In an interview with Concrete Products, Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute's Dave Smith reflects on a decade of market and membership growth and development.

Concrete Products: Politics factored in the chartering of ICPI as an independent group. What lead to ICPI producers' split from National Concrete Masonry Association's (NCMA) Concrete Paver Institute (CPI)?

David Smith: ICPI was incorporated in June 1993 with 66 charter members consisting of producers, associates (suppliers) and contractors. It is a not-for-profit trade 503(c)6 association. The mission of ICPI in the charter is to increase the sale of segmental concrete pavements in North America.

The notion of a trade association for concrete pavers began in 1990 with the creation of CPI within NCMA. CPI was formed with its own committees and Board of Directors, some members of which participated within the NCMA Board. Charles Gamarekian pioneered the development of the paver association as its new chairman. CPI enjoyed a good relationship with NCMA as many members made both concrete pavers and masonry units. Synergies in marketing and technical programs were developed between masonry and paver products.

CPI filled a need for industry representation and technical credibility before design professionals. By 1992, the CPI budget topped $300,000, and many of the leading paver producers sought greater financial autonomy and identity. They met in Chicago in October to approve bylaws, appoint directors, form committees, and name the fledgling organization the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute. ICPI incorporated and set up offices in Sterling, Va. Five years later, the board enlisted Bostrom Corp. in downtown Washington, D.C., as its association management company. Charles McGrath is the executive director with five full-time staff, including Smith and Rob Burak, P. Eng, who develops technical programs. Since 1998, the association budget doubled to $1.5 million and membership swelled to 425, thanks to the commitment of members, effective programs, and efficient management. ICPI is viewed as a leader among other concrete product associations around the world.

CP: Have most of the old-line NCMA producers who remained with CPI come around to join or support ICPI?

DS: Since the inception of ICPI, some companies holding memberships in both NCMA and ICPI had begun to ask why they were paying dues to two groups that promote concrete pavers. In 2001, informal discussions began between the leadership of ICPI and NCMA that shaped ways for NCMA to withdraw from representing the concrete paver industry, and for ICPI to support NCMA in representing the segmental retaining wall (SRW) industry. Thanks to NCMA chairman Rick Roach and ICPI Chairman Manfred Herold, a reciprocal program of joint membership developed. This reduced the cost of membership in both groups and provided singular industry representation of segmental paving by ICPI and SRWs by NCMA.

CP: How has the institute owned up to its charter, with member support services and certification program offerings?

DS: Every year, ICPI members are asked to rank the products and services. The top 10 things ICPI does for its members are:

• Technical staff advice to members and design professionals.
• ICPI Tech Specs technical bulletins on design, specifications, construction and maintenance.
• ICPI web site at www.icpi.org, which includes a listing of members, certified contractors, database of technical papers, publications bookstore, drawings and guide specifications for all types of segmental concrete paving.
• Interlocking Concrete Pavement Magazine circulates to about 17,000 design professionals with showcase projects and technical advice for design professionals and contractors; an additional 5,000 go to contractors and the industry.
• Participation in ASTM & CSA standards development.
• Research projects.
• Concrete Paver Installer Certification, with almost 4,000 installers certified.
• Regional programs for contractors.
• Annual networking meeting.
• Development of continuing education programs for architects, landscape architects and engineers.

CP: Detail the market development over the 1993-2003 period, including U.S. and Canadian shipments in square footage terms.

DS: The U.S. market in 1993 was around 110 million to 120 million sq. ft. While there's no data on Canadian output, 15 million to 20 million sq. ft. would be a fair estimate. The market has grown about fourfold to 2003 for the U.S. and Canada. This translates into about 15 percent annual growth. About two-thirds of all sales are for residential applications, with the remaining used for commercial, municipal and industrial uses.

ICPI conducts an annual shipment survey. Sales for 2001 were around 400 million sq. ft. for the U.S. and Canada. Estimates for 2002 will be available in the next few months. We anticipate that U.S. and Canadian sales for last year will be well into the 400 million-sq.-ft. range.

