Employment in construction will be one of the best-paying jobs through 2020, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Projections in the report say 1.8 million jobs will be created by a construction boom across the country. "We’re starting to see things turn in Massachusetts," said Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council. "It’s still nowhere near where it was five years ago, but you’re certainly starting to see a lot of cranes going up, and not just in Boston and Cambridge." 

The Citrus County, FL, Solid Waste Management Division will accept clean concrete from local builders and contractors, and turn it into an aggregate that could be used to maintain county roads. The plan, which has the blessing of the county commission, would charge builders and contractors no tipping fee for the clean material. However, a $90 fee would be charged, should there be any waste in the load other than concrete. The concrete would be stockpiled until it could be crushed by an outside contractor, and then used for road improvements at the landfill, as well as for use by by the county's road division for road projects elsewhere.

Greenwood, IN, city officials have announced plans to turn the site of a former Prairie Materials concrete plant into a wetlands area and a trail. The project is tied to plans to turn a local road into a major boulevard that can handle traffic from a planned Interstate 65 exit. Greenwood plans to partner with the Indiana National Guard to demolish the plant this fall, so that utilities can be relocated in time for the road widening in two years. The National Guard wants to salvage what materials it can from the plant and use them to help create realistic training environments at one of its training facilities.

A new book called, simply, Concrete, explores the many forms that the material can take. "Yes, concrete can be cold and imposing - but as the 175 structures in the book attest, it can also be colorful, playful and delicate," reads the book review. And here's your industry fact for today, also contained in the review: About 265 billion cubic feet of concrete are produced annually - that comes out to about 35 cubic feet for every person on the planet.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the awarding of $9.2 million in grants from the 2012 Chesapeake Stewardship Fund. A total of 41 projects were included, each focused in some way toward reducing the amount of polluted, nutrient and sediment runoff entering local waterways, resulting in cleaner water across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. 

One of the projects selected for funding is a proposal from the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus (UMBC). The project will include reconstruction of a parking lot at the Maryland Science Center to incorporate pervious concrete. Additionally, UMBC will work with the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to assist in design and construction of Maryland’s first two pervious concrete Park ‘n Rides. Dr. Stuart Schwartz, senior research scientist at UMBC’s Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education, will be heading up the project and is looking forward to partnering with the Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association (MRMCA) and the NRMCA to provide industry support.

According to NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Philip Kresge, a key part of NRMCA’s role will be to provide Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification to approximately 40 SHA and MTA employees. "NRMCA certification for these state officials will ensure that they are familiar with and understand the intricacies of pervious concrete," Kresge said. "Additionally, requiring NRMCA Certification for the placing contractor provides an added level of quality assurance for this project." 

A press conference was held Tuesday, August 28, at the Maryland Science Center. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) was on hand for the award announcement and check presentation, as were David O’Neill, NFWF, and Jeffery Corbin of the EPA. Grant recipients will also provide over $13.5 million in matching funds, for a total of 22.7 million going toward these restoration projects.

Executive Director of the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council (CCPC) Jim Langlois reports that an environmental engineering firm in his state took advantage last year of NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program for the Subway sandwich chain's  headquarters project in Milford. The firm utilized upward of 60,000 square feet of pervious concrete and has since designed at least three other projects in New York and New England that incorporated pervious concrete as the solution to their clients' stormwater management issues.

"We did a first-rate job of supporting their efforts to not only learn about pervious concrete but to design it properly," Langlois stated. The CCPC in conjunction with NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O’Neill provided them with hardcopy literature, CDs, design assistance and even invited one of its principles to speak alongside O’Neill at a meeting last year of the Connecticut Landscape Architects Association. 

"The relationship Jim developed has fostered both trust and confidence that this technology, supported by our industry, can work and is working in the Northeast," O’Neill added.

Mike Zito of NRMCA producer member Titan American in Florida recently evaluated property taxes for asphalt and concrete/cement producing facilities in South Florida’s tri-county area, reports NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Amy Miller. While this effort was somewhat painstaking, the results were more than interesting: the tax records proved that concrete/cement businesses pay 80% of the property taxes but  have only 2% of the market share of roads.

