NRMCA e-news

National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

NEWS LINKS

Former NRMCA Board Chairman Weighs in on Coal Ash Issue

Former NRMCA Board Chairman Henry Batten was recently quoted in a March 31 article in The Charlotte (NC) Observer that discussed why concrete makers are looking to import coal ash. Read more.

Building Resilient with Concrete to Withstand Hurricanes

When U.S. preparedness leaders assembled last month for the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, FL, the resilience of concrete was again a key topic of discussion. Included in the agenda was news from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub where researchers have developed a method to incorporate the risk and repair costs of damage from hurricanes and earthquakes into life-cycle analysis of residential buildings.

Source: A March 23 Huffington Post article. Read more.

World's Longest Floating Bridge Set to Open

After more than 30 years of planning and controversy, a new floating bridge spanning Lake Washington in the Seattle area is set to open, good news for residents of Washington State and ready mix producers too: the 21 pontoons required 112,000 cubic yards of concrete while the bridge deck is precast with 24,564 cubic yards of concrete.

Source: A March 31 article by The Seattle Times. Read more.

BUILDINGS

Canadian Cement Producers Publish Industry-wide EPD

The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) recently published an industry-wide Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for general use (GU) and portland-limestone (GUL) cements produced in Canada. CAC verified its EPD through CSA Group’s EPD Program. It’s the first EPD registered by the CSA Group. The CAC Industry-wide EPD adds to a growing collection of EPDs published by the concrete industry, which is by far leading the building products industry for product transparency. The CAC EPD is linked on the NRMCA Web site.

For more information about NRMCA’s EPD program, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138.

ASSOCIATION & INDUSTRY NEWS

NRMCA Producer Member Recognized for Environmental Efforts

NRMCA Producer member CalPortland has again been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award for its continued leadership in protecting our environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. CalPortland’s accomplishments will be recognized in Washington, DC, on April 13.

"Entering our third decade as an ENERGY STAR partner we are proud to accept this award for the twelfth consecutive year", said CalPortland President/CEO Allen Hamblen. "As a result of our expanding energy management culture, which includes all levels of our operations, our employees are proud to participate in programs that improve our energy efficiency, reduce emissions and contribute to protecting our environment."

Since its inception in 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped prevent a total of more than 2.4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2014 alone, ENERGY STAR and its partners provided more than $11 billion in societal benefits due to reducing damages from climate change.

"By continued collaboration with ENERGY STAR, CalPortland is helping Americans save money, save energy, and do their part to reduce our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "I’m proud to recognize CalPortland with the highest form of ENERGY STAR recognition, as the winner of the 2016 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award. CalPortland demonstrates a strong commitment to energy efficiency and to preserving a healthy planet for future generations."

Source: CalPortland news release. For more information, view energystar.gov.

Troesh Family Foundation Pledges Major Gift to RMC Foundation

The Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) Research & Education Foundation has announced that the Troesh Family Foundation has pledged a generous $3 million gift. The gift, to be paid over five years, is predicated on the Foundation achieving a 3:1 match in contributions from industry and other sources ($9 million in new contributions must be pledged in order to receive the full $3 million gift from the Troesh Family Foundation). The goal would be to raise $12 million over five years to achieve a fully-funded endowment at RMC’s current funding levels. The Troesh Family Foundation contributions would be received in the years 2016 through 2020.

Click here to view the Foundation’s press release. For more information, contact Julie Garbini at jgarbini@rmc-foundation.org.

ENGINEERING

NRMCA Offers Wide Variety of Quality-Focused Resources for Producers

NRMCA offers multiple resources for concrete producers to improve quality. Please visit www.nrmca.org/quality to know more.

NRMCA Presents Course on Improving Concrete Quality in New Hampshire in May

NRMCA, in association with the Northern New England Concrete Promotion Association, is offering the one-day course Improving Concrete Quality, intended for concrete producers, ingredient material suppliers, engineers, testing labs and contractors. The course will take place Wednesday, May 4, in Manchester, NH.Improving Concrete Quality, a new book authored by one of the instructors, and other NRMCA resources provide the basic content for the course.

Improved concrete quality can benefit all stakeholders in a concrete construction project. This course will answer some of the following questions:

How do you know if you have good quality? What should be your quality metric?
How to become more profitable through better quality?
What are all the key statistical calculations you need to know in concrete?
How to control the mixing water content in concrete?
How to deal with temperature and delivery time variations?
What is the most effective way to ensure that your materials ingredients are of good quality?
How to improve batching accuracy, mixing uniformity?
How to identify non standard testing and curing? How to improve testing quality?
Tests a producer should do, internal audits and many more.

Course instructors are Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D., FACI, Beton Consulting Engineers LLC, and Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E. at NRMCA. Producers will learn readily implementable steps to manage variability and attain a more consistent product; ingredient suppliers will learn how material variation affects concrete variation; engineers will learn the opportunity for improving quality through specifications and testing lab professionals will learn to measure and improve testing quality. Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will earn 8 professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA’s STEPS program.

Click here for staff contacts, more information and registration options.

OPERATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY & HR

NRMCA Seeks Entries for 2016 Safety Contest, Benchmarking Survey

NRMCA's Safety Contest & Benchmarking Survey has for years been a safety performance and incentive/award program aimed to foster safe practices at ready mixed concrete plants across the nation. The survey is a per-plant contest open to all facilities operated by NRMCA member companies in good standing in 2015. Companies with more than one division are encouraged to distribute entry blanks to individuals responsible for keeping safety records at each plant location.

