Enterprise group spotlights developing countries’ block-making, building skills

In its continuing effort to build earthquake-resistant houses and change construction practice permanently in earthquake-prone developing countries, Build Change, a non-profit social enterprise based in Denver, announced its Commitments to Action at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting last month in New York. The organization commits to training vocational teachers in earthquake-resistant building techniques in Indonesia and to improving block-making skills in Haiti.

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Procurement – Leveraging value in your business

I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly regarding procurement in the concrete business, as well as in cement, aggregates, concrete products and building materials. But, before we throw stones, I also witnessed first-hand annual savings of tens of millions of dollars captured by a relatively small group of coordinators/facilitators in the U.S. and well over $100 million gained on a global scale.

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Valmont brand of green jobs links wind farms to population centers

There is much to recommend in our cover story subject, a sprawling spun cast prestressed pole plant (pages 22–26), the people who run it, and the NYSE-traded company behind it. Located on a 150-acre site, Valmont Newmark/Bellville is running new batching, mix delivery, placing and forming equipment to support one of the more promising product categories in prestressed concrete.

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Legislation protecting fly ash market, thwarting EPA reaches Senate

Sources: Citizens for Recycling First, Denver; Office of Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND); CP staff

Five Democrat and five Republican Senators have filed The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (S.1751), creating state-enforced, national disposal standards for coal ash while protecting the material from a “hazardous waste” designation.

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People-focused sustainable designs at heart of Holcim Award winners

Source: Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Switzerland

Ten winning entries of the 3rd International Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects and visions from North America shared a total of $300,000 at a recent ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Holcim Foundation conducts the competition in five regions across the world. More than 6,000 submissions for projects located in 146 countries entered the Holcim Awards, which aims to promote sustainable responses to contemporary technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues from the building and construction industry.

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