 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
E-NEWS will not be published next week but will return on Thursday, January 2, 2025. On behalf of NRMCA Interim President Joe Roche, Chief Operating Officer Debra Malone, Chief Communications Officer Gregg Lewis and the entire Association Staff, best wishes for this holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year. And this year, our Membership Department courtesy of Amanda Muller and Joanna Kirby sends each of you a special holiday greeting that doubles as an NRMCA 2024 Year in Review. We're confident you'll enjoy watching it as much as the two of them and our in-house Steven Spielberg Malachy Joyce had in creating it. Buildings
Effective January 1, 2025, Colorado will require Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for all state projects, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Patrick Matsche. Build With Strength is partnering with the Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association (CRMCA) to educate industry ready mix personnel on the details of the program. In addition, with the support of NRMCA’s recent EPA grant, Build With Strength, Pave Ahead and CRMCA will hold symposiums across Colorado to help ready mixed concrete producers comply with the new state requirements. (E-NEWS will provide details on the dates and locations of the symposiums.)
On November 22, Build With Strength Director, Building Innovations, Justin McCain presented Roadmap to Concrete Decarbonization and Building Resilience to approximately 200 principals of the top architecture firms from around the country at the ARC-US 24 convention held in San Antonio, TX. A strong emphasis was placed on early collaboration with contractors and ready mix producers to maximize the available means, methods and materials in the market to lower embodied carbon. McCain (seen here, addressing attendees) said the discussion "went beyond just calculating embodied carbon in EPD’s by examining the whole building life cycle assessment, highlighting concrete’s long-term value from its superior building envelope and high thermal mass." "When we study the operations stage of the building life cycle (where ~90% of emissions occur), the benefits of a concrete envelope get even stronger through both decreased energy consumption and lower total C02e emissions as compared to both wood and steel structures," McCain said. "The sustainability-resilience relationship was also addressed and concrete’s ability to withstand up to 250 mph wind loads while boasting a 4-hour fire rating cannot be beat. This resilience can be quantified with ~50% reductions to builders’ risk and ~40% in commercial property insurance as compared to timber frame construction." There is no silver bullet when it comes to sustainability and low carbon concrete or any other material, he added. It requires a surgical approach, buy in and hard work upfront from the entire project team, including owners, architects, structural engineers, contractors and ready mixed concrete producers. By keeping the big picture in mind and evaluating the entire building life cycle, concrete wins! For more information, contact Justin McCain at jmccain@nrmca.org.  On December 11, NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations; Metro New York CSI Past President and Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Northeast Region Vice President Frank Mruk attended the Metro New York CSI year end meeting held at a Manhattan restaurant named Quatorze. (Mruk is seen here at far left along with, from second to left to right, Oliver Wilhelm, METRO NY CSI president, W/Studio Architects; Kenneth Raikowski, METRO NY CSI vice president, Assa Abloy and Ben Caldwell, BIG, Bjarke Ingels Group.) Also in attendence were Thomas Lanzelotti, CSI National, North East Region director, Gensler and more than 50 members. Founded in 1948, CSI is a national not-for-profit association of more than 6,000 members dedicated to improving the communication of construction specification information throughout continuous development and transformation of standards and formats, education and certification of professionals to improve project delivery processes. The Build With Strength program is a leader in supporting architects and specifiers in designing state-of-the-art buildings. For more information, contact Frank Mruk at fmruk@nrmca.org. 
Last week, Build With Strength Vice President, Building Innovations, Michael Wymant and Director of Codes and Standards Dr. Julian Mills-Beale attended the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Digital Twins 2024 conference held in Maryland. (Seen here are Wymant at left along with Mills-Beale.) NRMCA has demonstrated its commitment to innovation and sustainability by sponsoring and participating in the event. "This strategic partnership underscores the importance of digital transformation in the construction industry," Wymant said.
Engineering
NRMCA's Engineering Department with the assistance of RES Committee members has developed a FAQ on Concrete Materials. Typical questions on specifications and testing have been answered in a short, easily understandable format that can be referenced by concrete producers who must respond to common queries often raised by engineers and other stakeholders. Click here and scroll to the section titled FAQ. In support of innovation, the NRMCA Research Laboratory has performed a limited evaluation and summarized the results on two innovative materials. These reports can be accessed here and then scrolling to the section titled Innovation. For more information, contact Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org. 
NRMCA Staff attended the ASTM meeting held earlier this month in Orlando, FL, and submitted the following detailed report on Committees C09 on Concrete, C01 on Cement and E05 on Fire.
