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Association & Industry News
Joseph A. Ferrara, co-founder of New York City-based Ferrara Bros. Building Material Corporation died on August 5 surrounded by family and friends. He was 87. In 1969, along with his younger brothers, Mr. Ferrara founded the company that bore his family's name. Under his leadership, Ferrara Bros. grew to become one of the largest and most highly regarded concrete producers in New York City. He was well known among his colleagues in the construction industry and was held in the highest regard by his employees, customers, vendors and competitors. Click here to view an obituary notice. 
MIT CSHub Researchers Create Supercapacitor, Could Revolutionize Concrete’s Role in Renewable Energy
MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) researchers have made an electrifying new discovery, creating a supercapacitor as an alternative to batteries, using cement and carbon black to form the basis for a new, low-cost energy storage system. The technology could enable the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and tidal power by allowing energy networks to remain stable despite fluctuations in supply. The MIT CSHub researchers say that their supercapacitor could eventually be incorporated into the concrete foundation of a house where it could store a full day’s worth of energy while adding little or no cost to the foundation and still providing the needed structural strength. The researchers also envision a concrete roadway that could provide contactless recharging for electric cars as they travel over that road. Read more here. The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub is funded by the Concrete Advancement Foundation and Portland Cement Association. 
Sprouts Farmers Market specified a concrete parking lot for its fourth store that will serve the growing Colorado Springs, CO, market, reports Vice President, Local Paving, Don Clem. The chain is known for offering a wide variety of products that are minimally processed and free of artificial flavors, color, preservatives and synthetic ingredients. The 90,000 SF concrete parking area (seen here) provides a bright, safe surface for customers shopping for healthy food alternatives. The project was constructed by Araco Group, LLC, which ran the project through the NRMCA Design Assistance Program, Clem said. The 1,100 CY of ready mixed concrete was supplied by Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association member Pete Lien & Sons. For more information, contact Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
Concrete is unique among building materials. Design professionals and contractors have a greater influence on concrete’s product formulation than they do with other building products. Concrete can be made stronger, lighter, more flowable, stiffer, less permeable and more sustainable depending on performance needs using performance specifications. This session will explore how concrete can be specified for durability and resilience while reducing carbon emissions. Register now for Concrete Innovations Learning Session 14 to be held Wednesday, August 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern time. Presenters include:
Visit www.concreteinnovations.com for upcoming sessions. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org or 847-922-7995.
Build With Strength’s Director, Building Innovations, Brandon Wray, recently represented the ready mixed concrete industry at a National Science Foundation (NSF) event titled Engineering Materials for a Sustainable Future. It was hosted at IBM’s research facility in San Jose, CA, and organized by the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance which is an NSF-funded partnership geared toward identifying future engineering research needs and opportunities. The event focused on pairing sustainability experts, researchers, policy makers and investors from the construction and chemical industries to identify research opportunities pertinent to sustainable materials. The partnership highlighted near-term and long-term research gaps in comparison to net zero goals, as well as the emergence of potential nascent technologies that may need NSF support to become viable. Ultimately, participants (seen here) collaborated in an effort to generate content for an officially published technical report that will aid in funding opportunities in support of sustainable materials. For more information, contact Brandon Wray at bwray@nrmca.org. NRMCA will revise the Industry-Wide Environmental Product Declaration (IW-EPD) and Benchmark Report for Concrete in 2023. Green building standards and policies continue to drive environmental disclosure. NRMCA published previous versions in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2021 and will revise the IW-EPD and Benchmark Report for Concrete to ensure the latest environmental data are included per the standards and regulations. Join the webinar on Thursday, August 24, from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time as NRMCA and participants discuss the process for revising this EPD report and learn why your participation is critical. Click here to register. For more information, contact Matthew Lemay at mlemay@nrmca.org or 847-323-0413.
The fourth edition of the Florida Concrete & Products Association's Pavewise Concrete Conference will be held September 12 - 13 in Howie-in-the-Hills, FL. The conference brings together industry, agency and academics to share best practice and new research. Learn how to make your pavements more resilient, hear about ongoing research by Florida DOT officials and how to build embedded charging technology into a road. Earn 6 PDHs and network with leaders in the industry. (The accompanying golf tournament will be held September 11.) Click here for the agenda. For more information, contact Amy Wedel at awedel@fcpa.org or 954-540-4605. 
Pavement
 NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Greg Halsted teamed up with Nathan Forrest, technical director with the California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA), to present on Concrete Pavement Design, Construction, and Maintenance. Held on August 1, the daylong event was hosted by HalfMoon Education Inc. and attracted 22 engineers, architects and government and academic officials from across the country. The presentation started with an introduction to concrete pavements and then dove into the principles of pavement design, site preparation, construction of new JPCP and CRCP systems, concrete pavement preservation and rehabilitation, and concluded with a live demonstration of the PavementDesigner software for designing cement-based pavements. The session content was tailored to licensed professionals seeking continuing education credits and included an 18-question quiz covering material presented throughout the day. Halsted also introduced attendees to NRMCA’s Pave Ahead initiative and mentioned how attendees could benefit from the education and design assistance this program offers. For more information, contact Greg Halsted at ghalsted@nrmca.org or Nathan Forrest at nathan.forrest@cncement.org.
Denver Landside Engineering has specified a concrete overlay over asphalt project to rehabilitate the East Side Economy Fee lot at the Denver International Airport, reports NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Don Clem. The 21-acre lot is located adjacent to the east parking garage at the airport. The contractor for the project is IHC Scott, a member of the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA). Both ACPA's Colorado Wyoming Chapter and NRMCA assisted Denver Landside Engineering with the design of the project. It is estimated that the concrete overlay project will require about 19,000 CY of concrete, making it one of the largest concrete parking lot overlays over asphalt in the U.S. For more information, contact Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. August 16, Free Online Webinar August 21 - 22, Indianapolis August 28 - 31, Waldorf, MD *Sold Out September 7 - 8, Washington, DC September 11 - 15, Columbia, MD September 13, Free Online Webinar September 29 - October 3, Nashville, TN October 11 - 13, Centennial, CO October 17 - 20, Denver October 18, Online Course November 7 - 9, Charlotte, NC *Sold Out November 14 - 16, Dallas *Low Capacity November 15, Free Online Webinar November 28 - 30, Orlando, FL *Low Capacity December 12 - 15, Orlando, FL *Sold Out December 12 - 14, Denver December 13, Online Course
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