Sources: Sublime Systems, Somerville, Mass.; CP staff Sublime Systems, developer of an electrochemical process netting ASTM C1157-grade binder at markedly reduced carbon dioxide emissions levels versus portland cement, is teaming with CRH Plc and Holcim Ltd. to advance a premier Sublime Cement facility in Holyoke, Mass. The global cement, aggregate and concrete producers’ $75 million Sublime Systems investment anchors a…
Read MoreTag: Clean Energy
Energy Department defines zero emissions building
Sources: U.S. Department of Energy; ASHRAE, Atlanta; CP staff The Energy Department’s new National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building will augment public and private owner efforts to decarbonize commercial or residential properties and lower home and business utility bills. The U.S. has upward of 130 million buildings or homes, which collectively require $400 billion-plus a year to heat, cool,…
Read MoreABC: Unionized construction workforce slide continues
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C. An Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of 2023 union membership data published by UnionStats.com finds at least 90 percent of workers in the private construction industry do not belong to a union in 29 states, up from 26 and 24 states in the prior two years. North Carolina, Mississippi, Maine, South Carolina and…
Read MoreLabor Department moves to reboot Davis-Bacon wage calculation
The Labor Department Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will open a public comment period for its formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations” (DBRA). Regulatory changes outlined will improve WHD’s ability to administer and enforce DBRA labor standards on federally funded construction projects more effectively and efficiently, officials contend, and include: Creating efficiencies in the…
Read MoreCement, concrete, and carbon conversation turns to intellectual honesty and plausibility
A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) survey of cement and concrete production builds on U.S. General Services Administration measures, noted here last month, to guide federal construction procurement policy toward lower embodied carbon levels in finished structures. Along with the Departments of Defense and Transportation, General Services stands to favor material or product specifications backed by carbon data presented in…
Read MoreCoalition counters push for project labor agreement mandates
An Associated Builders and Contractors-led coalition of construction industry and business organizations has kicked off a six-figure advocacy campaign aimed at educating taxpayers and members of the U.S. Senate about controversial government-mandated project labor agreements. Build America Local argues that such schemes reduce competition and increase costs for the construction of taxpayer-funded affordable housing, clean energy and infrastructure projects acrosst…
Read MoreEPA Clean Water, Clean Energy, Smart Sectors deliverables mount
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has outlined major accomplishments and environmental progress in water supply and wastewater infrastructure investment plus related Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, pollution control and paperwork reduction measures. Among accomplishments and highlights since 2017, the agency underscores:
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