Entries must be received by e-mail to Karen Bean at kbean@nrmca.org no later than April 15, 2016. Click here for more information and to download the Benchmarking Survey entry form or contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.

NRMCA Seeks Entries for 2016 Fleet Benchmarking Survey

The 2016 Fleet Benchmarking Survey sponsored by Lytx DriveCam is completed each year by industry fleet managers and/or financial managers based on data gathered from the previous calendar year’s performance. This year’s form includes new questions on mixer drum composition, idle time and types of fuel being used. NRMCA's Fleet Benchmarking Survey is used to establish industry benchmarking norms and procedures. Information gathered from the annual Fleet Benchmarking Survey is published in a full report in Concrete InFocus magazine each autumn. A shorter Executive Summary of the survey is also made available to all.

The deadline for submitting completed entries by e-mail to gmullings@nrmca.org is Friday, April 15, 2016.

Click here for more information, to download the entry form and staff contact.

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

NRMCA Advocacy News Roundup Updated Through April 1

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 March 28 - April 1, 2016, please click here.

If you would like to receive this weekly updated link in a separate e-mail, or if you have questions or comments about the roundup, contact NRMCA’s Jill Landry at jlandry@nrmca.org.

Latest Edition of Concrete Capitol Connection Now Available Online

The April 2016 issue of Concrete Capitol Connection is now available online. The issue includes updates on legislation, regulation and case law on issues affecting the ready mixed concrete industry. Click here to read more.

Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In, NRMCA Quarterly DC Days Set for May

NRMCA encourages you to join our industry allies for the Transportation Construction Coalition’s (TCC) 2016 Legislative Fly-in on Capitol Hill May 10 - 11 and make the case to fix the Highway Trust Fund. Join hundreds of other industry leaders in delivering our message to Members of Congress to thank them for passage of the five-year "Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, but most importantly to tell them that the job is not done yet. Congress passed the FAST Act last year which included several funding patches for the bill; however, it did not address the revenue shortfall that the Highway Trust Fund continues to face.

NRMCA will also host its second quarter DC Day for 2016 during the TCC Fly-In. Working from the victories NRMCA scored in the FAST Act and year-end spending package for the ready mixed concrete industry, we will advocate for the inclusion of appropriations language dedicated to advancing industry initiatives for resilient construction and to further clarify the FMCSA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Carrier Safety Fitness Determination. Additionally, we will advocate for a legislative fix to the Hours of Service language for the 34-hour restart which was omitted by error in last year’s bill. Face-to-face advocacy clearly pays off and is the best way to help lawmakers understand our industry and the impact their decisions have on your operations in their state. You are the best advocate for your business. Taking the time to educate decision makers can help ensure that fixes to issues result in positive outcomes for the entire ready mixed concrete industry. The legislative successes NRMCA and our association volunteers scored in the FAST Act on behalf of the industry were proof of that!

The registration fee of $175 includes conference materials, legislative briefings, continental breakfast and a Capitol Hill reception. Any cancellation fees after April 28 will be non-refundable. This year’s meeting will again be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington at 400 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001. However, the hotel’s room block is currently full so to make your hotel arrangements please consider booking a room at one of the following hotels: The Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel at 1-202-638-1616; Washington Court Hotel at 1-202-628-2100; Hotel George at 1-202-347-4200; Washington DC Marriott Marquis at 1-202-824-9200; Renaissance Washington Hotel at 1-202-898-9000; Grand Hyatt Washington at 1-202-582-1234 or Washington Marriott Metro Center at 1-202-737-2200. Some hotels above within a 2-block walk of the Hyatt Regency Washington (the Marriott Metro Center, Renaissance Washington Hotel, Washington Marriott Marquis and the Grand Hyatt Washington are about 1.5 miles from Hyatt Regency Washington).

Click here to register for the TCC Fly-In. For more information contact Jill Landry at jlandry@nrmca.org.

NRMCA Joins Coalition in Opposing Federal Labor Ruling on Union Elections

The Coalition for Democratic Workplace, of which NRMCA is a member, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Associated Builders and Contractors, several Arkansas associations and an Arkansas law firm filed suit on March 30 against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) challenging the Department’s final rule changing the reporting requirements for so-called "persuader" agreements in Federal District Court in Arkansas. As reported last week, the DOL published its long-awaited and contentious "persuader" final rule on March 23. Originally proposed back in 2011, the "persuader" final rule now requires employers to disclose when they seek legal advice before an employee union election or campaign. Prior to the finalization of the rule, an employer was only required to disclose this information when a legal advisor had direct communication with employees regarding their union elections or campaigns.

NRMCA continues to analyze the final rule, but on initial review believes that the rule is unfair and unbalanced. There are already reporting requirements in place and the DOL's finale rule will further prohibit employers to lawfully communicate with employees about workforce issues. NRMCA will continue to examine the "persuader" final rule and will communicate to the ready mixed concrete industry its additional impacts.

Click here to review the complaint filed by the CDW and others challenging the "persuader" rule. For more information, contact Kerri Leininger at kleininger@nrmca.org.

CALENDAR

A Look Ahead

*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.

April 8, Webinar

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete Part 1 (Part 2 is April 15)