Timed with last month’s Greenbuild International Conference in Los Angeles, the green building industry’s first and leading consortium of program operators announced two new members and an enhanced technical advisory board. CSA Group, the Canadian standards development organization, joins existing consortium members ASTM International, ICC-Evaluation Service, NSF Sustainability, SCS Global Services and Sustainable Minds.
Read MoreDay: November 28, 2016
Survey grasps carbon emissions concerns throughout real estate sector
From the Green Building Certification Inc., Washington, D.C. … An Amsterdam-based provider of property asset environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance data, GRESB released the results of its 2016 Real Estate, Developer and Debt assessments. New data show that real estate companies and funds are improving across all aspects of ESG performance, including reductions of 1.2 percent in energy consumption, 2 percent in greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 1 percent in water use. Real estate interests are also putting greater focus on occupant health and well-being.
Read MoreBig Data mining advances safe mixer truck operation
San Diego-based Lytx Inc. is uniquely positioned to help concrete producers rethink fleet safety and risk prevention. The Big Data-minded firm has logged nearly two decades of video and voice captures, plus related information from 1,500 fleets running its DriveCam event recording and driver coaching platforms. Independent and large ready mixed producers among those fleets account for nearly 10,000 mixer trucks.
Read MoreConstruction economist assesses slowing private work stability
An Associated Builders & Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows seasonally adjusted, annualized spending of $687 billion in August, 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent lower than prior month and August 2015 levels, respectively. Four of the five largest nonresidential subsectors—power, highway and street, commercial and manufacturing—combined to fall 2.2 percent on a monthly basis in August 2016.
Read MoreMack, McNeilus commit Granite-mounted Bridgemaster to CIM Auction
Sources: CIM National Steering Committee, Murfreesboro, Tenn.; CP staff
Mack Trucks Inc. and McNeilus Cos. are sustaining a generous custom by donating the 2017 Concrete Industry Management Auction centerpiece: An 11-yd. M80 Bridgemaster transit mixer mounted on a Granite Axle Forward GU713 model. Truck bidding will cap the 11th annual auction, staged January 18 in the Las Vegas Convention Center amid the 2017 World of Concrete.
Read MoreContractors welcome judge’s blocking of Obama overtime rule
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
A Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division rule doubling the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) salary threshold for employees exempt from overtime pay—and automatically raising the bar on three-year intervals—will not take hold on a December 1 target, owing to a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas preliminary injunction order.
Read MoreLafargeHolcim targets insulation market with mineral foam product
Sources: LafargeHolcim Ltd., Zurich; CP staff
LafargeHolcim characterizes its new product, Airium, as a disruptive technology for the insulation market. Developed at the producer’s global research & development center near Lyon, France, the fire-resistant, mineral insulating foam improves buildings’ energy efficiency from floor to ceiling.
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