The Arkansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association (ARMCA) held its third seminar this year on NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program (DAP) and Concrete Pavement Design for Parking Lots and Streets and Local Roadways. The seminar was well attended by local county officials, ready mix suppliers and contractors, reports NRMCA Pavement Engineer Amanda Hult who provided attendees with basic design and construction information for conventional and pervious concrete and concrete overlays.

"NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program is a fantastic program that is being provided free of charge to our members in the industry as well as to designers," Hult said. "ARMCA’s members now have the information needed to utilize this program to potentially increase their concrete yardage for parking lots. NRMCA is always looking for platforms such as this to spread the word about the program."

As the pavement research and tools from MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub have evolved over the past few years, a consensus for a new approach to streets and roads concrete promotion has developed among PCA, ACPA and NRMCA in concert with many industry companies. The new approach emphasizes the value of increased competition between asphalt and concrete with the aim of encouraging fair and equitable pavement-type selection policies and practices.

Promoters and sales employees in particular may be interested to learn more about this approach in an article in NRMCA's quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus, that is now reaching members both in print and online. Jointly written by ACPA’s Leif Wathne and NRMCA’s Glenn Ochsenreiter, the article explains the potential benefits for taxpayers and our industry. The article is also available in the online version of the magazine available here.

A new report by Transparency Market Research predicts the green building materials market to reach $69 billion by 2019. The market for green building materials reached $43.8 billion in 2014. The report also says structural materials as a segment will grow from nearly $28.7 billion in 2014 to $43.8 billion by 2019 at 8.8 percent CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for the period 2014-2019 (access fee report here).
 

This is good news for those of us actively participating in green building projects. Unfortunately, the authors of the research limited the definition of "green building materials" to "wooden structures, steel with recycle content, autoclaved aerated concrete, engineered lumber and structural insulated panels for framing applications". While the industry is well aware of the sustainable attributes of ready mixed concrete, we still need to convince our specifiers that durability, fire-resistance, moisture-resistance and a high solar reflectance is valued in green buildings.

NRMCA has developed a number of programs to meet the requirements of the latest version of the US Green Building Council LEED green building rating system. LEEDv4 redefines green building material with a holistic look at all materials; concrete can contribute to the growing green material market segment.

This week, NRMCA continues to highlight companies that have chosen to exhibit at next month's annual ConcreteWorks conference in San Antonio, TX. The conference is one of the industry's best opportunities for ready mix producers to interact with companies that provide goods and services to the concrete industry. This week, our spotlight continue with the companies listed below:

Stephens Manufacturing - Bill Stephens began Stephens Manufacturing in 1957. Stephens Mfg. is one of the largest global manufacturers of concrete plants in the world. It strives to excel and expand both its services and equipment; it now has two new portable concrete plants, the Falcon and Mustang, along with a new portable RCC mixer. Stephens is now the exclusive manufacturer for the Workhorse Reversing Drum Mixer in Canada and the U.S. It consciously has chosen to guarantee its customers that every plant made by Stephens Mfg. will meet the local seismic and wind loads for their job sites.

A member since 1975, Stephens Manufacturing will be located in Booth 14.

Putzmeister America, Inc. - Putzmeister America has a reputation for quality, durability and innovation that makes work easier for the concrete placing industry. A world leader in concrete pump technology now brings you the ultimate in mixing and delivery vehicles. Its Pro Series standard ready mix truck and Bridge Maxx Series booster axle mixers reach new levels of durability and performance through innovative design. Putzmeister engineers started with no legacy models and no preconceptions. They designed these mixers strictly for the attributes customers’ prize most: durability for years of reliable performance, high payloads and productivity. Reliable controls with redundant backups ensure payload will always be delivered, and ease of use and serviceability.

Putzmeister joined NRMCA in 2012 and will be located in Booth 38.

Lytx - At Lytx, we harness the power of data to change human behavior and help good companies become even better. Its flagship product, the Lytx DriveCam™ Program, sets the standard for driver safety in the industries it serves and its RAIR® Compliance Services helps DOT-regulated fleets comply with safety regulations, complementing the DriveCam® Program. Lytz protect drivers from more than 1,300 fleet clients worldwide who drive billions of miles. Its clients realize significant ROI by lowering operating and insurance costs, while achieving greater efficiency and compliance. Most of all, Lytz strives to help save lives.  For more information, visit www.lytx.com.

One of NRMCA’s newest associate members, NRMCA is proud to count Lytx as a sponsor of the 2015 ConcreteWorks event and the 2015 National Concrete Truck Mixer Driver Championship. Lytx will be located in Booth 15.

Want to get into ConcreteWorks? Click here for more information, including registration and exhibition options or contact Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

At this year’s ConcreteWorks, the NRMCA Operations, Environmental and Safety (OES) Committee will host eight educational seminars on topics that include environmental third-party lawsuits, National Labor Relations Board activities, the new B30.27 Concrete Pumping Standard and a detailed rundown of this year’s Fleet Benchmarking & Costs Survey.

Click here to access links to the seminars and those in other NRMCA departments, along with dates and times. You may also access links to how to register and the entire ConcreteWorks' brochure. For more information, contact Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org.