"Governments should be supporting the businesses that fund them," Zito said. "At the very least, these businesses should be given the opportunity to compete. Building concrete roads is a long-term investment and in some cases can provide front-end savings. To boot, supporting businesses within a local economy means recycling a much larger share of revenue back into the local economy, enriching the community as a whole, opposed to supporting foreign oil producing nations."

NRMCA's September lineup of promotion-focused Webinars continues next week with a pair of informative offerings, one focused on the advantages of concrete parking lots and the other on how to convince your audience of concrete's sustainable attributes. Click on the links below to learn more or contact NRMCA's Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

• Tuesday, September 11 - The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots
• Friday, September 14 - Effectively Communicating Sustainability

NRMCA has just added its latest video to a growing list of YouTube videos that can be found by clicking here. This latest video promotes the strength of roller compacted concrete (RCC) as it was used in a train and rail car facility in Chicago. NRMCA Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development Lionel Lemay narrates the video, which details NRMCA member Prairie Materials effort to promote RCC in the Chicago area (an E-NEWS item on this subject was featured in the August 20 edition).

The video is part of an ongoing effort by NRMCA to highlight Association and member activities throughout the U.S. Previous videos were produced on the annual Rally for Roads event in Washington, DC, and the annual Mixer Driver Championship competition. Please check back periodically to this YouTube link; NRMCA plans to add to its list throughout the rest of the year.

Please join us on the morning of Tuesday, September 18, for a Walk for Wellness to benefit the RMC Research & Education Foundation. The event will be held in conjunction with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks Conference & Expo and the Fall Board of Directors meeting. Please join us in spreading awareness of how wellness is an important element of daily life, including at the workplace. Your participation is a tremendous opportunity to also support this initiative and the Foundation at the same time. Registration will be $25 per walker and will be complimentary for drivers participating in the 7th Annual Truck Mixer Driver Championship.

For more information and to register for the Walk, please click here. Sponsorship opportunities are also available for this event. Please click here to access the sponsorship form.

NRMCA has announced the winners of its 2012 NRMCA Excellence in Quality Awards. The criteria for this award are established by NRMCA’s Research Engineering and Standards Committee to recognize the commitment to quality of NRMCA member companies. Companies applied either as a single entity or a division within a company and responded to a multiple-choice-type application form that generated their score; a minimum score of 75% with supporting validation qualified a company to receive an award. Winning producers have demonstrated that they follow and exceed quality management principles over a broad range of activities from commitment to quality, materials management, managing production facilities, product quality control and maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.

The winners below will be honored during the awards luncheon at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks in National Harbor, MD, on Monday, September 17.

NRMCA is now an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Program Operator in order to help its members meet the new requirements in LEED v4, International Green Construction Code (IgCC) and the Architecture 2030 Challenge for Products. EPDs are third-party verified reports published by product manufacturers that provide quality assured and comparable information regarding environmental performance of their product.

EPDs are intended to assist specifiers, purchasers and users of products to compare among products, but do not represent environmental claims regarding the superiority or equivalence of one product versus a competing product that performs the same function. EPDs are developed in accordance with strict international standards that include a transparent verification process for adopting Product Category Rules (PCR) by which EPDs are developed and verified. To produce an EPD, a company must perform a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on a product and report the results in the EPD. The PCR defines, among other things, the functional unit (product to be analyzed), scope and boundaries of the LCA and the environmental impacts to be reported in the EPD. Before the EPD can be published, it must be third-party reviewed and verified.

The NRMCA EPD Program aims to help develop, verify and publish EPDs for ready mixed concrete products. To maintain third-party objectivity, NRMCA will ensure that an independent verifier reviews and verifies each EPD developed under the NRMCA EPD Program before certifying the EPD. Independent verifiers may be an individual or verification body with knowledge of the concrete products industry and related environmental aspects, with process and product knowledge of the product category, and have expertise in LCA methodology. 

