NRMCA’s Lemay Participates in Industry Discussion on Sustainability Policies

Lionel Lemay, NRMCA senior vice president of sustainability, participated in Converge 2013 last week in Vancouver, Canada. The conference was a gathering of national leaders in the Canadian materials and construction industries to discuss the impacts of materials, new technologies and product choices on sustainable building practices. Converge 2013 was an informed dialogue between all stakeholders regarding current government policies about the use of materials, including an independent assessment of the real-world effectiveness of British Columbia’s "Wood First" policy. Leaders from the concrete, steel and wood industries came together to share what each sector is doing to push the Canadian construction sector forward. The conference was the first of its kind in North America and is the brainchild of British Columbia Ready Mixed Concrete Association Executive Director Charles Kelly.

Lemay presented Social Values, Social Responsibilities and the Concrete Industry and participated on a panel discussion on industry initiatives to incorporate life cycle thinking into product evaluation and process improvements. The discussion centered on research being conducted at MIT and progress toward meeting reporting requirements in LEED v4, including Environmental Product Declarations, Responsible Sourcing and Material Ingredient Disclosure.