By Don Marsh An energy market-driven nonprofit, RMI, offers credible perspective in its just-released Concrete Solutions Guide, geared to construction interests taking stock of the carbon dioxide emissions factor behind their project materials, products and methods. Posted at www.rmi.org, the document presents specific opportunities for “a nearly ubiquitous material with a sizable climate impact” and expands on the need to…
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It is Not a Driver Shortage
By Nate Tarbox For many years those of us in the ready-mix concrete industry have complained and struggled to fill open delivery driver positions. As recently as 2017, almost one-half of ready-mix producers reported lost business due to the shortage of drivers. Over three quarters of our industry’s producers have been actively hiring drivers in recent years. We have the…
Read MoreIndustry prepped for Buy Clean era
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 MoreCMU Checkoff concerns: Escrow terms, districting, and fund allocations
By Edward Antonini While we have always supported the research, education, and promotion of concrete masonry units, Angelus Block Co., Inc. vehemently opposes the CMU Checkoff about to be voted on by the industry. Among the multitude of problems in the Department of Commerce’s proposed CMU Checkoff order and its associated one-cent per block collection, we find: It mandates an…
Read MoreCMU Checkoff will propel industry to new heights
People make the concrete masonry industry. And it doesn’t hurt that the men and women who call the business home also contribute to one of the most economically sound, environmentally friendly and functional building materials on the planet. A new checkoff program will help propel the industry to new heights, help block producers put more money in their pockets and…
Read MoreVulcan-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…
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