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Association & Industry News
The Masschusetts Institute of Technology's SCHub is hosting a webinar on Thursday, September 26, at 11 a.m. Eastern time titled The Carbin App: Cutting CO2 Emissions and Monitoring the Performance of our Roads. This webinar provides an update on the smartphone app Carbin which can assess the state of our infrastructure. With many improvements over the past six months, Carbin has now become an automatized system which, with engagement from the public, can be easily used to extract information on the quality of roads and their environmental impact at the city, state, or country scale. In Cambridge, MA, for which Carbin has recorded 350k individual measurements, we show that, when combined with traffic information, this approach can be used to optimize the management of our road infrastructure. The webinar will be hosted by CSHub research assistant Jake Roxon. The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) webinar series offers information of general interest to members of the building, paving, and construction communities, as well as to educators, students, journalists, and law and policy-makers interested in the environmental and economic impacts of decision-making concerning infrastructure. Webinars are free and open to the public. Presentations are geared toward a lay audience. The RMC Research & Education Foundation is a co-funder of the MIT CSHub in conjunction with the Portland Cement Association. Earlier this year, it reported on the Carbin App. Click here to register. 
SEO
Yesterday, NRMCA Safety, Environment and Operations (SEO) Department staff was on hand for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) announcement of the Top 10 Violations for 2019 across both construction and general industry. The rollout of the latest data took place at the National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo in San Diego. OSHA annually releases the new information at the NSC event. This year’s OSHA’s Top 10 include: 1. Fall Protection – General Requirements (Construction: 29 CFR 1926.501) 2. Hazard Communication (General Industry: 29 CFR 1910.1200) 3. Scaffolds – General Requirements (Construction: 29 CFR 1926.451) 4. Lockout/Tagout (General Industry: 29 CFR 1910.147) 5. Respiratory Protection (General Industry: 29 CFR 1910.134) 6. Ladders (Construction: 29 CFR 1926.1053) 7. Powered Industrial Trucks (General Industry: 29 CFR 1910.178) 8. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (Construction: 29 CFR 1926.503) 9. Machine Guarding (General Industry: 29 CFR 1910.212) 10. Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (Construction: 29 CFR 1926.102) This year’s list features a slight change from last year’s which saw Lockout/Tagout and Respiratory Protection reversed. When released publicly in November, OSHA’s Top 10 list and more information will include final numbers of citations issued along with industry specific data, which will be found here. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Registration is open for this year’s Environmental Certification Course to be held in Orlando, FL, November 19-21. Course attendees will be educated on industry-specific environmental issues that affect ready mixed concrete production, including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, Discharge Permits, Stormwater Management, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Solids Management, Hazardous Materials, Dust Control, Recycling, Spill Prevention Plans, Air Quality Management, Noise Management, Environmental Auditing and much more. Those who should attend include plant managers, environmental managers, compliance managers, executives or anyone with fiscal and/or environmental responsibilities that should know the details concerning a company’s responsibilities when it comes to EPA regulations, the Clean Water Act, Discharge Permits, Stormwater Management and numerous other critical environmental matters. Click here for more information and registration options. You may also contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
Build With Strength has partnered with the Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA) to enhance the construction infrastructure to build with ICFs. Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) are quickly becoming the method of choice for all forms of construction, including single and multi-family, hotels, schools, offices – all forms of residential and commercial construction. This course will provide basic ICF training to begin building with one of the fastest growing building systems on the market. The training is driven locally by NRMCA state affiliates and is targeting general contractors, framers, masons and other trades who will learn the techniques to expand their construction services portfolio and be more competitive in today’s construction environment. There are two events currently scheduled:
Click here for more details on each event and to register. For more information, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138. NRMCA has verified Producer member Martin Marietta and its system level Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) software program has met Version 2 of the Concrete Product Category Rule (PCR). An early adopter of utilizing EPD software, Martin Marietta - Rocky Mountain Division continues to demonstrate value with its ability to respond to green building projects. Its market-facing program is significant since Colorado is a leading green building market with 1,884 LEED registered projects and 1,058 certified, led by the Denver-metro area. Martin Marietta can produce EPDs from six plants to meet growing pressures to report on the environmental impacts from manufacturing products. The EPD software tool was developed by Climate Earth, which integrates LCA impacts with mix design batch operating system to generate EPDs when desired. Verification was provided by Sustainable Solutions Corporation, a partner in NRMCA’s EPD program. From this point forward, Martin Marietta can continue generating EPDs on-demand from each of its six plants using the Climate Earth tool. (Martin Marietta EPDs can be found here.) Established in 2012, NRMCA’s EPD Program aims to help concrete producers and material suppliers meet new criteria in green building rating systems, such as LEED v4. As part of the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes Strength Through Transparency for member and industry competitiveness in the green building marketplace and the trends toward product and company transparency. For more information, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138. NRMCA has verified a system level Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) software program for RiverBend Materials, a CRH company. NRMCA verified concrete mix designs from each of the Oregon concrete plants in Corvallis, Hilroy, RBWest and Wildish. With growing pressure from architects, engineers and state legislators, reporting the environmental impacts of manufacturing products is becoming a cost of doing business. However, RiverBend is now able to influence construction projects that want to balance performance with environmental impact of concrete mix designs. The software tool was developed by Climate Earth and integrates LCA impacts with a mix design batch operating system to generate EPDs when desired. The software and underlying life cycle data for the plant was reviewed and verified by Sustainable Solutions Corporation. From this point forward, RiverBend can generate EPDs on-demand from the four plants in the Willamette Valley. RiverBend Materials EPDs can be found here. Established in 2012, NRMCA’s EPD Program aims to help concrete producers and concrete product suppliers meet new criteria in green building rating systems, such as LEED v4 and, in some cases, state legislation. As part of the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes Strength Through Transparency for member and industry competitiveness in the green building marketplace and the trends toward product and company transparency. For more information, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138.
