Rethinking Infrastructure: Decarbonization Through Durability

Rethinking Infrastructure: Decarbonization Through Durability

Host: Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO, Decarb Connect
Guest: Eric Van Genderen, Director of Environment, Health & Sustainability, International Zinc Association

Industrial co2 efforts tend to focus on fuels, technologies, and process change, yet a major source of avoidable emissions sits in plain sight: premature infrastructure failure. Roads, bridges, and wastewater systems that corrode decades earlier than planned lock in repeated cycles of repairs that are both carbon and capital-intensive. In this episode, we explore why durability is emerging as a critical lever in reducing lifetime emissions, and how smarter material choices can reshape the economics and carbon profile of long-life assets.

Eric Van Genderen from the International Zinc Association makes the case that we're systematically miscounting the carbon cost of infrastructure by ignoring what happens when it fails early. The fix isn't new technology. Galvanised steel has been a proven solution for nearly a century. What's broken is the decision-making model where federal governments fund construction and municipalities inherit the replacement bill decades later, with no mechanism connecting upfront material choices to long-term carbon or cost outcomes.

What you'll take away:

• Why adding 1–2% to upfront project costs can double infrastructure lifespan — and what that means for lifecycle carbon accounting
• The Champlain Bridge as a case study: designed for 50 years, replaced at 30, and why its replacement is now rated for 100+
• A new metric worth knowing: decarbonisation potential measured in tonnes of CO₂ avoided per tonne of zinc installed
• Why the federal/municipal funding split is structurally blocking smarter material specification
• Where insurers fit in and why they're an emerging pressure point for longer-life assets
• Why legislation and building codes, not voluntary owner decisions, are the realistic lever for change

Show Links:

• Connect to Eric Van Genderen of the Zinc Association to explore their plans
• Find out more about zinc as an enabler of reduced embodied carbon in major projects
• Suggest a podcast episode or guest
• Connect with Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO of Decarb Connect

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