Industry news

// Legislation & regulations

Michigan DEQ approves shingles, plastics for use at cement kilns

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has given the approval for LaFarge North America, a cement producer based in Chicago, to use scrap plastics and asphalt shingles at its cement kilns in Alpena, Michigan.

LaFarge had requested to be allowed to burn additional fuels in the company’s existing five cement kilns it operates at on site. Prior to receiving approval to use plastics and shingles as a fuel, the company had used coal, petroleum coke, clean wood and nonchlorinated, nonhalogenated polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) as fuel.

In its application, Lafarge said it could use nearly 140,000 tons of plastics per year, more than 82,000 tons of wood and 54,673 tons of shingles as a replacement fuel for the coal and coke.

Lafarge was issued a permit to install (PTI) in 2012 to allow for a trial burn of shingles in the kilns. The PTI required Lafarge to conduct stack testing for emissions of concern from the combustion of shingles. Emission testing demonstrated the emissions were less than what Lafarge had originally estimated, according to the MDEQ.

Following analyses conducted by the MDEQ’s, Air Quality Division (AQD), staff concluded that the proposed project would comply with all applicable federal air quality requirements and with all of the MDEQ, AQD regulations.

The staff also concluded that the project, as proposed, would not violate the federal policies.

 

// Company news

PVT Land Co. to turn C&D debris into renewable fuel

PVT Land Co., a landfill based in Nanakuli, Hawaii, has dedicated a new reclamation and recycling system for construction demolition (C&D) debris. The system, designed and installed by San Diego-based CP Group, was introduced to state and city dignitaries and community leaders during a ceremony Nov. 19, 2014.

Each day, roughly 1,775 tons of debris enters the 135-acre facility. Up to 80 percent is recycled, with more than 50 percent of the debris now being converted into feedstock for future use in renewable energy production. Instead of being buried in the landfill, the debris is being transformed into a renewable fuel that can be burned to create steam to drive turbines in some of Oahu’s power plants or in a manufacturing process that burns the feedstock to produce synthetic natural gas, which would be used to power generators to produce electricity for Hawaiian Electric Co. to distribute through its power grid.

“Today marks an important step in our evolution from a landfill to a world-class integrated waste management facility for construction and demolition materials to one of the top recycling operations of its kind in the nation,” says PVT President Albert Shigemura.

Operating at full capacity, the PVT recycling system can process up to 900 tons of feedstock per day. When converted through gasification, that much feedstock would fuel the production of enough energy to power 12,000 homes.

In addition to the debris that is transformed into feedstock, the majority of the remaining 50 percent of materials entering the PVT facility also are recycled, including 42 tons of metals every day. As a result, less than 20 percent of the debris brought to the landfill is actually buried there, the company says.

The PVT Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility is Oahu’s only C&D landfill, and the only location on Oahu where debris from construction projects, storms and other sources can be disposed of safely and securely, says PVT.

PVT says it is committed to creating a more sustainable Hawaii. To that end, Shigemura and his management team are supporting architects and contractors that want to become LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council by salvaging, reusing and recycling debris that they bring to the facility.

Industry best practices extend to all aspects of the facility’s operations and infrastructure, including $3.5 million spent on dust mitigation, a high-capacity storm water management system, rated to withstand a 100-year storm, and a network of paved roads with drainage ports that prevent erosion and manage water runoff.

A video of the PVT facility is available at www.CDRecycler.com/pvt-land-rew-cdr-opening.aspx.

// Green building

USGBC announces extension of LEED 2009

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced it will allow Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) users to register projects under the LEED 2009 rating system until Oct. 31, 2016. The original date for LEED 2009 registration to close was June 15, 2015. Extending to October 2016 gives LEED users and members of the green building industry additional time to prepare for LEED v4, the latest version of LEED, which features increased rigor and multiple updates, the USGBC says in a press release.

“When USGBC launched LEED v4 last year, we set out with one goal in mind – to raise the bar in a way that challenges the building industry to reach higher than ever before. This is our nature and USGBC and its members’ collective mission,” says Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “However, the market has requested additional time to prepare for LEED v4, so we are responding.”

In a survey conducted at the Greenbuild Conference, 61 percent of respondents said they are “not ready” or “unsure” if they are ready to pursue LEED v4 and require additional time to prepare. Extending LEED 2009’s availability enables USGBC to work with the broader industry within a longer time frame to drive meaningful and comprehensive change.

