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Buildings
In conjunction with Structure magazine and the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, Build With Strength and NRMCA are hosting a free webinar next week titled Top 10 Ways to Reduce Concrete's Carbon Footprint. NRMCA Executive Vice President, Structures and Sustainability, Lionel Lemay and Director of Building Innovations Brandon Wray will host the webinar on Wednesday, May 11, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time. As the title implies, they will discuss strategies to take advantage of concrete’s benefits while ensuring the lowest possible carbon footprint. Continuing education credit will be provided by NRMCA to attendees after the webinar. E-mail Derek Torres at dtorres@nrmca.org with questions. Click here for more information and to register. Mississippi is almost ready to officially welcome its first fully poured concrete school. The Magnolia Speech School in Madison broke ground in late 2021 and will be completed in time for the start of the 2022 school year, reports NRMCA Vice President, Building Innovations, Michael Wymant. With 30,000 square feet, the new building is equipped with advanced educational technology. Executive director of Magnolia Speech School Valerie Linn said bringing the school to Madison has been an amazing journey over the past couple of years, including trips along with NRMCA to many other Insulated Concrete Forms schools in Kentucky dating to 2019. The project utilizes Insulated Concrete Forms by Nudura which provide exceptional safety, energy savings and sound performance.
Representatives from NRMCA, Amazon Web Services, Walsh Consulting and NRMCA member Lehigh Hanson toured the Cadman Seattle ready mixed concrete plant on April 28, reports NRMCA Director, Sustainability Initiatives, Katie Poss (seen here, second from right in the orange vest). The plant is one of four plants in the United States that is certified by the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC); the Cadman plant has achieved Silver CSC responsible sourcing certification by demonstrating environmental sustainability practices, including on-site stormwater treatment and re-use, outstanding safety and supply chain practices, and more. Concrete used from a CSC-certified plant can help LEED projects achieve the Social Equity in the Supply Chain Pilot Credit. CSC certified plants can also help projects achieve compliance with responsible sourcing criteria in specifications. For more information on how to get your plant certified by the Concrete Sustainability Council, contact Katie Poss at 615-979-7264
Build With Strength, in collaboration with the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council, were exhibitors at a fire marshals annual conference in Berlin, CT. Joining Dominic Di Cenzo of the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council were NRMCA’s Shamim Rashid-Sumar, vice president of fire codes and standards (seen here, addressing conference attendees), and Derek Torres, project manager for concrete promotion. The purpose of attending this conference was to engage with fire marshals and other fire service professionals in promoting the benefits and resiliency of concrete construction, including ICF construction. Shamim also presented on The Balanced Approach to Fire Safety: How Concrete Buildings Can Reduce Risk to over 100 attendees. Build With Strength is a coalition led by NRMCA that offers webinars and courses to architects, engineers, and building and fire code officials as part of its education efforts to promote safety and resiliency and help place more concrete. Click here for more information on Build With Strength education programs or contact Derek Torres at dtorres@nrmca.org. 
SEO
Get ready for the National Mixer Driver Appreciation Week, taking place August 1 - 5. To help celebrate our industry’s drivers, please visit the Appreciation Week Store; it includes polos, t-shirts, hats, beverage tumblers, koozies, key chains and multitools. The store will remain open through June 15; orders will then be shipped by July 15 and arrive by August 1, just in time for Appreciation Week. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
NRMCA’s Think First Monthly Safety Initiatives feature different industry-specific safety items relevant to seasons, current topics or industry concerns. The initiatives are meant to be shared, used as a training tool, printed, posted or distributed; all of which are encouraged. This month’s issue, seen here, is titled Distracted Driving – Hands on the Wheel, Eyes on the Road. Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its intention to require use of speed limiters on heavy-duty trucks. The proposal, which was originally attempted back in 2016 but ultimately abandoned, has been resurrected by FMCSA due to “crashes in which speed is listed as a contributing factor is unacceptable.” Previous iterations of the speed limiters proposal suggested limiting speed of heavy-duty trucks to somewhere between 55 mph and 75 mph. FMCSA will be accepting comments on this current Notice of Intent (NOI) for 30 days; however, the actual detailed proposal isn’t expected until sometime in 2023. Click here to review the NOI, Federal Register notice and FAQ. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. NRMCA’s Annual Safety Award acknowledges the significant contribution that safe work practices give to the growth and success of individual companies and the ready mixed concrete industry as a whole. This award is presented to an individual or company whose actions represent the very highest in the advancement of safety in the ready mixed concrete industry. The award program is generously sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau (TMMB).
