Concrete Sustainability Main Topic at Virginia Conference

NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Phil Kresge recently participated in the 5th Annual Building Green with Concrete Workshop, hosted by the Northern Virginia Concrete Advisory Council (NVCAC). This year’s workshop focused on sustainable concrete paving and discussed "solutions for paving roads and parking surfaces to last a lifetime."

Guest speaker Congressman Rob Wittman (R, VA-1) kicked off the workshop, welcoming the attendees and encouraging them to embrace the ideas of sustainability when designing infrastructure. He stressed the importance of maintaining and improving our transportation system while delicately balancing that with the preservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. Kresge’s first presentation, "Life Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis," set the stage for the rest of the program. Citing research results from the Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH) at MIT, he demonstrated the importance of looking at pavement design from a life cycle perspective.

Other presentations included "Long Term Benefits of Alternative Pavement Bidding in Missouri" and "Missouri’s Experience with Various Concrete Overlay Types," both presented by John Donahue, P.E., Construction Engineer for Missouri Department of Transportation and "Pervious Concrete as Your Stormwater Management System," presented by Matt Cockerham, North Star Foundations, Inc., and a certified NRMCA Pervious Concrete Craftsman. Kresge closed the workshop with his "Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots" presentation. 

Approximately 80 individuals from the design community, including state and county transportation engineers, attended the workshop which was once again held at Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI). Following the workshop, attendees were invited to tour the WSSI campus, which is Virginia's first LEED Gold-certified facility and includes pervious concrete in a large portion of the parking lot.