During the upcoming 2012 ConcreteWorks and Board of Directors’ Meeting, your participation is needed for the Government Affairs Capitol Hill day on Wednesday, September 19. Unlike in past years, this year’s Capitol Hill day will focus on a single issue.

NRMCA, in partnership with a handful of other organizations, is currently engaged in a lobbying campaign aimed at increasing the use of resilient construction techniques for new and repaired structures in disaster prone areas. Specifically, NRMCA is pushing for passage of NRMCA-drafted legislation, the Disaster Savings and Resilient Construction Act of 2012 (H.R. 5839). However, in order to ensure the success of H.R. 5839, we need your participation. Congress needs to hear from constituents about the benefits of resilient construction.

We strongly encourage you to participate in the Capitol Hill Day. Please plan on participating and scheduling meetings with your Members of Congress. If you need help scheduling meetings, please contact either Kerri Leininger (240-485-1159), Kevin Walgenbach (240-485-1157) or Heather Houck (240-485-1153). Prior to leaving for Capitol Hill, there will be a Congressional Briefing with a continental breakfast provided, starting at 7:30 a.m. If you plan to participate in the Capitol Hill Day, we must receive an RSVP! There will only be enough bus seats and briefing materials for those participating. Any last minute additions cannot be guaranteed. We look forward to seeing you later this month.

During the upcoming 2012 ConcreteWorks and Board of Directors’ Meeting, a number of exciting events, including a golf tournament, and a dinner at Mount Vernon and private tour of the mansion, will be held to help raise money for CONCRETEPAC. CONCRETEPAC is the pro-business, pro-concrete political action committee (PAC) for NRMCA. It is a bipartisan, multi-candidate federal PAC registered with the Federal Election Committee (FEC). CONCRETEPAC’s sole objective is to support NRMCA’s issue-driven advocacy platform to achieve a more secure and beneficial future for the ready mixed concrete industry.

To help raise funds, CONCRETEPAC hosts many exciting events throughout the year such as golf tournaments, door prize drawings and auctions during our annual meetings. However, unless we have your prior authorization or the permission of a principle in your company, we cannot tell you about these great events.

A host of publications have reported on presidential politics, transportation, infrastructure, regulation, heath care, taxes and other subjects, each of which relate to the ready mixed concrete industry. To access these articles for the week of August 27 - 31, please click here.

September 7, Richmond, VA

Adopting Disaster Resilient Construction at the Local Level

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

September 11, Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

September 11, Webinar (Part 2)

Designing & Specifying Pervious Concrete

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

September 14, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

September 16-19, Metro Washington, DC

2012 NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks & Board of Directors Meeting

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

September 20, Webinar

Streets and Local Roads

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

September, 27, Cambridge, MA

Annual MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub Research Progress Update

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

October 2-5, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module I: Concrete 101

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

October 4, Boise, ID

Northwest Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

October 9, Charlotte, NC

Lower Atlantic Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

October 19, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

October 23-25, Silver Spring, MD

Effective RMC Supervisor Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

November 1, Webinar

Streets and Local Roads

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

November 5-9, Silver Spring, MD

Technical Short Course

Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168

 

November 8, Madison, WI

Great Lakes Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

November 14, Little Rock, AR

South Central Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

November 16, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

December 4-6, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

December 4-6, Orlando, FL

Environmental Professional Certification Course for the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

December 6, Las Vegas

Rocky Mountain Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

December 11-14, Denver

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

October 4, Boise, ID

Northwest Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

December 12, Silver Spring, MD

Atlantic Regional Work Plan Meeting

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

December 12-13, Doha, Qatar

International Concrete Technology Forum

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

2013

 

February 19-21, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 3-5, San Antonio, TX

NRMCA Annual Convention

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

March 19-21, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Sales Fundamentals

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

May 6-8, San Francisco

International Concrete Sustainability Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

May 12-15, Chicago

Fifth North American Conference on Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete