Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Portland Cement Association Chief Economist Ed Sullivan cites the potential for a dip in cement consumption and concrete output attributable to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At a joint luncheon in San Antonio during the PCA and National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 2022 conventions, he offered three scenarios for U.S. shipments through 2024:
Read MoreMonth: March 2022
EPA campaign targets commercial building energy efficiency
New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiatives will provide policymakers and commercial building owners resources to reduce emissions from more than 6 million commercial and multifamily buildings. Through decades of partnership with EPA’s Energy Star program, private and public building owners have significantly reduced their emissions and energy costs by improving their properties’ energy efficiency and performance. Many cities and states…
Read MoreORGANIZATIONS – March 2022
Timothy Cullen has joined the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute as director of Technical Activities, tasked with developing and disseminating the PCI Body of Knowledge necessary for designing, fabricating, and constructing precast concrete structures. Before joining PCI, he was vice president of Blue Ridge Design, a structural engineering consulting firm in Winchester, Va., and was previously a design engineer with High Concrete…
Read MorePRODUCERS – March 2022
Vulcan Materials Co. has appointed Vice President – Finance Mary Andrews Carlise as successor to Senior Vice President and CFO Suzanne Wood, who has announced a September 2022 retirement. Also within the producer’s C-suite, Vice President – Human Resources Darren Hicks has been named to a newly created post, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, effective this month. …
Read MoreABC counters administration’s PLA, union organizing push
In light of White House “Build Back Better” ambitions, Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck questions a new executive order encouraging project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on federal construction contracts exceeding $35 million. “The policy will not help America; instead, it will exacerbate the industry’s skilled workforce shortage, needlessly increase construction costs…
Read MoreWhat Buy Clean means for the concrete industry
And how concrete producers can capitalize on the federal government’s changing policy landscape In December 2021, the White House issued an executive order focused on reducing emissions across federal government properties. The order introduces a “Buy Clean” meant to reduce carbon emissions arising from the production or manufacturing and use of building materials. For the first time, suppliers of concrete…
Read MoreThe Future of Batching
Producers must decide between sticking with batching systems that do a good enough job and upgrading to one that runs masterfully with improved accuracies and uptime. Many of us grew up with the idioms “use it up, wear it out” and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” These words of wisdom are essential for survival in a world of…
Read MoreAnother Look at the Pandemic: How the Fed Stepped in to Save the Economy
by Pierre G. Villere It is always interesting to see how quickly our attention and focus can turn from one crisis to the next, with the former being forgotten and seen only in the rear-view mirror. Of course, the media gives us no choice, as it is their focus on the story of the moment that gets the ink. With…
Read MoreFederal agencies trigger a third flourish for Environmental Product Declarations
Our coverage of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for ready mixed and manufactured concrete dates to 2013. The record of producers and their national associations responding to market signals calling for such documents continues to be exemplary. This past month saw a third turning point in EPDs’ evolution from a target of green building practitioners, to data files for the Embodied…
Read MoreGraniterock short film garners global competition nod
Sources: Graniterock, Watsonville, Calif.; CP staff Green Journey, a 27-minute production on how northern California aggregate and ready mixed concrete operator Graniterock is transforming its approach to energy use and setting an example for environmental leadership in construction materials production, has earned an Accolade Global Film Competition Award of Merit. The La Jolla, Calif. organization recognizes film, television, videography and…
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