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. May 10, Free Online Webinar May 24, Free Online Webinar May 24 - 26, Middleton, MA September 29 - October 3, Aurora, CO October 18 - 20, Charlotte, NC November 8 - 10, Louisville, KY November 15 - 17, Phoenix November 29 - December 1, Orlando, FL December 13 - 16, Kansas City, MO 
Pavement
NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Don Clem recently joined a host of industry colleagues in Denver at the annual Concrete Day at the Capitol. Governor Jared Polis signed a proclamation recognizing Concrete Day. Clem said the event was a resounding success, with many legislators and staffers on hand to enjoy a barbeque lunch grilled on site (seen here, photo courtesy of Jo Taylor, Colorado Public Works Journal), providing concrete industry representatives the opportunity to visit with lawmakers regarding the importance of the concrete industry to the state’s economy. "The weather for the eleventh annual event was challenging, given high winds of 20 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph." said Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association (CRMCA) Executive Director Todd Ohlheiser. "But we were very pleased with our member turnout which ensured an informative experience for lawmakers.” Ultimately, the event had to be moved into the basement of the capitol, to ensure the safety of all participants. This highly anticipated event is co-sponsored by CRMCA, the Colorado/Wyoming chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association and the Colorado chapter of the American Concrete Pipe Association. For more information, contact Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org or Todd Ohlheiser at Todd@coloradocaa.org. NRMCA’s Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition offers producers national recognition for outstanding contributions in protecting the environment and maintaining sound management practices in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance measures and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. NRMCA member companies producing ready mixed concrete from a fixed plant location in the U.S., its territories or Canada are eligible to enter. Awards will be determined upon individual plant merits. Winning entrants will be honored at the Awards Ceremony at NRMCA‘s ConcreteWorks this October in Aurora, CO. Winners will also be featured in a 2022 edition of NRMCA’s Concrete InFocus magazine and Concrete Products magazine. Entries and photos must be e-mailed to gmullings@nrmca.org by Friday, July 22. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. Staff contacts are Gary Mullings and Kevin Walgenbach. 
Engineering
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has scheduled virtual workshop titled Fostering a Circular Economy and Carbon Sequestration for Construction Materials for Wednesday, June 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time. Industry leaders are increasingly turning to the concept of a circular economy to address a global need for reducing construction waste and reusing building materials. At the same time, stakeholder pressure is mounting to produce concrete that has lower embodied carbon or that consumes carbon in its manufacture. Join your industry colleagues for an informative workshop to identify measurement science needs that lead to standards development related to the circular economy of, and lower embodied carbon in, building materials with a focus on concrete. Measurement science is needed to underpin scientifically-sound standards for the broader use of recycled aggregate and cement in new concrete, and cement chemistries and construction methods that have a lower embodied carbon content and/or consume carbon. NIST sees potential strong synergies for both topics; hence the inclusion of them in this workshop. One of the concerns addressed is maintaining material durability while still achieving lower embodied carbon and greater product reuse. This viewpoint will guide the thinking of the workshop. The output of the workshop will be a report that identifies the needed measurement science to advance these changes. This report will guide NIST’s development of a research program in these areas by identifying priorities for near-term measurement science needs that will support standardization efforts. Click here to register and here to view the agenda; it is free to attend. NRMCA has released the Quality Control Guide for Ready Mixed Concrete Producers, an entry-level document that helps concrete producers establish their quality control policies and requirements. Specific information is provided on the scope of the quality control (QC) department, personnel training, and concrete and aggregate testing requirements. A sample QC plan which may be specified for certain projects as well as sample forms for various QC tasks are provided. All producers can benefit by reviewing this document. Click here for the quality control quide and here to view NRMCA's updated Resources for Quality webpage. For more information, contact Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org. 
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