New Content Bolsters Concrete Promoters' Resource Center

 

The Concrete Promoters' Resource Center (ConcretePromotion.org) was recently launched to assist industry promoters in creating broader awareness of the benefits of concrete through shared knowledge, enhanced communication and access to the best tools. In the past month content added to the site includes:      

w  From Matt Offenberg, Southeast U.S. technical services manager for Grace and ACI-522

    Committee chair: Getting Pervious in Your Land Development Code (PowerPoint presentation).

    Click here. 

 

w  From Erin Ashley of NRMCA: Using Pervious Concrete to Achieve LEED Points. Click here.

 

w  From Ken Justice of NECSA: Pervious photos. Click here.

 

w  From Bernie Cawley of the Michigan Concrete Association: Pervious Concrete... A Solution for

    Michigan (PDF). Click here.

 

w  From Jason Wimberly of the Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association: Parking Lot Promotion

    Initiative Documents. Click here.

 

w  Success stories have been submitted to the success database by Matthew Dulle of the Concrete

    Council of St. Louis and Vic Smith of Tarmac America. Click here.

 

w  Pervious projects have been submitted to the pervious project database by the Tennessee

    Concrete Association. Click here.

 

 

 

Professional Promoters Workshop's 2008 Lineup is More Interactive Than Ever

 

The Professional Promoters Workshop will be presented by ASCC, ACPA, CRSI, NCMA, NRMCA, PCA and PCI on May 5-7 in Schaumburg, IL. The event will cover a broad range of topics, including sustainability, paving, pervious concrete, local codes, funding, economic outlook, strategic planning and local government affairs. The event will be more interactive than ever through expanded use of "What Works" presentations, roundtables and concurrent sessions.

 

For more information, click here.

 

 

 

Concrete Alternative Withdrawn from Wal-Mart Spec

 

NRMCA South Central Senior National Resource Director Vance Pool reports that Wal-Mart is removing the concrete alternate from bids on new projects which has been in place since October 2006. Reasons cited include a lack of competitive numbers on many projects as well as bid errors which complicated its bidding process. Pool reports in many cases contractors who were not accustomed to using concrete for parking areas would submit extremely high numbers or no concrete bid at all.

 

Rebuilding this opportunity will be an NRMCA objective that will require refining and improving processes with regional and local concrete promoters around the country and a more proactive approach during local bidding of projects. In the meantime, Wal-Mart continues to evaluate concrete for white-topping; has completed four tilt-up test projects and has 18 pervious projects completed or underway.

 

For more information, contact Vance Pool at vpool@nrmca.org.

 

 

 

New Brochure Details Concrete's Contribution to Sustainable Development

 

This attractive and informative 4-page 8.5"x11" promotion brochure details concrete's many advantages in regards to sustainable development, with comprehensive technical information, charts and photos. The brochure is designed to inform specifiers, engineers, architects, contractors and their clients about the important contributions that concrete offers to support sustainable development. You may review the entire brochure by opening this PDF file.

 

NRMCA's lowest promotion brochure introductory prices ever, as low as $0.25 per brochure, are in effect through March 28. Learn more, order now and make these brochures a part of every promotion and sales call.

 

 

To order, you may also contact NRMCA's Jacques Jenkins at 1-888-846-7622, ext. 1165 or by e-mail, jjenkins@nrmca.org.

 

 

 

PCA-RPG Alignment Moves Forward

 

Earlier this month, the Portland Cement Association's (PCA) Executive Committee unanimously endorsed a proposal to integrate the Regional Promotion Groups (RPGs) into the management and organizational structure of PCA. The goal is to maximize member company investments in industry associations at both the national and regional levels. Integrating PCA and the RPGs will better align national and regional programs in promotion and advocacy while maintaining the autonomy of independent RPGs in setting dues and budgets. The move will also result in more efficient operations by centralizing administrative functions under PCA.

 

Last week, key PCA staff members met with the executive directors of all 10 RPGs to discuss the integration and clarify what the integration would mean for both the RPGs and PCA and to identify logistical issues. Currently, the 10 RPGs are independent from PCA but operate under a cooperative agreement that defines the roles and responsibilities of each group. Legal, administrative and operational issues will be addressed at PCA's spring committee and Board of Directors meeting, scheduled for April 28-30 in Chicago.

 

Source: PCA's Executive Report electronic newsletter

 

 

 

Buildings Under Design Renewed for Another Year

 

NRMCA has renewed its agreement with Buildings Under Design (BUD) for another year. There is currently a waiting list of new state affiliate members that would like to secure one of the 50 NRMCA usernames, but they will have to wait until current users have the first chance to renew for another year. Please let us know of your intent to renew by responding to NRMCA's Michelle Barringer at mbarringer@nrmca.org by Tuesday, April 1. The cost is $50 per year payable at the time of renewal. Those slots not renewed by April 1 will be made available to those on the waiting list on April 2. 

 

NRMCA state affiliate members on the waiting list will then have the opportunity to obtain the remaining usernames. They will be contacted via e-mail and have until April 15 to respond. A Webinar will be scheduled in May for new users and anyone desiring a refresher course, states NRMCA BUD liaison and Midwest National Resource Director Jon Hansen.

 

NRMCA also would like to hear from current users about your experiences using BUD during the past year. Testimonials, success stories, etc. will be featured on the NRMCA and Buildings Under Design Web sites. Let us know what works, what doesn't and your impressions - we want to hear from you.

 

For more information, contact Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org.

