Aggregate Industries US Recognized for Occupational Safety Standards

Aggregate Industries US (AIUS), a member of the Holcim Group, announced today that two of its Midwest Region facilities have been recognized by the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association (WRMCA) for achieving the highest occupational safety standards. Bassett RMX Plant and Algonquin RMX Plant were honored at the WRMCA annual convention on March 7 and 8 in Milwaukee.

The WRMCA Occupational Safety Awards recognize those facilities that have the lowest incident and severity rates in their class. Bassett RMX Plant was awarded as a Category I facility and Algonquin RMX Plant was awarded as a Category III facility. Both AIUS plants had a zero incident rate.

The WRMCA is a local trade association that represents the producers of ready-mixed concrete in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The association advances industry interests through legislative action, promotion, and education. The WRMCA creates industry-wide benchmarks for the betterment of quality and safety in the concrete community.

12K LEED-Certified Green Build Projects on Record

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that the 12,000th commercial project has earned LEED certification. Since its launch in 2000, the LEED green building program has been transforming the way built environments are designed, constructed, operated and maintained.

"Twelve years after the first 12 projects earned LEED certification, the green building community has reached a significant milestone," says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. "The momentum for green buildings is rippling around the globe, enhancing the built environment for generations to come."

The 12,000th project is the LEED Gold Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Paid for by the Recovery Act and rebuilt after the original facility was destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008, the facility will house new wildlife exhibits, an environmental education center, and National Parks employees.

The wildlife refuge joins a community of more than 137,000 LEED registered and certified projects, homes, communities and neighborhoods around the world.

"This milestone is made even more relevant as it is happening as the final comments are being collected on LEED 2012, the next iteration of continuous improvement of the LEED program," Fedrizzi says. "With these next changes, LEED will continue in its role as a catalyst for transformation of the built environment to ever higher standards of sustainable practice. Even in these challenging times, it's clear that green building is a movement whose time is now."

Laticrete Supercap Celebrates One Year

On July 1, 2011, LATICRETE International Inc., had announced a joint venture partnership with Supercap to form LATICRETE SUPERCAP LLC. One year later, the company is going strong.

"These two companies getting together made a lot of sense," says Brad Fulkerson, managing director of LATICRETE SUPERCAP. "Both firms had years of experience within the commercial construction sector. In particular, extensive knowledge relative to the importance of having a perfectly flat, deflection-free concrete slab prior to the installation of finished floor covering. We knew there would be something special when offering the benefits of the state-of-the-art SUPERCAP process, now being backed with the well-respected and successful long-term track record which LATICRETE has earned worldwide."

Currently, Fulkerson's sales team of John Sacco, Michael Schilling and Harold Fleming, each coming from the former company prior to the joint venture with LATICRETE, focuses upon a specialized construction genre that includes architects, engineers, concrete contractors, general contractors aents of the construction community on the attributes associated with the cutting-edge process they are offering. Add to that mix LATICRETE's corporate marketing manager, Maria Oliveira, is playing a major role as well.

"The LATICRETE SUPERCAP team knows the importance of educating the marketplace on what has proven to be a faster, safer and greener way to finish concrete slabs," Sacco says.

MVMA Third-Annual Design Awards Winners

Thirty-six projects in nine categories were announced as winners in the third-annual Masonry Veneer Manufacturers Association (MVMA) Design Awards Contest at the annual MVMA Winter Meeting. The event was held in February during the International Builders Show in Orlando. The winners were chosen by five judges from the American Institute of Building Design. The MVMA Design Awards were created to recognize the work of industry professionals who are setting trends by featuring adhered concrete masonry veneer in their projects.

SUBHEAD: 2012 MVMA Design Awards Winners

Best in Show: Platinum – Van Winkle Residence, Paradise Valley, Ariz., Coronado Stone Products

New Construction – Residential – Interior: Platinum – Randy Cups, Celebrity Homes, Sunset Stone

New Construction – Residential – Exterior: Platinum – Derrick Johnson, Van Winkle Residence, Coronado

New Construction – Nonresidential – Interior: Platinum – Randy Cups, Sundial House, Sunset Stone

New Construction – Nonresidential – Exterior: Platinum - Derrick Johnson, Greek Orthodox Church, Coronado

Remodel – Residential – Interior: Platinum – Jim Doane, White Residence, Boral

Remodel – Residential – Exterior: Platinum – Vic Breedlove, Home, Boral

Remodel – Nonresidential – Interior: Platinum – Cathy Burris, Hershey Medical Center Café, Quality Stone Veneer

Remodel – Nonresidential – Exterior: Platinum – Cathy Burris, The Backdoor Café, Quality Stone Veneer

Hardscape: Platinum – Lake Road Project, Boral

Best in Show: Platinum Award – Derrick Johnson, Van Winkle Residence, Paradise Valley, Ariz., Coronado Stone Products

Staff Innovation Award: Tom Calaccino, Clovis Tower, Veneerstone

Ash Grove Cement Plant Wins Top Maintenance Award

The Ash Grove Cement Co.’s Durkee, Ore., plant won top honors in the company’s annual Maintenance Excellence Program (MEP) competition for 2011. The Durkee plant also received the 2011 Ash Grove Energy Management (AGem) award.

Since 2008, eight Ash Grove cement manufacturing plants and two grinding facilities have competed to earn the award. Each facility is evaluated on several Key Performance Indicators in conjunction with MEP posting requirements, and the actual maintenance cost per equivalent ton of cement. The MEP key performance indicators show both financial and functional performance as to how well plants are mastering the MEP concept and improving their overall maintenance performance.

The Durkee plant employs 109 people and began operations in 1979. The plant expanded in 1998 and is certified as ISO 14001 compliant, which is an international standard for excellence in environmental management. The Durkee plant has earned awards, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Award in 2010, the Pacific Northwest Chapter of Air and Waste Management Environmental Achievement Award in 2010, and several safety awards from the Portland Cement Association as well as Ash Grove’s President’s Safety awards.