“Our international LEED users, which account for some 50 percent of new LEED registrations, have also indicated they would like to have more time to move onto the new rating system,” Fedrizzi notes. “This extension will be especially helpful to them.”

LEED v4 has been in the market for nearly one year and will remain available for those who are ready to pursue certification to its standards.

“LEED v4 wasn’t designed to be easy. It is the next generation of green building, and we are confident the market will meet us there as they have in years past,” adds Fedrizzi. “When USGBC first pilot tested LEED in 1998, there weren’t many buildings that could qualify for LEED certification at the Platinum level. Now, more than 1,000 buildings have achieved it. With LEED, we have a responsibility to set a high bar and we know that many leaders are capable of reaching it, presently or in the very near future. We want to support our LEED users as they move the market forward with us, and allowing them to utilize the LEED 2009 rating system for a little longer will help facilitate that.”

LEED has facilitated advances in building technologies, integrated design and operating practices. The green building certification also is largely responsible for the explosive growth of the green building sector, which supports or creates 7.9 million jobs across all 50 states and contributes $554 billion to the U.S. economy annually, according to USGBC.

 

// Company news

Illinois C&D recycling center to begin construction

Henson Disposal, which operates a construction and demolition (C&D) recycling facility in Bloomington, Illinois, has received approval to construct a second C&D recycling facility in Urbana, Illinois.

According to a report in The Daily Illini, the company will soon begin construction on a 40,000-square-foot facility. The company will share the property with Southwind RAS, a Bartlett, Illinois-based shingle recycling company. Southwind RAS received permit approval to build a recycling plant from the city of Urbana in December 2013.

According to the newspaper article, Henson Disposal co-owner Tom Kirk was interested in the Champaign-Urbana area because it is not currently being served by a C&D recycler or a local landfill. C&D debris was being hauled outside of the area.

During construction of the Urbana facility, Henson will haul debris from Urbana to its Bloomington site to be recycled. The company recycles wood, plastic, vinyl siding, paper, concrete, aggregates, metals and roofing shingles and may begin recycling drywall in the future, the article states.

 

// Demolition projects

San Francisco Bay Bridge project delayed

Four potential bidders on the $270 million San Francisco Bay Bridge project each asked for more time to study the structure and its surroundings. In response, Caltrans pushed back the bid deadline from November 2014 to February 2015.

Work on an initial phase of the bridge’s dismantling has already begun. The phase currently up for bid involves dismantling the deck, support beams, steel trusses and upper piers on most of the length of the bridge.

Among the considerations for contractors are state and federal wildlife rules calling for the winning bidder to prevent birds from nesting in the portion to be demolished. The preventive steps to be taken during the two-and-a-half year project are likely to add to the costs of the project, according to officials quoted in a Contra Costa Times article.

The Bay Bridge has two sections, one that connects downtown San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island and another that connects the island to Oakland. The original structure was badly damaged in the 1989 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake, with a new span completed in September 2013.

 

// Personnel activity

NDA appoints Cheryl Caulfield as executive director

The National Demolition Association (NDA), Washington, has announced Cheryl Caulfield has joined the association as executive director. Caulfield will work directly with NDA leaders and volunteers to help guide and execute on the organization’s strategic initiatives, programs and policies.

Caulfield is replacing NDA Executive Director Michael R. Taylor who retired from the association at the end of 2014 after 25 years of service.

Caulfield has more than 20 years of association experience, including a mix of advocacy, member education, membership development, financial management and meetings management experience. She spent a number of years working for building and real estate associations, including several years at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), where she was both a senior vice president for government affairs and vice president for the NAHB Builder 20 Clubs.

“The board of directors is excited to begin working with Cheryl,” says NDA President Jeff Kroeker of Kroeker Inc. in Fresno, California. “Her proven abilities in advocacy, membership development and member education will be incredible assets to NDA. We’re thrilled to have a leader of this caliber helping to define the future of the demolition industry. I would also like to thank Mike Taylor for his commitment to the success of the NDA and our members over the past quarter century.”