 

 

 

New York City Sees Pervious as Key to Stormwater Plan

 

A contact made through NRMCA's Web site has helped New York City officials realize the benefits of pervious concrete in the city's stormwater management plan, reports NRMCA's Mid-Atlantic Senior National Resource Director Phil Kresge. The development began when Daniel Simon, a LEED accredited professional working in New York City with the Gaia Institute and the Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.) Coalition, wanted to learn more about pervious concrete and contacted the NRMCA through the free project planning and assistance feature of the NRMCA Web site. After speaking with Kresge and New York City Concrete Promotion Council Executive Director Carmine Attanasio, Simon invited them to attend a S.W.I.M. Coalition meeting at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) offices.

 

Representatives of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office were also in attendance at the meeting, where Kresge made a brief, but informative, presentation on pervious concrete. NRDC and SWIM members used the opportunity to persuade city officials to adopt legislation that would encourage the inclusion of green roofs and pervious pavements in future development and redevelopment. Late last month, Simon's efforts began paying dividends when the City Council passed legislation to tackle the sewage overflow problem in the city's overburdened sewer system. The legislation advances the implementation of green design elements, which mimic nature's own filtering systems, into existing streets, parks, and other public spaces and into existing and new development projects. 

 

Source: Information above was taken in part from the Natural Resources Defense Council newsletter. For detailed information, view the full text of the legislation (Intro. 630) on the New York City Council website. Phil Kresge may also be reached at pkresge@nrmca.org.

 

 

 

California Nevada Cement Association to Receive ACI Award

 

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) will honor the California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) with its Distinguished Achievement Award at the opening ceremonies of the ACI Spring 2008 Convention in Los Angeles. The award is given to nonmembers who have made notable contributions to the advancement of the concrete industry. During the past two decades, CNCA has been dedicated to expanding the use of portland cement-based products throughout California and Nevada. CNCA has also been committed to providing educational programs and technical assistance to equip decision makers with the right tools and knowledge to design and construct projects of quality.

 

Furthermore, the organization successfully obtained amendments to the International Building Code (IBC) in California to protect life safety and market share of noncombustible building materials. ACI applauded CNCA for delving "into political activity to protect and improve the health of the cement and concrete industries in California and Nevada relative to climate change, building codes, urban heat island effect, stormwater management, and funding for infrastructure, highways, and water resources."

 

Source: PCA's Executive Report electronic newsletter

 

 

 

Concrete Work Highlights I-35W Bridge Progress

 

Work is well underway on the new I-35W bridge in Minneapolis to replace the structure that collapsed last August. The new structure, following the primary theme of "Arches, Water, Reflection," consists of two white concrete bridges that span the river - one for each direction of traffic. Each side will have five lanes for a total of 10 lanes of traffic and a combined bridge width of 189 feet. The previous bridge had eight lanes of traffic and was about 80 feet narrower.

 

The signature bridge will include lighting and landscaping that will paint a modern archway over the Mississippi and respect the area's surroundings, history and nearby architecture, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Web site. The retaining walls at the bridge's abutment with the land will be made of native stone. The curved supports will frame the Mississippi River below. The new bridge includes several structural enhancements, including the use of high-performance concrete to provide superior durability and multiple levels of structural redundancy. In addition, the 100-year bridge will be economical to maintain as concrete also has lower maintenance costs than other materials.

 

Work on the bridge reached a milestone last week when crews poured concrete for the first precast segment for the bridge's main span. It's the first of 120 segments that will be built and assembled to form the 504-foot main northbound and southbound spans of the bridge. More than 48,700 cubic yards of ready mixed concrete will be used for the project. The bridge is expected to be re-opened to traffic in December 2008.

 

Source: PCA's Executive Report electronic newsletter

 

 

 

Grim Residential Outlook Expected to Drag Down Cement Consumption

 

Already-grim conditions facing the residential construction market are expected to worsen in 2008, according to a recent PCA Economic Research report. High home inventories, in part due to the large number of foreclosures caused by the sub-prime crisis, will cause housing starts to decline 25% in 2008 from already depressed 2007 levels. Given that residential construction normally accounts for 30% of annual cement consumption, this sector will continue to have a significant drag on overall cement consumption.

 

Source: PCA's Executive Report electronic newsletter

 

 

 

January PPI: Steel, Asphalt Prices on Rise

 

 

Steel prices rose 1.3% from December to January while asphalt gained 1.9% in the same period, according to the January 2008 Producer Price Index (PPI). Concrete prices increased only 0.6% for the month. Lumber prices declined for the sixth consecutive month, dropping 2.0%.

 

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The information is provided by PCA to aid in the promotion of concrete and cement-based products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anecdote of the Month

 

This month's anecdote demonstrates the power of collaborative networking and the advantage of having a useful name to "drop" in developing new promotion relationships.

 

NRMCA established a tentative relationship with national account target CVS some time ago but the trail eventually went cold. The following is taken from an e-mail of NRMCA Northeast National Resource Director Doug O'Neill, in response to a question about what transpired that enabled him to re-establish the relationship.

 

It was originally started by Pat Reardon (executive director of the Northeast Cement Shipper's Association) calling a dinner meeting to go over the National Account program with several promoters in the New England region. Mike Buckley from Lehigh Cement overheard me complaining about not getting anywhere with CVS and asked me to call him the following week because he might have an IN which I might be able to use... He put me in touch with Bob Pesce of Consolidated Concrete in Rhode Island, who gave me the name and phone number of the head of construction for CVS. They were old buddies...

 

Turned out to be the guys home number, I called and he was in the shower, his wife knew Bob and after my apologies for calling at home she said no problem, call back in 10 minutes... I called back and her husband put me in touch with my current contact at CVS, who was glad to talk to me because the CVS construction head suggested she do so....