 Last
week, construction professionals gathered in Denver for Greenbuild,
the annual trade show of the U.S. Green Building Council.
What should be the top priority for sustainable development
or green building?
Take the PCA Poll
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Phoenix-Award Winning Genzyme
Center Rises from Cement-Treated Brownfield Site
The Genzyme Center emerged as the poster
child of green building and cement-based stabilization/solidification
at last week's Brownfields 2006 Conference in Boston, Mass.
 The
LEED Platinum headquarters of the international biotech company
was built on the site of a former manufactured-gas facility.
As part of its redevelopment, the brownfield site was remediated
with in situ cement stabilization/solidification.
At the Brownfields 2006 conference, PCA and remediation designer
RETEC Group co-hosted a mobile workshop on the project consisting
of a bus trip to the site accompanied by a presentation on treating
80,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil.
The concrete Genzyme Center features
a green roof, solar panels, elaborate day-lighting provisions,
and water reclamation and conservation measures that earned
it LEED Platinum, the highest rating of the U.S. Green Building
Council.
The Kendal Square redevelopment, which included
Genzyme Center, was honored with The Phoenix Awards™ Grand
Prize at the conference. The 2006 Phoenix Awards winners represent
outstanding brownfield projects from each of the 10 EPA regions.
PCA and the Cement Association of Canada
staffed an exhibit at Brownfields 2006, which is sponsored by
the Environmental Protection Agency. This year's conference
attracted a record 6,000 people.
Contact
Chuck Wilk
More on the site cleanup
More
on the Genzyme Center
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Concrete
Solutions Offered at Greenbuild 2006
Last week PCA and several other industry concerns gathered
in Denver, Colo., for the Greenbuild International Conference
& Expo. Greenbuild sets the stage for thousands of green
building industry professionals to come together to learn
about the latest advancements in green building design, construction,
project financing, and building management.
Visitors to the PCA booth were able to tour www.ConcreteThinker.com.
The Web site is a clearinghouse of case studies, energy models,
and other tools to help design professionals make sustainable
development a reality. www.ConcreteThinker.com uses Sim City™
graphics to illustrate the great variety of concrete and cement-based
applications in sustainable design. The PCA booth acted as
host to the show's Concrete Solutions Pavilion, a gathering
of concrete and cement-based manufacturers and associations.
During the show, David Shepherd, PCA’s director of sustainable
development, met with several members of the media to discuss
concrete's advantages in sustainable design, including editors
from Architectural Record, Building Design and
Construction, and Concrete Construction.
Contact
David Shepherd
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Polished Concrete Floors Shine
at Greenbuild
A polished concrete
system was honored by BuildingGreen, Inc., at the Greenbuild
Conference last week. BuildingGreen, the publisher of the GreenSpec
Directory and Environmental Building News recognized
RetroPlate of Provo, Utah, for pioneering a process of grinding,
polishing, and chemically hardening (densifying) concrete. The
resultant concrete surface is highly durable, easy to maintain,
free of VOC emissions, and more reflective, all attributes that
contribute to sustainable design. Additionally, the system enables
the concrete slab to serve as the finished floor surface, thus
reducing material use.
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Holcim Launches
Envirocore at GreenBuild
Holcim launched the
Envirocore™ family of environmentally-friendly products
at Greenbuild International Conference & Expo last week
in Denver. Holcim also introduced a new Web site, www.envirocore.us,
a portal for sustainability, green building, and environmental
issues.
The Envirocore products are targeted to increase eco-efficiency
by producing goods and services using less energy and fewer
raw materials while generating less waste and pollution. The
line of blended cements is manufactured to meet applicable quality
requirements and may be used in many of the portland cement
concrete applications currently in use.
www.envirocore.us
highlights Holcim’s commitment to managing and reducing
its environmental footprint. The site also includes a LEED calculator
that allows visitors to track LEED points for a project, including
potential LEED credits utilizing Envirocore products and concrete
applications.
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 October
PPI: Asphalt, Steel Continue Climb
According to the October Producer Price Index (PPI), steel prices
rose 0.5% while asphalt prices climbed 0.3%. Concrete prices
were up 0.1%. Lumber posted a 4.5% decline to the lowest level
since June of 2003.
Asphalt prices are 30% higher than one year ago, and steel prices
are 20% higher. October marked the 14th consecutive monthly
increase for steel.
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.
More
information
Contact
Craig Schulz
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Driscoll Joins Concrete Home
Building Council
Catherine Driscoll is the new senior manager
of the Concrete Home Building Council, one of several building
systems councils of the National Association of Home Builders.
The Council provides NAHB membership access to technical, educational,
and training experts on concrete building systems and concrete
product applications. Members include PCA and 10 other national
trade associations involved in residential concrete.
Prior to joining the Concrete Home Building Council, Driscoll
served as meeting and conference manager for Amnesty International.
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Sulfate Resistance
of Concrete: A New Approach and Test: The objective
of this study was to critically review existing performance
specifications and test methods on sulfate attack, provide the
technical basis for improved performance standards, and provide
criteria for evaluation, selection, and use of concrete materials
for sulfate attack resistance (SN2486; PDF only; no charge).