C09.24 Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) - A new specification, ASTM C1945, for natural pozzolans to address these products separately from ASTM C618 (fly ash) has been approved. At this time the requirements for natural pozzolans are the same as for Class N in ASTM C618. New changes on natural pozzolans will be made only to ASTM C1945 and the existing Class N will be removed from ASTM C618 in the future.
Association & Industry News
NRMCA has appointed Tim Cooper chief human resources officer effective January 1, 2025. Mr. Cooper has served as executive vice president of human resources for the past two years, bringing a wealth of experience in managing the Association's people operations. In his new role, he will continue to lead the Association's human capital strategy, ensuring alignment with business goals. This includes overseeing talent acquisition, employee development, organizational design, succession planning and compensation and benefits. Mr. Cooper will also play a key role in fostering a positive workplace culture, driving employee engagement, and ensuring compliance with employment laws and regulations. With a focus on strategic leadership, he will partner with the executive team to enable the organization’s long-term success through its people. “We are thrilled to have Tim lead our HR function,” said Joe Roche, NRMCA interim president. “Tim’s proven track record of driving people-centered strategies and fostering inclusive workplace cultures aligns perfectly with our mission and values in supporting our members and the industry. We are confident that Tim will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our organization and empowering our team to deliver exceptional support to our members.” “I am excited to lead the human capital efforts at NRMCA during such an exciting time in its evolution,” Cooper said. “I look forward to partnering with the leadership team and our talented employees to build on the Association’s strong foundation, drive innovation and create an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute to our shared success.” For more information, contact Joe Roche at jroche@nrmca.org.
The Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program is pivotal in developing the next generation of leaders in the concrete construction industry. NRMCA members are asked to support the 2025 CIM Auction to be held in Las Vegas in January during the World of Concrete trade show. Given NRMCA’s mission to support the growth and enhancement of the ready mixed concrete industry, the CIM program - a STEM-focused, four-year professional degree that integrates concrete technology with business management strategies - forms a natural partnership. By donating to the CIM annual fundraising auction, you're doing more than contributing resources; you're nurturing the growth of tomorrow's industry leaders. Your support and generosity enable CIM to provide scholarships, fund research and equip students with the finest educational tools. How can you help? Consider donating today to help shape a bright future for the concrete construction industry. To find out more, download the 2025 Auction Donation package. NRMCA and CIM also encourage you to consider bidding on ready mix-specific items, including concrete mixer trucks generously donated by Mack Trucks, Revolution Concrete Mixers, Con-Tech Manufacturing and Peterbilt Motors. For more information, contact CIM National Steering Committee Interim Executive Director Nicole Maher at nicolemaher.nrm@gmail.com. The NRMCA State Association of the Year Award is presented to the state ready mixed concrete association that's making significant progress for the industry in the areas of promotion, education, advocacy and/or research. The award is presented at the awards ceremony at NRMCA’s Annual Convention to be held in March in Arizona.
The Winter 2024 edition of NRMCA's quarterly magazine Concrete InFocus is now available online along with the annual "Best Of" issue which compiles noteworthy articles and columns selected from each of the year's four issues. You can access each issue here along with past issues of the magazine. NRMCA thanks its readers and advertisers for supporting this publication. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, contact Amanda Muller. If you'd like to discuss the editorial content or have questions on how to advertise, contact Frank Cavaliere. 
The Shydlowski – Turner Materials Leadership Award, sponsored by the NRMCA Materials Division and named in honor of Mr. L. Michael Shydlowski and Mr. Robert P. Turner, was created to honor an individual who as a materials supplier to the ready mixed concrete industry exemplifies leadership, commitment and support of the ready mixed concrete industry and the initiatives and activities of NRMCA. The winner will be honored at the 2025 NRMCA Annual Convention held in March in Tucson, AZ. Candidates for the award must be a current or former employee of an NRMCA Materials Division member company; the deadline is January 15, 2025. Click here to learn more or contact Amanda Muller. 
Learning & Development
NRMCA is offering many opportunities for the education and development of plant managers in the upcoming year, with five total courses being held in 2025. This program is an excellent option for professionals aiming to gain greater knowledge and practical skills which they can apply to their everyday work processes as well as Producer members looking to achieve tangible benefits such as reduced material expenses and more efficient management of ready mixed concrete production facilities.
Calendar
2025 February 3 - 7, Dallas March 4 - 7, Tucson, AZ March 18 - 21, Oklahoma City March 25 - 28, Honolulu April 8 - 11, Orlando, FL October 10 - 14, Orlando, FL 
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
