Concrete, timber system for mid- to high-rise buildings set for GreenBuild premier

Sources: CREE GmbH, Dornbirn, Austria; CP staff

CREE has opened a U.S. office to parlay its LifeCycle Tower (LCT) system, a concrete slab and wood post hybrid design suited to buildings up to 30 stories high. CREE Buildings is based in San Francisco, site of the November 14–15 GreenBuild 2012, where the concept will make its domestic debut.

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Lead construction economist sees 6 percent growth in 2013

Source: McGraw-Hill Construction, New York

According to McGraw-Hill Construction’s report, 2013 Dodge Construction Outlook, total U.S. construction starts for 2013 will rise 6 percent to $483.7 billion, slightly higher than the 5 percent increase to $458 billion estimated for 2012. The forecast was presented at McGraw-Hill Construction’s recent 74th annual Outlook Executive Conference in Washington, D.C.

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Command Alkon, Five Cubits ink partnership

Source: Command Alkon, Birmingham, Ala. Command Alkon has announced a formal agreement establishing Five Cubits, a web-based bulk material supply chain solutions provider, as a “Certified Integration Partner.” It allows for formal product integration efforts to benefit joint customers, while both companies continue efforts in providing technical solutions jointly to their user bases and the construction materials industry. Based near…

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Pumice operator ramps up concrete pozzolan processing, national distribution

Sources: Hess Pumice Products, Malad City, Idaho; CP staff

By Don Marsh

Family-owned Hess Pumice has developed 3-micron and 15-micron gradations of its amorphous aluminum silicate product, each with pozzolanic properties well suited to concrete mixes. A sister business to Hess Ready Mix, it recently doubled capacity at its Wright Creek Area mine in southeast Idaho, announcing availability of the HessPozz product to concrete producers across the country.

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Consumer confidence spurs new-home demand to level of pre-mortgage market meltdown

Source: National Association of Home Builders, Washington, D.C.

Nationwide production and permitting of new homes rose sharply in September to their highest levels in more than four years, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. A 15 percent gain brought the pace of new housing construction to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 units, while an 11.6 percent gain brought the pace of permit issuance to 894,000 units. These were the strongest numbers seen in both categories since July 2008.

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Bode deal affords U.S. Concrete a San Francisco flagship

Sources: U.S. Concrete Inc., Euless, Texas; CP staff

A definitive equity purchase agreement with Boardman family trustees will net U.S. Concrete subsidiary Central Concrete Supply Co., San Jose, the assets of San Francisco-based Bode Concrete LLC and Bode Gravel Co.

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