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Association & Industry News
On behalf of the entire NRMCA team, we welcome and recognize our new and rejoining Producer and Associate members for the month of June. We look forward to serving you throughout the year. Associate Members: Producer Member: For more information on how to get more from your NRMCA membership, contact Senior Director, Membership Engagement, Amanda Muller at 703-706-4838 or amuller@nrmca.org. 
Engineering
The NRMCA Concrete Durability Course is scheduled to be held at the NRMCA Producer member Dolese Support Services Center (DSSC) in Oklahoma City from November 20 - 22. The course is taught by Kevin Folliard of the University of Texas at Austin; Anton Schindler, Auburn University and NRMCA Engineering Staff. The course provides a fundamental understanding of the nature of cement and concrete as they relate to durability of concrete in a wide range of exposures. Topics will cover the fundamentals of concrete microstructure, causes for cracking, alkali-aggregate reactions, sulfate attack, corrosion of reinforcing steel, freeze-thaw durability and other durability distress. The general durability mechanism is discussed along with developing mixtures to minimize the problem and associated tests to measure potential durability. The course also covers the durability provisions in the Building Code - ACI 318-19 and how specifications can be structured to address durability. A group exercise will be facilitated to familiarize attendees with the ConcreteWorks software used for mass concrete and service life prediction. Comprehensive reference material is provided as course notes that are an excellent resource to concrete producers and associated technical personnel. Those with the NRMCA Level 3 Certification obtain the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 Certification when passing the exam offered with the course. Attending the NRMCA Technical Short Course (that provides the Level 2 and 3 Certifications) is not a pre-requisite to attend the Durability Course or to attempt the certification exam. The course provides required learning units for the technical track of the NRMCA STEPS certification program. Click here for more information and to register. Please note that NRMCA has not contracted for a room block at a designated hotel; several options are listed on the registration site. Contact Jeffrey Bowers for assistance with registration or Colin Lobo for course details. 
Last week, NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Frank Mruk participated in the Boston Society of Architects (BSA)/Northeast Hub of the Carbon Leadership Forum - Embodied Carbon Summit held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. This summit marks five years since the BSA held the Embodied Carbon in Buildings Conference, which led to the development of the EC 101 Series and the creation of the CLF Boston/Northeast Hub Knowledge Community. The goal of the summit is to learn from each other, provide resources to the broader Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) community and to advance the collective efforts of this group to help lower the impact of climate change. The Build With Strength program is a leader in supporting architects and structural engineers in the specification of high-performance, energy-efficient concrete buildings. For more information, contact Frank Mruk at fmruk@nrmca.org. Earlier this month, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) distributed a number of awards at its annual Cement Fly-In held in Washington, DC. The awards recognize PCA member company teams who excelled in implementing new energy and environmental initiatives, and those who went above and beyond to enhance overall, on-the-job safety at America's cement plants. Submissions from plants across the U.S. were evaluated and recognized for environmental efforts completed in 2023. “Holding this awards event right before teams of industry leaders head to Capitol Hill is a great motivator because it highlights excellence in PCA’s top priorities - safety and environmental initiatives - which will get us to carbon neutrality,” said Mike Ireland, PCA’s president and CEO. The following PCA member companies received awards for their 2023 accomplishments: Energy Efficiency • Ash Grove Cement Company - A CRH Company, Leamington, UT Environmental Performance • Buzzi Unicem USA, Festus, MO, plant and GCHI - Giant Cement Company, Harleyville, SC, plant Innovative Technologies or Process • CalPortland Cement, Mojave, CA, plant and Titan Florida, Pennsuco, FL, plant Land Stewardship • Ash Grove Cement Company - A CRH Company, Louisville, NE, plant Outreach • Roanoke Cement Company (Titan America LLC), Troutville, VA Overall Excellence • Ash Grove Cement Company - A CRH Company, Seattle Safety Innovation Awards - The PCA Safety Innovation Awards (SIA) reward creative solutions to safety challenges in cement facilities. Entries are judged in five areas: innovation, ease of use, ease of construction, effectiveness and risk prevention. • Ash Grove Cement Company - A CRH Company, Seattle plant; GCC, Rio Grande plant, Tijeras, NM; Heidelberg Materials, Union Bridge, MD, plant and Salt River Materials Group, Clarkdale, AZ, plant Chairman’s Safety Performance Awards - The PCA Chairman’s Safety Performance Award recipients are chosen by the Occupational Health and Safety Committee based on the quantitative data recorded by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Winning plants represent the top 10 percent of cement manufacturers based on accident rates. Listed in alphabetical order, the winners are: • Argos Puerto Rico Corporation, Dorado, PR; Ash Grove Cement Company - A CRH Company, Durkee, OR; Ash Grove Cement Company - A CRH Company, New Braunfels, TX; CalPortland Company, Rilito, AZ; Cemex USA, Clinchfield, GA; Cemex USA, Lyons Cement plant, Longmont, CO; Continental Cement - A Summit Materials Company, Davenport plant, Buffalo, IA; GCC, Odessa, TX; Heidelberg Materials, Bellingham, WA; Heidelberg Materials, Logansport, IN; Heidelberg Materials, Speed Cement plant, Sellersburg, IN and Martin Marietta Materials, Midlothian, TX Click here for more details on the winning entries. For more information, contact PCA's Remi Braden at rbraden@cement.org. 
