BY DON MARSH A Carbon Leadership Forum team updates us this month on the trajectory of procurement policy compelling suppliers or contractors to include environmental product declarations (EPDs) in public building and infrastructure project bids. Laws or pending legislation reference declarations abiding International Organization for Standardization terms, which strive for data uniformity and apples to apples comparison of material or…
Read MoreCategory: Editorial
Vulcan-U.S. Concrete, concurrent deals speak to underlying industry strengths
U.S. Concrete will move Vulcan into the U.S. ready mixed production elite, joining Cemex USA, CRH Americas Materials and Martin Marietta. U.S. Concrete reported 2020 deliveries of 8.2 million yd. from 150 operations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., Texas, northern California and the Virgin Islands. Vulcan dispatched 2.9 million yd. of ready mixed in 2020 from…
Read MoreEagle Materials earns last laugh on Monday morning quarterback
Two years ago we saw Dallas-based Eagle Materials Inc., slightly reeling from a fracking sand production play, heed an activist investor’s proposal for a Light Materials (wallboard, paperboard) and Heavy Materials (cement, aggregates, concrete) business split. The action had the aura of an opportunistic New Yorker swaggering into Texas to shed light on running a construction materials business. Eagle Materials…
Read MorePrecast Show and World of Concrete: Productive industry exercises resume
The fluidity of public health and travel advisories from the White House to state houses to city halls forced Precast Show and World of Concrete organizers to promote their postponed events with pending labels. Backed with Operation Warp Speed vaccine development dividends, sound minded authorities have enabled the National Precast Concrete Association and Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute to stage the Precast…
Read MoreMartin Ozinga III, 1950-2021
Ozinga Bros., Inc. of Mokena, Ill. announced the sudden passing of Chairman Martin Ozinga III late last month. “Dad was loved by many, including his family, his coworkers, customers and friends in the community,” said CEO Martin Ozinga IV, who succeeded his father at the helm in 2012.
Read MoreConsensus inconveniences irk climate crowd
Increasing awareness of residential and commercial buildings’ contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions levels, mainly through electricity or direct fossil fuel consumption, is leading to more scrutiny of wall and roof system energy efficiency. The International Code Council Board of Directors has responded with “Leading the Way to Energy Efficiency: A Path Forward on Energy and Sustainability to Confront a…
Read MoreQuikrete’s biggest, best bet yet: Forterra
Quikrete Holdings Inc. continues one of the most impressive deal making streaks to date for a private North American construction materials player. After making a name in hardware stores and lumberyards, then evolving plant footprint and stockkeeping unit offerings for big box home improvement retailing, the producer has reached deep into engineered or specified construction.
Read MoreCemex elections highlight unions’ dubious case for mail-in balloting
Members of prospective bargaining units at essential Alabama and Florida businesses are scheduled to vote this month on union representation. Despite safety team success in containing Covid-19 infection and spread throughout the target employers’ operations, National Labor Relations Board regional offices are allowing workers in both elections to cast ballots by mail versus the standard in-person, manual method. The former…
Read MoreConsequential deals cap a year that couldn’t end fast enough
As we closed our 2020 work schedule producing this issue, a slew of post-Thanksgiving developments quickly sealed December as the most consequential month of a year we are pleased to see in the rearview mirror. While absent CRH, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, Martin Marietta, Summit Materials, Vulcan Materials and other deal catalysts or newsmakers of the past decade, the developments warrant cement,…
Read MorePacific Steel v. CMC reveals rebar market disruption and greening
Cement and cementitious materials producers are helping concrete customers improve carbon dioxide emissions reduction track records and or embodied carbon metrics. Additional improvements are in the offing for structural concrete as reinforcing steel top guns log CO2 cuts on trend lines sharper than their portland cement counterparts. Since the percentage of rebar in a column cross section can approach that…
Read More