Blended cements lead industry priority list for remainder of decade

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; Cement Products staff Portland Cement Association CEO Mike Ireland cites blended cements, plus alternative fuels and carbon, capture, utilization and storage technology, as top producer priorities for the next five years. Addressing the IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Conference in Denver earlier this month, he also reflected on major 2023 market, environmental and government relations deliverables:…

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Legacy engineering tests PCA campus demolition contractor

The former Portland Cement Association and CTLGroup campus along Old Orchard Road in Skokie, Ill. is giving way to a residential and commercial development befitting valuable acreage just north of Chicago and in close proximity to Interstate 94. Demolition commenced in late 2023 on four buildings that for decades supported one of the world’s principal cement and concrete knowledge centers.…

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Improving Air Quality to Meet Revised Soot Standard Could Harm U.S. Economy

By Lucinda Minton Langworthy and Angela R. Morrison Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reduced the level of the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), commonly referred to as soot, from 12-9 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), reflecting a 25 percent reduction in the standard intended to be protective of…

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Two structures down, two to go for PCA, CTLGroup campus demolition contractor

Source: CP staff The former Portland Cement Association and CTLGroup campus along Old Orchard Road in Skokie, Ill. is giving way to a residential and commercial development befitting valuable acreage just north of Chicago and in close proximity to Interstate 94. Demolition commenced in late 2023 on four buildings that for decades supported one of the world’s principal cement and…

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Buzzi Unicem and Ash Grove East executives lead PCA Board

Portland Cement Association members have elected Buzzi Unicem USA CEO Massimo Toso as board chairman and Ash Grove Cement East President Monica Manolas as vice chair, both for two-year terms. Toso succeeds Votorantim Cimentos North America CEO Filiberto Ruiz, who took the helm shortly after the October 2021 release of the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality. A call to action…

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GSA backs low embodied carbon material spec commitment

The General Services Administration has released a list of more than 150 federal building construction or upgrade projects across 39 states and District of Columbia where low embodied carbon (LEC) material specifications will be supported by $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding. Contract language will favor LEC material use, net estimated deliveries totaling:  The funding advances the Buy Clean…

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Buzzi Unicem’s Toso, Ash Grove East’s Manolas lead PCA officer slate

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Portland Cement Association members have elected Buzzi Unicem USA CEO Massimo Toso as board chairman and Ash Grove Cement East President Monica Manolas as vice chair, both for two-year terms. Toso succeeds Votorantim Cimentos North America CEO Filiberto Ruiz, who took the helm shortly after the October 2021 release of the PCA…

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California producers’ carbon volley

Two years of major gestures surrounding greenhouse gas emissions in cement and concrete production or procurement solidify California’s reputation for incubating policy. In October 2021, the California State Senate passed SB 596, charting a regulatory course for Golden State cement producers to attain net-zero carbon operations by 2045. The California Nevada Cement Association concurrently published an SB 596 action plan,…

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Low-Carbon Cement Protocol propels SCM project financing

Sources: ClimeCo, Boyertown, Pa.; CP staff Sustainability consultant ClimeCo and a stakeholder working group have secured approval of U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol v1.0 by the board of Climate Action Reserve, Los Angeles-based global carbon market offset registry. The 72-page document proposes terms for generating voluntary carbon credits from production of novel alternative or supplementary cementitious materials: Raw or calcined natural…

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