Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff
NRMCA Chairman Bill Childs (Chaney Enterprises) joined concrete and cement group representatives from around the world to sign an agreement launching an international responsible sourcing certification program for concrete, spearheaded by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI).
The agreement was finalized earlier this month in Columbia during NRMCA’s International Concrete Sustainability Conference, Latin America. It responds to international and domestic developments spotlighting the concrete materials supply chain: a) the CSI Responsible Sourcing Scheme, formatted around green building ratings, procurement policies and new regulations; and, b) U.S. Green Building Council LEED v4 Materials and Resources Credit: Sourcing of Raw Materials provisions favoring products that have environmentally, economically and socially preferable impacts.
With targeted 2015 release, the Responsible Sourcing credit will reward selection of products and materials verified to have been extracted or sourced in a responsible manner. Development of the new international responsible sourcing program for concrete will help North American producers meet new LEED v4 requirements.