Industry News

Association News

NAPA roadmap details how to decarbonize asphalt pavements

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) provides a comprehensive road map for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with asphalt pavements in a follow-up to its 2022 report, “GHG Emissions Inventory for Asphalt Mix Production in the United States.”

In publishing the new report, “The Carbon Footprint of Asphalt Pavements: A Reference Document for Decarbonization,” NAPA is taking proactive steps to provide a road map for the industry and agencies to leverage federal funding available through the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and other federal programs to reduce GHG emissions.

To achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 (as articulated in the industry’s The Road Forward initiative), one objective of the report is to identify technologies and practices that can be adopted readily or expanded to reduce GHG emissions associated with asphalt pavements.

For example, the average use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) nationally remains around 22 percent, according to data published annually by NAPA and the Federal Highway Administration. Yet scenarios show that a mix with 50 percent RAP can reduce cradle-to-gate (A1-A3) emissions by 29 percent compared with a mix without any RAP, NAPA says.

The report focuses on specific actions individual companies and agencies can take to reduce GHG emissions. The intended audience includes pavement engineers, asphalt mix producers, paving contractors, policymakers and other stakeholders with an interest in reducing embodied carbon emissions associated with asphalt pavements.

The report’s authors—Director of Sustainable Pavements Joseph Shacat; Vice President of Engineering, Research & Technology Richard Willis; and WAP Sustainability Director of Life Cycle Assessment Technology Ben Ciavola—emphasize the importance of collaboration between industry, agencies and academia to advance these strategies. They also highlight the need for further research to better quantify and reduce emissions associated with asphalt pavements.

Construction

Construction tracker finds slowdown indicators

Dodge Construction Network, Massachusetts, reports the Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) points to a looming lack of new projects in the United States, while its statistics for February indicate an 8 percent drop in new construction activity.

In late March, Dodge released construction activity figures for February that indicate total construction starts in the U.S. fell 8 percent compared with the prior month, with nonresidential building starts plunging by 16 percent.

Even in the government-supported infrastructure-related nonbuilding sector, Dodge says project starts fell by 3 percent month-on-month in February, while residential project starts fell by 2 percent.

“Construction activity was hit hard by higher rates and more restrictive credit standards,” says Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Construction Network.

“Starts struggled over the past several months as the lagged effect of higher rates impacted projects moving forward through the planning process. Additionally, the significant deficit of skilled labor led to further delays—especially in the manufacturing sector.”

In the infrastructure or non-building category, Dodge says highway and bridge starts fell by 17 percent in February compared with January. However, utility and natural gas projects started increased by 13 percent and “miscellaneous nonbuilding starts” rose by 48 percent.

Nonresidential starts fell by 16 percent in February partly because of what Dodge calls a large decline in transportation and education building starts. Manufacturing facility starts also fell by 28 percent.

Sustainability

US Green Building Council releases LEED v5 for comment

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Washington-based global developer of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building program, has opened the first public comment period for its draft rating system, LEED v5.

USGBC says the newest version of LEED provides a comprehensive framework for creating sustainable, efficient and resilient built environments that promote environmental responsibility, economic viability and social equity.

Centered around three impact areas, all credits and pre-requisites in LEED v5 drive improvement toward decarbonization, quality of life and ecological conservation and restoration:

• Decarbonization – LEED v5 focuses on reductions of all significant sources of emissions, operational, embodied, refrigerants and transportation.
• Quality of life – LEED v5 uses human-centric strategies to improve health and well-being, resilience and equity and inclusion for building occupants and their communities.
• Ecological conservation and restoration – LEED v5 emphasizes strategies and actions that can be implemented at the individual asset level to limit environmental degradation and contribute toward the restoration of ecosystems.

LEED v5 also emphasizes impact, alignment and inter-connectedness to support initial and ongoing sustainability efforts throughout a building’s life cycle.

Highlights include operations and maintenance guidelines that put existing buildings on a path to decarbonization and tie platinum-level certification to near-zero carbon operating emissions; building design and construction guidelines that provide a framework for new buildings to reach near-zero carbon emissions operationally by 2050 on a decarbonized grid; equipping project teams with key information to guide goal setting and project delivery; and a LEED Impact Report to help users measure, manage and communicate their project’s performance and allow them to make improvements over time.

Mergers & Acquisitions

GFL continues Southeast expansion with Florida acquisition

GFL Environmental, based in Vaughan, Ontario, has acquired Angelo’s Recycled Materials, a construction and demolition recycling and disposal company in Lutz, Florida. The news was announced on LinkedIn by an operations manager with GFL.

The acquisition adds capacity for GFL as the company expands in the Southeast. As previously reported by Waste Today, GFL acquired Capital Waste Services, a South Carolina waste services firm, in November 2023.

During a third-quarter earnings call last year, GFL CEO Patrick Dovigi described the company’s footprint in the Southeast as “already dense.”

Angelo’s assets add seven facilities to GFL’s portfolio, including a Class III landfill, several material recovery facilities and concrete processing facilities. The company also offers asbestos disposal, wood recycling and tire disposal.

The recycling and disposal business stems from a Michigan-based concrete recycling operation started in the 1950s by Angelo Iafrate Sr. According to the Angelo’s Recycled Materials website, the family launched its recycling leg in 1997 to “focus on green-industry markets and serve the growing demand for recycled materials.”

In a LinkedIn post, former Angelo’s partner Dominic Iafrate says the family decided to sell the business “to focus on other endeavors.”

He adds that GFL is the “perfect organization to carry on the cultural beliefs that have guided Angelo’s from its early days as a small, family-run business … [to] a highly professional and organized business.”