CP: What is the breakdown of certification offerings? We're particularly interested in any agencies or groups recognizing or requiring such certification for paving stone jobs.

DS: ICPI Paver Installer certification has certified almost 4,000 installers. The day-and-a-half-long course covers the basics of estimating, job planning, materials, installation and recovering overhead. Our members have promoted the program to the public so well that in some parts of the country contractors cannot land a job unless they are ICPI certified.

Beside installer certification, ICPI offers paver product certification. This means ICPI certifies that paving products meet applicable ASTM or CSA standards. Installer certification and product certification are promoted in ICPI guide specifications and Tech Spec Technical bulletins. Architects, landscape architects and engineers always look for ways to increase quality assurance in projects. ICPI certifications are seeing increased use in project specifications for nonresidential projects for this reason.

CP: What is ICPI's role in supporting the new Manufactured Concrete Products Exposition?

DS: ICPI participates as a co-sponsoring association in the MCPX show with NCMA, National Precast Concrete Association, and American Concrete Pipe Association. All of these groups work jointly in promotion, convention programs/seminars and scheduling of their annual meetings around the show. The first joint show was held in February in Salt Lake City and was a major step forward for the precast concrete industry in North America to better serve producers as well as their customers and suppliers.

CP: What are ICPI's plans for the next 10 years?

DS: Chairman Bruce Camper sees three directions we need to take on delivering programs to design professionals and contractors — education, education and education. The next 10 years will see a focus on the development of seminars, conferences and on-line education to these audiences. Speaking of conferences, the ICPI will host the 8th International Conference on Concrete Block Paving in San Francisco in the fall of 2006 (see Developments, page 14). ICPI also is developing a university curriculum for civil engineering students that is expected to roll out in 2004.

Another big item on ICPI's to-do list is helping engineers learn what interlocking concrete pavement looks like when it needs to be maintained, and how to maintain it. Engineers call this 'pavement management.' For many years, asphalt and concrete pavement practitioners have used pavement management tools. They include criteria to assess a pavement's condition by measuring the severity of distresses like cracking or rutting over time. The criteria have been formalized into ASTM standards. As a result, consultants developed computerized survey systems that collect information for managing pavements.

In fact, accounting standards for governments now require management systems for all municipal assets, including pavements. Governments use these systems to tell them how much to allocate for capital improvement and maintenance budgets. ICPI aims to develop these management tools for interlocking concrete pavement. As the management tools are developed, long-term cost savings will be evident from little or no maintenance of properly installed pavements. These are keys to institutionalizing and integrating concrete pavers into mainstream pavement design and construction practice.

ICPI CHAIRMEN

1990-1992

Charles Gamarekian
Cambridge Pavers
Lyndhurst, New Jersey

1992-1994

Larry Nicolai
Pavers by Ideal
Westford, Massachusetts

1994-1995

David Streeter
Pavestone Co.
Lee's Summit, Missouri

1996-1997

Hugh Jones
Willamette-Graystone
Portland, Oregon

1997-1999

David Bender
Navastone
Cambridge, Ontario

1999-2000

Chris Ross
Balcon/Oldcastle APG
Crofton, Maryland

2001-2002

Manfred Herold
Browns Concrete
Sudbury, Ontario

2002-2004

Bruce Camper
Basalite
Tracy, California

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

ICPI believes that the best is yet to come with respect to residential sales. More disposable income and fewer vacations means the industry can move toward landscaping and hardscaping. This bodes well for the industry as only a tiny fraction of the millions of candidate homes have any kind of segmental paving.

Concerning the commercial side, the surface of the market to developers and municipalities has hardly been scratched. A new entry point to these markets is permeable interlocking concrete pavements. Built on an open-graded base to store runoff, permeable pavements are effective in meeting the recent national regulations for controlling stormwater runoff. In some parts of the U.S., municipalities have embraced permeable pavements as a means to conform to these laws while reducing runoff and water pollution.