This past weekend, NRMCA’s Gary Mullings and Kevin Walgenbach attended the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Truck Driving Championships held in St. Louis. The field of 431 drivers included state association rodeo champions from all 50 states in nine different truck classes. The event, which NRMCA attended for the last two days, spanned an entire week and included a driving skills test, written exam and pre-trip inspection. After contestants completed each challenge, five finalists were chosen from each truck class. Of those finalists a third, second and first were chosen from each class, along with a "Grand Champion" that stood out among the entire field of 431 drivers.

NRMCA attended the event to gain more insight into how to improve its annual driving championship. NRMCA plans to make a number of changes to the current NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship to  enhance the program for drivers, spectators and the industry as a whole.

Athena Sustainable Materials Institute launched the latest version of its Impact Estimator for Buildings software (IE for Buildings) with the most current environmental impact data for concrete and cement. The software, which has become the industry standard for conducting life cycle assessments (LCA) for buildings, is the only software that fully complies with the US Green Building Council's LEED v4 technical requirements. This latest software release incorporates the most current environmental impact data published in the NRMCA Industry Wide Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and Industry Benchmark report.

NRMCA, along with Portland Cement Association (PCA), commissioned Athena to include this most recent impact data to help design professionals quantify environmental impacts of buildings. IE for Buildings is often used to demonstrate compliance for impact reduction in LEED v4. The process involves conducting an LCA to measure the environmental impacts for a "reference building" and then conducting an LCA on the "proposed building" to compare impacts. If the impacts for the proposed building are lower than those of the reference building by specified percentages, the design is credited toward green building certification.

Designers have already used IE for Buildings to demonstrate compliance with LEED v4 by demonstrating that impacts for a concrete building can be more than 10% lower when using concrete products with higher volumes of fly ash and slag cement. The reference building is analyzed using industry average data provided in the NRMCA Industry Benchmark report and then compared to data from the NRMCA Industry Wide EPD or a Product Specific EPD provided by a concrete company. Generally, concrete products designed to have lower environmental impacts, including global warming potential and smog formation, among several others, can readily meet the impact reduction targets specified in LEED v4 and other standards.

While the concrete industry has been leading the way in developing environmental product declarations (EPDs), it has also been keenly aware of its limitations as a tool for material transparency. That is, EPDs and its base methodology, Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), do not require disclosing key environmental impacts such as land use, biodiversity and ecotoxicity. In the past few years, NRMCA along with industry allies have attempted to include such measure in the international green standards such as LEED, ASTM and the International Green Construction Code only to be blocked by heavily-funded wood interests.

Now, a few environmentalists are beginning to understand as well. In a recent article, Jason Grant, director of Greenwash Action, is communicating how the timber and vinyl industries are exploiting this reporting limitation and calls for reforming the underlying rules so that EPDs can truly be a comprehensive tool (read more). NRMCA has developed a number of tools to support the comprehensive sustainability agenda of the industry that can be found at www.nrmca.org/sustainability.

Media articles on Congress, transportation infrastructure, regulation, taxes and other subjects, each of which relate to the ready mixed concrete industry, are updated each week by NRMCA's Government Affairs staff. To access the most recent compilation of articles for August 10 - 14, 2015, please click here.

The NRMCA August Internet Spotlight, good through Monday, August 31, is the NEW Mixer Truck Driver’s Manual – BIGGER and BETTER! Now at 8½ x 11 in size and 76 pages, this guide now includes full-color safety decals. In addition it’s complete with such topics as U.S. D.O.T. regulations, including Driver’s Hours of Service (HOS), safety precautions, equipment inspection and maintenance procedures, driver duties and other essential information. The manual also educates truck mixer drivers about concrete and customer relations. Easy to understand and containing common sense information every driver should know, this truck mixer "Bible" should be in every cab. Purchase the new manuals today for the same low regular member price of $16 per copy (or $14 for 20 or more copies), through August 31.

August 20, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

August 24, Free Webinar

Roller-Compacted Concrete for Streets and Roads

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

August 24, Webinar

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete (Part 2)

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

 

August 27, Nashville, TN (Tennessee Concrete Association)

Pervious Concrete Technician Certification

Email: dsparkman@tnconcrete.org

 

August 31, Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst

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

 

September 4, Little Rock, AR (Arkansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association)

Pervious Concrete Technician Certification

Email: madison.rita@att.net

 

September 8, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete

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

 

September 14, Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

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

 

September 20 - 22, San Antonio, TX

NRMCA's ConcreteWorks 2015

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

 

September 28 - 30, Ontario, CA

Concrete Durability Course

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

October 6 - 8, Webinar

Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals

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

 

October 13 - 16, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module I: Concrete 101

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

 

November 2 - 6, Silver Spring, MD

Annual Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

November 4, Free Webinar

STEPS A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry

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

 

November 17 - 19, Silver Spring, MD

Effective RMC Supervisor Course

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

 

November 17 - 19, Charlotte, NC

NRMCA Safety Course

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

 

December 1 - 3, Orlando, FL

Environmental Course

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

 

December 1 - 3, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge

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

 

December 8 - 11, Orlando, FL

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

 

January 26-29, Omaha, NE

NRMCA Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

February 23 - 25, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

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

 

March 13 - 15, San Diego

NRMCA's Annual Convention

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

March 22 - 24, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills

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

 

April 5 - 8, Birmingham, AL

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

May 15 - 18, Washington, DC

International Concrete Sustainability & Self-Compacting Concrete Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101