Caulfield also has served as president/CEO of the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA). Working with both global and domestic manufacturing CEOs, she was responsible for the management of ABMA and implemented the organization’s strategic initiatives and global anticounterfeiting programs, education, ANSI standards development and industry relations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Old Dominion University, a Certified Association Executive designation from American Society of Association Executives and a Certified Institute Organization Management designation from the United States Chamber of Commerce.

In related news, the NDA board of directors announced in October 2014 it had chosen SmithBucklin Corp., with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., as its new management company.

“As part of our strategic planning efforts, the National Demolition Association board of directors is looking to the future and has been exploring management options to best support us as we continue to evolve and grow. We are committed to increasing membership, enhancing our products and services and increasing our profile in the demolition community,” Kroeker says.

SmithBucklin is an association management and professional services company that services more than 320 professional societies, trade associations and other nonprofit organizations. “This will provide us access to staff members who are familiar and comfortable with our type of industry and field, and who have developed and implemented successful strategies for other not-for-profit organizations,” continues Kroeker.

 

// Demolition activity

Never-occupied Las Vegas casino to be demolished

A 26-story hotel on the Las Vegas strip, which never opened, has been slated for demolition. The Harmon Hotel was part of the $8.5 billion CityCenter project. While that retail, hotel and restaurant complex opened in 2009, the Harmon Hotel was plagued by construction issues. After years of legal troubles in which co-owner MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas, argued the building could collapse in a major earthquake, a judge granted permission for the tower to be taken down.

Due to the hotel’s proximity to other buildings, it will not be brought down using explosives, rather a floor-by-floor demolition from the top down will be executed.

 

// Demolition projects

New Jersey city seeks demolition bids

The mayor of Camden, New Jersey, has put out bids to demolish 64 abandoned properties and says it is a first step toward her goal of demolishing a total of 598 targeted buildings.

Mayor Dana L. Redd has announced that the city of Camden is currently advertising for bids from contractors willing to demolish the 64 properties, 61 of which are in the Whitman Park neighborhood.

According to a news release issued by the mayor’s office, the bid is for “Phase I of a major demolition initiative that will ultimately seek to demolish a total of 598 abandoned buildings throughout all of Camden’s neighborhoods. Phase II will be a bid for contract work to demolish the remaining 534 abandoned properties.”

Phase I of the demolition initiative will be funded through Community Development Block Grant and Economic Recovery Board funds.

The advertised bid is not to exceed $970,000.

 

// Project development

GBB assisting Maryland county with public-private partnership procurement

Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB), a Fairfax, Virginia-based consulting firm, announced it has been tasked by Prince George’s County, Maryland, to assist with a procurement activity for a waste processing and alternative energy facility public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure. This effort is part of the county’s ongoing efforts to plan for its future solid waste management system as its primary in-county disposal location, Brown Station Road Sanitary Landfill in Upper Marlboro, reaches its scheduled closing date in 2020.

The county’s Office of Central Services has issued a Request for Qualifications (available at http://pgebid.co.pg.md.us/ebid), which aims at evaluating alternative waste processing and recovery technologies and services that will be implemented as one or more PPP to ensure a long-term, comprehensive, environmentally acceptable, economic and sustainable solid waste management system for the county by providing one or more facilities to convert nonrecyclable municipal solid waste (MSW), organics, biosolids and C&D debris to recover recyclable materials and to produce solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, steam and/or power.

“This is an exciting time for Prince George’s County,” says Adam Ortiz, director of the Department of the Environment for Prince George’s County. “We look forward to reviewing the best technologies to help us divert waste from the landfill and recover this valuable resource for renewable energy.”

Prince George’s County’s solid waste system provides an array of programs, services and facilities that together make up a fully integrated system that has been generally self-sufficient to meet the needs of county residences, businesses and institutions.

In 2010, Prince George’s County landfilled approximately 350,000 tons of MSW at its Brown Station landfill, which is forecast to reach its permitted capacity in 2020. The reported recycling rate was approximately 43 percent in calendar year 2009, which exceeds the goal of 40 percent set by the Maryland Recycling Network.

 

// Legislation & regulations

AF&PA releases statement on EPA’s reconsidered Boiler MACT rule

Donna Harman, president and CEO of the Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), has issued a statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) release of its reconsidered Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule.

“We’re encouraged that EPA has finally put forth this important proposal clarifying several areas of uncertainty that remain with Boiler MACT implementation and the associated capital investments,” Harmon writes. “While we have not yet studied the proposal details, we are pleased that it intends to address the challenges of appropriate standards during startup, shutdown and malfunction and several outstanding technical issues.”

