The production of cement accounts for roughly seven percent of CO2 emissions around the world; our technology repurposes the CO2 and permanently traps it inside the concrete.”
“Sudler was able to avoid 59 tonnes (130,000 pounds) of CO2 emissions through our process. It’s an example of how mission alignment can allow all groups to have much more of an impact on a project this size,” continued Niven.
McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, civil engineering firm SeamonWhiteside, and general contractor Pattillo Construction were also partners in Sudler’s first building at Fox Hill. Sudler’s Fox Hill Development is represented by NAI Earle Furman.
“With Sudler’s new project in Fox Hill, it means more developers will not only realize that it’s a high-quality product, but it also reduces their carbon footprint and makes companies more socially responsible when it comes to the environment,” said Alan Wessel, CEO of Thomas Concrete.
“Sustainable construction and maintenance practices will be differentiators for corporations going forward and therefore they should be driving decision in the industrial real estate space,” says Sudler. “While we are among the first to focus on this, now is the time for us to put our foot forward when developing these projects and that we do it in an environmentally conscious way. But the construction materials must be cost effective and as strong as regular concrete, CarbonCure and Thomas Concrete lived up to that goal. We are going to set the standards for sustainability standards for our industry.”
The Greenville Area Development Corporation [GADC] is a nonprofit organization dedicated to economic development in Upstate South Carolina.
“GADC works with an average of 100 companies per year who look to locate or expand in Greenville, and the issue of sustainability is becoming increasingly more important to these companies as a factor in choosing a site or new facility,” stated Mark Farris, President and CEO of GADC. “An environmentally-sensitive product like CarbonCure can add to the marketability of a structure for companies who value sustainable buildings.”