San Jose, Calif.-based Sollars Home, a subsidiary of Sollars Construction Inc., has introduced an advanced technology that, the company notes, produces a better, more efficient home from concrete at a comparable price as well as in half the time of a wood alternative. The Multi-Flex Formwork technology is used to cast buildings in place and is considered by the company as the first new method for building homes since the mid-20th century.
Read MoreDay: September 12, 2016
Top forecasters confirm private sectors’ growth prospects
The Associated Builders & Contractors, American Institute of Architects and National Association of Home Builders chief economists assembled in Washington, D.C., for a mid-year market forecast, outlining stable to strong residential and commercial project activity through 2017.
Read MoreMcInnis Cement sites first U.S. terminal at Port of Providence
Rhode Island and Providence officials joined McInnis Cement executives for an early-August groundbreaking at the deep-water Port of Providence, where the producer is building a 30,000-plus ton capacity terminal linked to its Port-Daniel-Gascons mill under construction in eastern Quebec. The $22 million storage and loading facility is positioned to supply much of the New England construction market, especially in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Read MoreArgos, CalPortland, Irving Materials lead NRMCA 2016 Quality Awards
Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
NRMCA will honor 2016 Excellence in Quality Award recipients at a September 20 luncheon, capping the four-day ConcreteWorks 2016 in Nashville. Participants have demonstrated adherence to quality management principles covering materials, production facilities, QC programs and customer satisfaction.
Read MoreResilient Building Standard ups home values, study finds
Past, present and future property loss mitigation was examined at a White House Forum on Smart Finance for Disaster Resilience (note page 10) panel discussion, whose participants included the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).
Read MoreInsurance interests take note of resilience-wise White House policy
Continuing to focus on how to mitigate increasing economic consequences of extreme weather and other climate-related risks, especially as they relate to the architectural/engineering/construction community and the built environment, the White House hosted Forum on Smart Finance for Disaster Resilience. State and local government officials, along with insurance and financial services stakeholders, assembled last month to learn about new investment approaches and incentive programs presently deployed in communities, and to explore potential innovative financing mechanisms.
Read MoreWhite House guidance stands to hamper transportation project permits
The American Road & Transportation Builders Association has asked the Federal Highway Administration to withdraw a proposal to measure greenhouse gas emissions from new transportation projects. The agency action is part of larger performance measures required under the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) surface transportation reauthorization law, and follows the White House’s early-August release of “Final Guidance on Considering Climate Change in Environmental Reviews” for federal agencies.
Read MoreFeds prevail in ERISA-rooted charges against Cement Masons’ local officials
The Labor Department characterizes a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California decision against a Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds trustee and attorney as a “victory for whistleblowers.” The court found that trustee and Cement Masons Local 600 business manager Scott Brain and trust counsel Melissa Cook violated two Employee Retirement Income Security Act sections when they caused the firing of Cheryle Robbins and Cory Rice.
Read MoreArgos’ art of the nine-figure deal
By Don Marsh
Colombia-based Argos S.A. demonstrates in its latest investment the credit facilities and drive to build multiple U.S. cement and concrete platforms, perhaps competing for acquisitions with expansion-minded peers on the order of Oldcastle Materials and Summit Materials.
Read MoreStructural, thermal mass add up to data center protection
St. Louis-based Ascent LLC, a builder and operator of highly secure data centers is promoting its latest facility on the strength of mass, reinforced concrete: 15-in. walls and a 13.5-in. roof enclosing 42,600 sq. ft. of space. Dubbed DAL1 for its Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex proximity, the new Plano, Texas, facility is built to withstand exposure to 360-mph winds, well above the National Weather Service’s 200-mph threshold for (Enhanced Fujita Scale) EF5 tornadoes.
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