She continues, “We generally support the core aspects of the final rules; however, unexpected delays have perpetuated an atmosphere of uncertainty, and companies are understandably hesitant to invest millions of dollars that could become stranded if the rules change in the home stretch. With this in mind, it’s only fair that EPA [delay] the January 2016 compliance deadline until these reconsidered rules are finalized so that companies can make investment decisions that will help them meet the final standards.”

The reconsideration, which the EPA released Dec. 1, 2014, affects air toxic standards that limit air pollutant emissions from major industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and process heaters and area industrial, commercial and institutional boilers; and commercial and industrial solid waste incineration (CISWI) units.

The EPA is looking for public comment on five issues the agency has agreed to reconsider for area boilers:

• definitions of startup and shutdown periods;
• alternative particulate matter (PM) standard for new oil-fired boilers that combust low-sulfur oil;
• establishment of a subcategory and separate requirements for limited-use boilers;
• establishment of a provision that eliminates further performance testing for PM for certain boilers based on their initial compliance test; and
• establishment of a provision that eliminates further fuel sampling for mercury for certain coal-fired boilers based on their initial compliance demonstration.
   

The EPA is seeking public comment on three issues the agency has agreed to reconsider regarding major boilers:

• definitions of startup and shutdown periods and the work practices that apply during such periods;
• revised carbon monoxide (CO) emission limits based on a minimum CO level of 130 parts per million; and
• use of PM continuous parameter monitoring system (CPMS), including the consequences of exceeding the operating parameter.
   

The EPA says it also has proposed several technical corrections related to inaccuracies and oversights that were promulgated in the final rule. The agency is soliciting comment only on whether the proposed changes provide the intended accuracy, clarity and consistency.

The proposed changes to the rule applying to major boilers and process heaters can be viewed at www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/docs/20141201majorboilerfr.pdf, while the proposed amendments to the rule affecting area boilers and process heaters can be viewed at www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/docs/20141201areaboilerfr.pdf.

 

// Company news

Bayshore Recycling receives outstanding corporate citizen award

Bayshore Recycling, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, received the 2014 Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award from the New Jersey League of Municipalities (NJLM) Educational Foundation and Sustainable Jersey, at two separate luncheon ceremonies in November 2014 in conjunction with the 99th NJLM Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Bayshore was recognized for its substantial contributions and support of these organizations. For 20 years, Bayshore has been recycling and reintroducing materials into the economic mainstream while reducing the volume of material deposited in New Jersey’s landfills, says NJLM. Energy conservation and renewable energy also are part of the company’s corporate vision of operating a 100 percent green business powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

“We are so honored to receive this prestigious award from the League, the preeminent voluntary association representing New Jersey’s 565 municipalities with distinction since 1915,” Valerie Montecalvo, Bayshore’s President says.

 

// Green building

Goodyear’s global headquarters earns LEED Gold rating

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s global headquarters building, Akron, Ohio, has earned a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). At 639,000 square feet, the company says it is among the largest LEED Gold certified buildings in Ohio.

The LEED Gold certification indicates Goodyear’s high level of investment in best-in-class building strategies and practices, says the company.

The building, which opened in May 2013, was designed to meet LEED requirements and align with the company’s shared value to care for the environment and communities.

During the certification process, the building earned LEED bonus points for creative design elements, such as embedding a triple-gas blend within the layers of glass walls to save energy, incorporating wood veneer from 100-year-old logs dredged from the Ohio River and recycling 95 percent of the construction waste generated.

Almost 90 percent of the wood in the building is from sustainable sources, and the two types of roof systems—white and vegetated—reduce heat gain. The building’s low-flow plumbing fixtures allow for a water-use reduction of 42 percent, and more than 53 percent of the site area—331,000 square feet—was restored with native or adaptive species plantings that require little watering or maintenance. Employee amenities include fitness facilities, bicycle storage and showers/changing rooms.

The building upholds Goodyear’s zero-waste-to-landfill initiative, meeting the same requirement of all global Goodyear manufacturing facilities to send no manufacturing waste to landfills.

The building was designed by Cleveland-based Vocon Inc. and the global architecture firm Gensler.