Truck OEM charter coalition to advance zero-emission vehicle era

Sources: Powering America’s Commercial Transportation, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Daimler Truck North America, Navistar Inc. and Volvo Group North America lead founding members of Powering America’s Commercial Transportation (PACT), a coalition focused on education and advocacy to accelerate the construction of charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Executives assembled at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. for…

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World of Concrete: Face-to-face interaction roars back

Although subdued compared to its normal January volume of booths, exhibit space and attendees, World of Concrete concluded three upbeat days last month at the Las Vegas Convention Center—likely the North American construction industry’s largest 2021 gathering, as well as a strong affirmation of interest in live, business-to-business functions.

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Supreme Court sides with hardscape dealer Haluch Gravel in Operating Engineers pension case

Sources: U.S. Supreme Court; Oyez Archive/Kent College of Law, Chicago; CP staff

The Supreme Court has reversed a U.S. Court of Appeals decision for plaintiffs (Funds), led by the Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers, which had pursued additional contributions and reimbursement of litigation expenses from Ray Haluch Gravel Co.

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Call for International Concrete Sustainability Conference abstracts

Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.

NRMCA, RMC Research & Education Foundation, and the Portland Cement Association are accepting abstracts online [http://www.concretesustainabilityconference.org/boston2014/index.html] through November 30 for the 2014 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 12-15, at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge in Boston.

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Environmental Product Declarations workshop dovetails ASTM C09 committee meetings

Sources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; CP staff

“An Introduction to Product Category Rules (PCR), Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) and Other Aspects of Sustainable Process and Resilient Materials” will be held December 8 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville (Fla.) Riverfront, host venue of ASTM Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates standards development meetings.

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Global cement group guides Environmental Product Declarations for plain concrete

Sources: World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Geneva; CP staff

WBCSD Cement Sustainability Initiative’s (CSI) new Product Category Rules (PCR) for unreinforced concrete offer producers a common methodology to prepare Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for their mixes. CSI membership includes all multinational companies with integrated North American operations: Argos, CRH, Cemex, GCC, Heidelberg, Holcim, Lafarge, Taiheiyo, Titan and Votorantim.

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NRMCA set to verify Environmental Product Declarations per new LEED, IgCC versions

Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.

NRMCA has become an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Program Operator, a designation enabling it to help members meet new requirements in LEED v4, International Green Construction Code (IgCC) and the Architecture 2030 Challenge for Products. EPDs are third-party verified reports published by product manufacturers that provide quality assured and comparable information regarding the environmental performance of their product.

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Industry presses life-cycle assessment for International Green Construction Code

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.

PCA and NRMCA were among concrete and masonry interests providing testimony at the International Green Construction Code final action hearings, November 2–6 in Phoenix. One of the most significant concepts debated was the use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) for building designs. A PCA proposal for the inclusion of whole building LCA as an alternative compliance path to prescriptive criteria for materials for building design was disapproved, although placing whole building LCA into the code as a project elective option for building designs was approved.

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