The National Ready Mix Concrete Association has updated its industry average environmental impacts for concrete.
The aim is to provide product transparency within green building standards. The second version of the NRMCA Industry-Wide (IW) Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and Benchmark (Industry Average) Report discloses the environmental impacts of concrete manufacturing for a wide range of concrete products.
The updated document includes additional member companies, concrete plants, and concrete mixes. Similar to the original, the new NRMCA IW EPD lists impacts for concrete ranging compressive strengths from 2,500 psi through 8,000 psi, covering most concrete used in residential, commercial, and public construction.
A wide range of products are covered for each strength class; from 100% portland cement mixes to mixes with over 50% replacement with fly ash and slag cement. Lightweight concrete mix designs have also been added in the new version.
The IW EPD now includes 88 companies, 2,519 plants, and 72 mixes offering enhanced data for baselines and resulting in significant national coverage and production. LEED v4 includes a credit that encourages a project team to use building materials that have EPDs.
Related Stories
| May 17, 2012
New standard for Structural Insulated Panels under development
ASTM International and NTA, Inc. are developing a new standard for Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) that would create a path for U.S. manufacturers to meet the requirements of the Canadian building code.
| May 17, 2012
Webinar: ‘What Energy Codes and Standards Are Adopted Where and by Whom’
A June 12 webinar by the Construction Specifications Institute will outline what energy codes and standards have been adopted in each of the states for commercial buildings, and what is anticipated to be adopted in the future.
| May 17, 2012
California Governor orders new green standards on state buildings
California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order recently that calls for all new or renovated state buildings of more than 10,000 sf to achieve LEED Silver or higher and incorporate clean, onsite power generation.
| May 17, 2012
New Zealand stadium roof collapse blamed on snow, construction defects
Heavy snowfall, construction defects, and design problems contributed to the collapse of the Stadium Southland roof in New Zealand in September 2010, a report has found.
| May 17, 2012
OSHA launches fall prevention campaign
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently launched an educational campaign to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry.
| May 15, 2012
Suffolk selected for Rosenwald Elementary modernization project
The 314-student station elementary school will undergo extensive modernization.
| May 10, 2012
Chapter 6 Energy Codes + Reconstructed Buildings: 2012 and Beyond
Our experts analyze the next generation of energy and green building codes and how they impact reconstruction.
| May 10, 2012
Resilience should be considered a sustainability factor
Since a sustainable building is one you don't have to rebuild, some building sustainability experts believe adding points for "resilience" to storms and earthquakes to the LEED sustainability rating tool makes sense.
