Sustained Effort

After a year of review and a pilot program trial, the RMC (Ready Mixed Concrete) Research & Education Foundation, Silver Spring, Md., has unveiled its Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines.

Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines Version 1.0 includes calculators and checklists designed “to assist ready mixed concrete producers in making their plant operations as sustainable as possible,” says the Foundation in a news release announcing the guidelines.

The release of the guidelines coincides with the development of a Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification program offered through the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), which is also based in Silver Spring.
 

RAISING THE VOLUME
“Never before has there been a louder call for the development and implementation of sustainable practices in all sectors of business, including the construction industry,” says Foundation Chairman Scott W. Parson, President of Oldcastle Materials Mountain West Division.

“With the release of Version 1.0 of the Guidelines, the Foundation continues its leadership in providing specific tools and practical guidance for all concrete producers to become even better environmental stewards,” adds Parson.

RMC staff member Cris Argeles worked with Miranda Intrator of West Main Consultants LLC, Kutztown, Pa., and with independent consultants William Twitty and Mike Armor to prepare the guidelines.

The process was managed by the NRMCA, which conducted a survey of its members and also called upon a team comprised of some of its members to review the guidelines.

Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines Version 1.0 includes a section on sourcing recycled aggregates, and the Guidelines have the endorsement of Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) executive director William Turley.

“They’ve been very supportive of recycling for a long time,” Turley says of the NRMCA. “I have seen the ready mixed industry get more involved in recycling for a lot of reasons. A lot of [NRMCA] members are getting into the recycled aggregates business themselves.”

Makers of ready mixed concrete are among the many building products suppliers who have been paying more attention to recycling in the past several years, says Turley. “I’m not surprised to see them take this tack. I’m seeing that a lot of manufacturers of building materials are becoming more interested in recycling as their foremost disposal option. The asphalt shingle producers, for instance, have been terrific.”
 

POINTS OF SALE
Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines Version 1.0 includes as its first section one titled “Material Acquisition.”

The section’s authors begin by noting, “Environmental impacts of the material acquisition life cycle phase are primarily the result of resource extraction, processing, and transportation.”

Each of these impacts can be reduced with the use of recycled materials, the Guidelines note. “Over half of the embodied energy of concrete production is from raw materials extraction, processing, and transport to the plant. Plants have the opportunity to improve environmental performance by making material purchasing decisions based on a number of factors, including recycled content.”

The section next assigns credits and points (related to a plant’s sustainability certification) for certain activities, including several with recycling aspects:

Credit 1.1 for the use of recycled aggregate states, “[the] use of recycled materials reduces the use of virgin materials, which in turn reduces environmental burdens from quarrying and manufacturing. Where recycled material is reclaimed from plant processes or incorporated in component material manufacturing, environmental impacts of associated transportation are also avoided.”

Thus, the RMC Foundation Guidelines urge NRMCA members, “Rather than purchasing only virgin aggregate, which must be quarried, consider the use of reclaimed concrete, construction and demolition debris, and other recycled materials to supplement virgin aggregate in concrete batching.”

Additional details in the section refer to an earlier RMC Foundation document on the use of crushed returned concrete aggregate (CCA), made from material that results from ongoing ready mixed producer operations. “An excellent resource investigating the use of CCA is ‘Crushed Returned Concrete as Aggregates for New Concrete,’ available on the NRMCA and RMC Research & Education Foundation websites (www.rmc-foundation.org).”

Beyond this material, the Guidelines note, “Recycled aggregate can also be obtained from demolition work on the same job site, for example when replacing sections of highway.”

For concrete producers who remain concerned that recycling equates to higher operating costs, the Guidelines authors write, “Recycled aggregate is generally less expensive than natural aggregate, dependent on size and composition, making recycled aggregate a financially beneficial alternative to virgin aggregate. Utilizing returned concrete from the plant will further reduce costs by eliminating disposal fees. Recycled concrete aggregate is approximately 10-to-15 percent lighter than comparable virgin quarry materials, and may therefore reduce energy/transportation costs.”
 

MORE TO CONSIDER
Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines Version 1.0 sections titled “Materials Transportation” and “Greening the Supply Chain” also tie in to aspects of the recycling market, such as using recycled materials that have been produced on site or very near a job site.

A later section of the Guidelines, Section 5, covers “Material Reuse and Recycling,” defined as “how to handle materials in the final life cycle stage.”

As in Section 1, the Guidelines authors stress not only the sustainability aspects of recycling but also the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of it. Those seeking sustainability certification can earn more points with other recycling initiatives at their plant locations, “including paper, glass, plastics, aluminum cans, cardboard [and] miscellaneous construction debris,” note the authors.

The Guidelines document and related calculators and checklists are available for download from the Foundation’s website at www.rmc-foundation.org or can be sent by request on a CD.

Additional information about the NRMCA Certification can be found at www.nrmca.org.