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Association & Industry News
The Spring 2024 edition of NRMCA's quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus, is now available online. The issue begins with a column from President Mike Philipps on how NRMCA has moved more desisively toward a member-focused trade association. The magazine also once again features its four regular columns, Build With Strength, Cement Side, Enviroscene and Pave Ahead. There is also a full length feature article under the Innovations in Pavement heading that details public sector opportunities for concrete paving; two topics under the monthly Think First safety series; an update from Senior Director, Membership Engagement, Amanda Muller and, finally, an Associate Member Spotlight by Command Alkon. To receive the magazine digitally or in print, please contact Amanda Muller at amuller@nrmca.org. To discuss editorial submissions, contact Frank Cavaliere at fcavaliere@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
NRMCA’s team of Gregg Lewis, Michael Wymant and Patrick Matsche represented Build With Strength at the 2024 Habitat for Humanity International’s Affiliates Conference held recently in Atlanta. The theme for this year, WE BUILD. WE INFLUENCE. TOGETHER, drew more than 2,800 attendees and over 100 exhibitors. Multiple engaging plenary discussions, workshops and networking opportunities focused on these themes, each with calls to action. (Seen here is Habitat's Kirsten Brewer flanked by Matsche at left and Wymant on the right.) "It was great to see Kirsten Brewster and Frank Wrenn, along with our many friends we have worked closely with since the inception of the program," said Matsche, a senior director, building innovations, for Build With Strength. "We’re still looking for affiliates in Hawaii, New Jersey, Nevada, Florida and New Hampshire to reach our initial goal of at least one concrete home in each of the 50 states." To date, NRMCA/Build With Strength has completed 80 homes in 34 states; another 11 homes in 11 states are scheduled for this year. As part of the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes sustainable concrete solutions for buildings. Sustainable construction, led by a focus on resiliency, is driving new construction techniques. For more information, please refer to www.buildwithstrength.com or contact Michael Wymant at mwymant@nrmca.org/850-818-2057 or Patrick Matsche at pmatsche@nrmca.org/415-672-5275.
 Last week, NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Frank Mruk (shown here) presented Decarbonizing Concrete Now: Notes from the Field at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Spring 2024 Conference. The conference theme was titled Decarbonizing Construction: From Material Production to Preservative Adaptive Reuse. The construction industry is a significant emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), from the production of materials to the heating, cooling and maintenance of existing buildings and infrastructure. To achieve emission reduction targets by 2050, new low carbon technologies, innovations and tools are needed to support further advancements in the construction sector. The 3-day conference featured over 60 speakers from varioius backgrounds at the forefront of sustainability; keynote speakers included Dr. Trevor Nightingale, associate vice president of engineering at the National Research Council; 2024 AIA Gold Medal winners David Lake, FAIA and Ted Flato, FAIA; and Illya Azaroff, FAIA. The Build With Strength program is a leader in supporting architects and the architectural profession with new innovations and technology. For more information, contact Frank Mruk at fmruk@nrmca.org. 
NRMCA is sponsoring a webinar through Sustainable Minds to introduce 'Example Product' Health Product Declarations (HPDs) for all strength categories reported in the Ready Mixed Concrete industry-average (IA) EPD. Now concrete producers can publish product-specific EPDs and HPDs for each strength category and contribute to both types of green building rating system credits. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time. Register here. For more information, contact Matthew Lemay at mlemay@nrmca.org.
Build With Strength and the Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association (CRMCA) will host a symposium titled Executing Low Carbon Concrete on April 23 at the Sheraton Hotel, Denver Tech Center, 7007 S. Clinton Street in Greenwood Village, CO. NRMCA’s Building and Innovations Team and CRMCA will discuss executing low carbon concrete projects; Colorado is a leader in sustainable building, moving forward with aggressive and cutting edge strategies to lower the embodied carbon of concrete projects. Panelists will discuss evolving codes and standards around green construction requirements along with hearing from local ready mixed concrete and cement producers as they discuss the challenges in creating LCC mix designs and opportunities in measuring success thru EPDs and hitting carbon goals. Leading structural engineers and contractors will share their experiences and discuss successes and failures in achieving low carbon concrete across multiple projects in the region. The event will close with an open forum discussing best practices and deconstructing the day. As part of the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes sustainable concrete solutions for buildings. Sustainable construction, led by a focus on resiliency, is driving new construction techniques. For additional information, please go to www.buildwithstrength.com. Click here for more detailed information. The flyer also contains a link to register. You may also contact Patrick Matsche at pmatsche@nrmca.org or 415-672-5275 or CRMCA's Emma Dolan at emma@coloradocaa.org or 303-290-0303. Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. March 26 - 28, Denver *Sold Out April 9 - 12, Omaha, NE *Sold Out April 16 - 18, Nashville, TN April 22 - 23, Los Angeles April 23 - 25, Orlando, FL *Sold Out April 30 - May 2, Mendota Heights, MN *Sold Out April 30 - May 2, Waldorf, MD May 8 - 10, Milwaukee September 9 - 13, Baltimore September 10 - 12, Sacramento, CA October 10 - 14, Aurora, CO October 15 - 18, Denver December 3 - 5, Orlando, FL December 10 - 13, Charleston, SC December 10 - 12, Denver 
Pavement
NRMCA was well represented at a recent Maryland concrete conference held near Baltimore in Anne Arundel, MD, reports Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge. Both the Build With Strength and Pave Ahead teams co-sponsored the event, along with the Maryland Department of Transportation/State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Maryland Ready Mixed Concrete Association (MRMCA). NRMCA’s tabletop display highlighted the Pave Ahead and Build With Strength design centers along with collateral material on concrete concrete roundabouts and concrete overlays for intersections. Kresge presented Concrete Costs Relative to Other Building Materials: A Ten-Year History where he featured statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, Engineering News-Record and NRMCA’s Industry Data Survey. He also moderated sessions on Fiber Reinforced Concrete and Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC). This year’s conference also included the first Maryland Women in Concrete Forum which included Julie Garbini, president of the Concrete Advancement Foundation, and Tiffany Reed-Villarreal, NRMCA director of sustainability standards and codes. For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org. 
The Cement Council of Texas is hosting an Industrial and Non-traditional Pavements workshop in Houston on Wednesday, May 8. Earn PDHs at this free event while learning about parking lot design, jointing, overlays, Portland Limestone Cement and roller compacted concrete along with other relevant topics. The course is intended for civil and geotechnical engineers, architects, landscape architects, public works officials and others who design parking lots and similar hardscaping. Contractors, product suppliers and land developers will also benefit from this seminar. Registration is limited so register now. Click here for more information or contact Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org. 
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