In recent years, the segmental concrete paving industry has maintained significant growth. This was especially true for 2003 and the first half of 2004, which showed an increase in overall paver sales in North America. Adding to this was dramatic growth in the number of contractors gaining paver installation certification. The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) based in Washington, D.C., offers the following report.

SALES GAINS NEAR DOUBLE DIGITS

ICPI's annual sales survey, conducted by Industry Insights, estimated 2003 North American total sales to be 615 million sq. ft., an 8.8 percent increase over 2002. This is split into approximately 530 million sq. ft. for the U.S. and 85 million sq. ft. for Canada. “This growth shows the continued strength of the segmental concrete pavement market in North America,” says ICPI chairman Steve Berry (Paver Systems), “especially in the residential and municipal markets.”

The 2003 residential market once again accounted for almost 75 percent of concrete paver sales. The second largest market was commercial at 18 percent, followed by municipal at 10.3 percent. The industrial/port/airport market accounted for the smallest portion, representing 0.1 percent of all paver sales.

INSTALLER CERTIFICATIONS CLIMB

A record number of concrete paver installers in the U.S. and Canada sought certification through ICPI from July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004. ICPI and its members sponsored 56 courses and awarded certification to 1,759 participants. The number of courses increased 12.5 percent as compared to the same time period spanning 2002 to 2003. In addition, the total number of participants increased by 6.8 percent and the number receiving certification increased by 10 percent during that time.

“ICPI takes its role seriously in helping installers pursue a high standard of knowledge and proper installation,” Berry affirms. “The increase in attendance at ICPI Concrete Paver Installer Certification courses demonstrates that contractors are seeing the value of ICPI certification.”

EXPANDING INSTALLER RESOURCES

Additional resources to aid contractors were introduced in the past year by ICPI. Two new photo gallery design books were published to help contractors see creative ways to use concrete pavers:

• The Patio Portfolio — Ideas for residential patio applications

• Backyards and Boulevards — Ideas for both residential and municipal projects

These publications, combined with Patios, Driveways, and Plazas — Solutions for the home and commercial projects, form a trilogy of resource picture books. Another addition is the development of continuing education programs to facilitate instruction of landscape contractors at the local level. The “CEU Binder” is a compilation of five turnkey presentations totaling seven continuing education credits:

• Construction of Permeable Pavements (1 credit)
• How to Sell and Market Concrete Pavers (2 credits)
• Labor and Materials Estimating for Paver Installers (1 credit)
• The Pattern Language of Concrete Pavers (1 credit)
• Theory of Base Installation (2 credits)

These education programs provide contractors, who are certified installers, an opportunity to earn credit towards ICPI paver installation certification renewal. The binder includes five PowerPoint presentations on CD, scripts, and an administrative template disk that includes ready-to-print certificates and sign-in sheets for each presentation.

2005 USHERS MORE GROWTH

The picture for 2005 looks good with continued strong housing growth, low interest rates, and Baby Boomers with disposable income appearing to be the big influences. Most manufacturers are making their products look like natural stone. Homeowners prefer the look they provide without incurring the costs typically associated with natural stone products. They also want the permanent look stone gives. The short- and long-term outlook for the industry is good, since North Americans consume less than 2 sq. ft. of pavers per person annually. North America has barely scratched the surface as compared to the United Kingdom, which consumes 5 or 6 sq. ft. per capita annually, or Germany where consumption is well over 15 sq. ft.

Permeable interlocking concrete pavements will see strong growth owing to national and state laws mandating control of stormwater runoff. Permeable interlocking concrete pavements can practically eliminate runoff from frequent rainstorms by infiltrating and returning some or all of the water to soil. State and local stormwater agencies have an interest in reducing runoff, not just to conform to regulations, but to reduce taxpayer costs associated with expansion of storm sewers.

Annual growth of permeable interlocking concrete pavement is in the double digits. ICPI will begin to track sales of this product in future marketing surveys, and the results will play a part in the development of stormwater controls across the U.S. and Canada. Given new opportunities with permeable pavements and residential paving, the concrete paver industry is likely to see continued growth in the foreseeable future.

Matthew Tosiello is Director of Marketing for Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute in Washington, D.C. Additional information on market surveys and publications can be obtained from ICPI, 202/712-9036; www.icpi.org

A BANNER 2004

Tiger Machine Ltd., a manufacturer of concrete masonry wall and paving unit equipment, tells Concrete Products that the past year has been especially strong. The efforts of Pathfinder Systems, Tiger's partner in North America, resulted in the installation and commissioning of six new PS-100 big board paver plants during the calendar year. All sales were made to existing paver producers. In one case, an established customer added a second PS-100 big board plant. In another case, a producer added a PS-100 plant to enhance its production, while older paver machines were replaced with high-speed PS-100s in four of the installations.

Purchasers selected additional the plants, including Tiger's six-at-a-time TG-6, for the manufacture of block as well as pavers and concrete products. In front of many the machines, operators installed dual in-feed, double splitting and cubing lines. Finishing pavers and retaining wall units with the manufacturer's automatic cubing-equipped tumbling devices has added to customers' success in recent years.
— Pathfinder Systems, 877/498-4437