Last week, Build With Strength and the Mississippi Concrete Association (MCA) presented to the members of the Home Builders Association of Mississippi (HBAM) at its state convention held at The Lodge resort in Gulf Shores, AL. There were 42 homebuilders, designers and development in attendance (seen here) and the crowd was very interested in Build With Strength's message of utilizing best in class materials for homes, especially insulated concrete forms (ICF). NRMCA Vice President, Building Innovations, Michael Wymant and Paul Hubble, owner of Force Five Walls, a Gulf Shores area concrete building company, made presentations. NRMCA Producer members Delta Industries and MMC Materials, Inc., also attended and sponsored the event. With Mississippi leading the nation in tornadoes on the ground, Wymant and Hubble stressed the critical need for fortified homes and concrete safe rooms. Wymant also noted that the host facility - The Lodge - is an all concrete hotel, designated as an Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS) Fortified Standard construction. For more information, contact Michael Wymant at mwymant@nrmca.org. Buildings
Through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Knox County, NRMCA and Ohio Concrete are supporting the construction of a concrete demonstration home in South Vernon, OH, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Donn Thompson. Industry involvement came about through Ohio Concrete’s vocational training efforts aimed at introducing insulating concrete forms to local high school students enrolled at the Knox County Career Center. The benefits of concrete will be showcased with the help of local and state support. The Knox County Land Bank, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, will use state funds to build energy efficient workforce housing. The funding is part of the first round of the Welcome Home Ohio program which invests $100 million in grants over two years to help land banks purchase, rehabilitate or build qualifying residential properties for income-eligible Ohioans. The state dollars will enable Habitat for Humanity to build 12 homes on lots the Foundation Park Conservancy has donated to the land bank. NRMCA Producer member Ellis Brothers, Inc. is providing the ready mixed concrete and insulating concrete forms (ICFs) for the project. Habitat Executive Director Terry Schulz said the ICF building method has been around for years and is now gaining popularity because of increased lumber prices. “There are numerous benefits to doing insulated concrete forms over lumber, one of them being that all of these homes on the south side of Columbus Road are in the 100-year flood plain. Having a concrete support for the structure is much more impervious to potential flood issues,” Schulz explained. “In addition, we expect to see more cost savings with the ICF building than stick-build because of the natural insulating properties of the concrete assembly.” For more information, contact Lisa Weaver-Moon, Central/SE promotion director – Ohio Concrete at lisa@ohioconcrete.org or 614-902-2955 or Donn Thompson at dthompson@nrmca.org or 224-627-3933.
The Structural Engineers Association of Arizona recently hosted its annual convention in the greater Phoenix region, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Brandon Wray. Event attendees discussed sustainability, resiliency and alternative building systems such as insulated concrete forms (ICF). As structural engineers are the primary specifiers of concrete materials, Build With Strength remains vigilant in prioritizing collaboration with them by offering educational and design assistance resources, all in an effort to put concrete’s best foot forward. Wray attended the event alongside Peter Eastburn (seen here, with Wray at left), Nudura’s liaison to the Arizona Rock Products Association’s Build With Strength Committee. Wray said he's pleased to report that multiple opportunities came out of the event, largely focused on performance-based specification opportunities where design firms are eager to engage NRMCA to help efficiently leverage concrete’s properties on their projects. For more information, contact Brandon Wray at bwray@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. September 9 - 13, Baltimore September 10 - 12, Sacramento, CA September 25, Metro Kansas City October 10 - 14, Denver October 15 - 18, Denver November 20 - 22, Oklahoma City December 3 - 5, Orlando, FL December 10 - 13, Charleston, SC *Sold Out December 10 - 12, Denver 
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