Government Affairs
Please mark your calendars for the NRMCA-PCA Joint Government Affairs Committee Meeting to take place on Thursday, October 3, at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2019 at the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, FL. This will be the second joint NRMCA-PCA government affairs meeting and will serve as NRMCA’s fall committee meeting. Room location and agenda will be circulated in coming weeks. Click here to view the full ConcreteWorks schedule and register here. Monday, September 9, marked the first day of the joint NRMCA-PCA government affairs offices on Capitol Hill. Located a short walk from Union Station, the offices are at 200 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC, and will provide government affairs staff from both associations easy access to both House and Senate office buildings. In addition to office space for NRMCA and PCA and government affairs staff, the new offices will host the American Concrete Pavement Association and other North American Concrete Alliance members. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. Congress returns from August recess with a full agenda. In addition to funding the government and addressing expiring programs, a number of hot topic items may take political priority, including firearms legislation, health care issues like drug pricing and Ebola legislation. In addition, talk of impeachment continues to grow; House Democrats have explored additional investigations into President Trump, his business and his administration, and Congress and the President are likely headed for a fight over transfer of Defense funds for a border wall and Homeland Security funding. For a couple of reads on what’s facing Congress in the weeks ahead, click here and here. For Bloomberg’s comprehensive fall outlook, click here (page 46 for Transportation). For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. This fall, NRMCA is encouraging members companies to host their Member of Congress for a plant tour or schedule a meeting in that member’s district office. While visiting your elected representatives in Washington is a critical part of supporting the ready mixed concrete legislative agenda, building relationships with your Congressional delegation at home in the district is equally important. Congress will be out of session and members will be home for District Work Periods during the first two weeks of October, the first week of November, the week of Thanksgiving and the last two weeks of December. You can view the House of Representatives calendar here and the Senate Calendar here. While some of these recess weeks are busy holiday seasons, they represent opportunities to host your representative or senator for a plant tour or arrange a meeting in his or her district office. As we approach the 2020 election season, Members of Congress are particularly interested in touring local businesses and meeting constituents and voters. NRMCA government affairs staff can help arrange plant tours and visits with Members of Congress as well as provide talking points for policy discussions during visits. Please contact Andrew Tyrrell atyrrell@nrmca.org to start scheduling plant tours with Members of Congress. 
If predictions are right, 2020 could be a more challenging year for the construction industry. As a result, your sales reps need to be at the top of their game. Give them the latest tools so they gain a deep understanding about how their customers’ business works and how it impacts their decisions to place ready mixed concrete orders. Class topics include learning about contactors’ estimating methods, bidding, design, procurement, project planning and scheduling. Those that pass the optional exam receive credit toward CCSP Module II certification (please note that this is a required class for STEPS recognition). Click here to register, more information and staff contact. North, south, east and west, NRMCA’s most popular class travels around the country. This is the certification class required by the US Army Corps of Engineers for its jobs; the class that every batchman needs to tie together all the skill he/she needs to execute a very tough job. Registration is open for all below. Most classes sell out, so plan wisely and develop your talent and business. • December 10-13, Orlando, FL, just 5 seats left • January 21-24, Cincinnati • February 25-28, Miami • March 24-27, Boston • December 15-18, Phoenix Click here for more information to register, more information and staff contact. 2020 January 14 – 16, Des Moines, IA January 21 – 24, Cincinnati January 28 – 30, Orlando, FL January 28 – 30, Dallas February 25 – 28, Miami March 7 – 9, Las Vegas March 10 – 14, Las Vegas March 17 – 19, Dallas September 27 – 29, Aurora, CO Learning & Development
Please make plans to attend the Financial Performance Improvement (FPI) Group Meeting and the FPI Group Education Tracks at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2019. The group meeting will take place on Saturday, October 5, at 1 p.m. A draft agenda will be distributed in coming weeks and will include exciting updates on developments with the IDS and financial education offerings, as well as a discussion of the future direction and undertakings of the Group. The four education tracks will take place on Sunday and Monday. Because we will be in post-season glory, we will be offering a Fall Classic themed set of breakout sessions:
Please make plans to attend these sessions. Encourage your colleagues to attend these sessions and consider sending their executives, CFOs and finance teams to ConcreteWorks to attend and get engaged in the FPI Group. The full schedule and other information for ConcreteWorks can be found here. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. October 3 – 7, Kissimmee, FL October 22 – 24, Irving, TX October 22 – 25, Dallas November 11 – 15, Baltimore November 19 – 21, Orlando, FL November 20, Little Rock, AR December 10 – 13, Orlando, FL December 17 – 19, Dallas 
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