More
information
Critical Trends in the North American Cement Industry:
A collaborative research project between PCA and Cement
Americas magazine, this survey polled representatives of
40 cement companies concerning trends in general business, maintenance,
labor, transportation, environmental, and automation. The supplement
appeared with the July/August 2006 edition of Cement Americas
magazine (PL082; $3.50, less discount).
More
information
Market Pulse Report: A monthly snapshot
of the economic, construction, and cement markets to assure
a more complete and accurate portrayal of the trends that are
unfolding on a state-by-state basis (ER360; PDF only; $600.00;
free to PCA members).
Contact Karen Arneson
U.S. and Canadian Tracking Report: Monthly
report tracks cement and construction activity compared to PCA's
projections.
Contact
Karen Arneson
Prevention of Progressive Collapse in Multistory Concrete Buildings:
Because of recent world events, engineers must consider the
prevention of progressive collapse in multistory building design.
The most prevalent design guidance is provided by two federal
agencies—the General Services Administration (GSA) and
the Department of Defense (DoD). This publication provides a
comprehensive discussion of these requirements along with several
complete illustrative examples. A variety of reinforced concrete
multistory structural systems are evaluated for resistance to
progressive collapse (LT196; $65.00, no discount).
More
information
Analysis of Revisions to the 2006 IBC Structural
Provisions: This publication provides an analysis
of the changes to the 2006 International Building Code (IBC)
structural provisions (Chapters 16 through 23) that were approved
by the ICC membership at the annual conferences in 2004 and
2005. The biggest difference in the 2006 IBC version is that
referenced standards have been updated to reflect the most current
standards, and there is an almost exclusive reliance on the
2005 edition of the ASCE 7 Standard Minimum Design Load for
Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-05) for prescribing structural
loading requirements (LT197; $40.00; no discount).
More
information
Specifications for Tolerances for Concrete Construction
and Materials and Commentary – ACI 117-06: This
document is intended to be used as the reference document for
establishing tolerances for concrete construction by specification
writers and ACI committees writing standards. The commentary
on the Specifications for Tolerances for Concrete Construction
and Materials (ACI 117) is intended to be used with ACI 117
for clarity of interpretation and insight into the intent of
the committee regarding the application of the tolerances set
forth therein (LT198; $75.50, no discount).
More
information
Performance-Based Design of Concrete Buildings for Wind Load
SP-240 VD: This CD-ROM contains six papers that
were presented at the technical session Performance Based Design
for Wind Loads held in San Francisco, Calif., in 2004. Topics
include an overview of performance-based design, the nature
of wind loading and wind tunnel testing, structural modeling
assumptions, components of lateral deformations in buildings,
and the types of concrete structural systems for wind loading
(LT199; $59.50, no discount).
More
information
Use of Waste Plastics as Fuel in Cement Production:
The use of waste materials such as tires, pet coke, and plastics
as secondary fuel in cement manufacture has demonstrated clear
environmental benefits. This annotated bibliography contains
references to journal articles, conference papers, reports,
and patents that focus on the technologies involved in utilization
of waste plastics. It is intended to help in developing a basic
understanding of the technical issues, and to provide a foundation
for those interested in further research (LB29; PDF only; $15.00;
free to PCA members).
More
information
Microcracking: A relatively new approach
to reduce the severity of cracking in a cement-treated base
(CTB) is explained in this eight-page pamphlet. Referred to
as microcracking, this approach is based on the concept that
a network of fine cracks will prevent the development of wider,
more severe cracks that are more likely to reflect up through
a flexible pavement surface. Microcracks are created in the
CTB through the application of several vibratory roller passes
after two to three days of curing. Even after this initial cracking,
the strength of the base recovers through continued cement hydration
(LT299; $7.50 for a pack of 25, no discounts; PDF is free).
More
information
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PCA's education and
training group will conduct the following courses at PCA's Skokie,
Ill., facility. Customized and off-site courses are also available.
For more information or to register, contact Julie
Lisiecki.
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Concrete:
Principles & Practices
February 12-15, 2007 |
Aggregates
and Chemical Admixtures for Use in Concrete
March 5-6, 2007 |
SCMs
and Ternary Blends in Concrete
March 7-8, 2007
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| Troubleshooting:
Solutions to Concrete Field Problems
March 19-21, 2007
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Mill
Grinding
March 19-21, 2007 |
Kiln
Process
March 26-29, 2007 |
Cement
and Concrete Overview
April 16-17, 2007
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Register
Free Online
Las Vegas, Nevada
Exhibits: January 23-26
Seminars: January 22-26
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National Concrete Masonry Association Annual
Convention
February 20-24, 2007
Orlando, Fla.
More
information
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Manufactured
Concrete Products Exposition
February 22-24, 2007
Orlando, Fla.
More
information
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Hardscape North
America
March 7-10, 2007
Nashville, Tenn.
More
Information |
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Executive Report is distributed free of charge to members
of PCA and to individuals interested in PCA activities or
the cement, concrete, and construction industries.
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View or download
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5420 Old Orchard Rd.
Skokie, Illinois 60077
847.966.6200 info@cement.org
500 New Jersey Ave. N.W.
7th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20001
202.408.9494 fax 202.408.0877 |
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©2006 Portland Cement Association
All rights reserved
The Portland Cement Association conducts market development,
research, education, and government affairs work on behalf
of
its members—cement companies in the United States and Canada.
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