Last week, NRMCA Vice President of Sustainability Tien Peng presented "LEEDv4: Keeping Up with the Acronyms" to industry members and specifiers at the Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association's (VRMCA) annual workshop and the Cement & Concrete Products Industry of Hawaii’s annual conference. These events allowed NRMCA the opportunity to update the architecture and engineering community on changes to the green building rating system as well as concrete industry sustainability initiatives. The VRMCA workshop also featured NRMCA’s Gregg Lewis, who presented the "The High Cost of Ignoring Life Cycle Issues in Building Construction".

The new version of LEED takes a more integrated design approach, pushes for material disclosure and requires more technical rigor, each of which potentially gives the concrete producer more influence on building projects. NRMCA has three initiatives to help members achieve the new product disclosure goals. NRMCA established its EPD Program Operator status in order to help concrete producers and suppliers meet new disclosure requirements cost effectively. NRMCA is also piloting a new responsible sourcing program which will go live early 2016. Another project will provide a methodology and guide for concrete producers to report material ingredients and chemical constituents of their products.  

NRMCA encourages its members to participate in local professional groups, such as AIA, ASCE or USGBC local chapters, and offer topics and speakers for education programs.