The versatility and beauty of concrete was highlighted in the recent 2007 Decorative Concrete Awards sponsored by Cemstone, a leading supplier of ready-mixed, engineered, and decorative concrete headquartered in Minnesota.

Grand prize for the residential interior category was awarded to Foley Construction of Le Sueur, Minn. Its project featured kitchen countertops made with recycled crushed glass.

“The hip and stylish countertops are well executed," said the judges. "Nice material re-use of the crushed glass to provide interesting color patterns.”

According to Foley Construction the kitchen is scheduled to be featured on "Kitchen Renovations," on television’s DIY network in 2008.

The 2007 Decorative Concrete Awards recognizes excellence in the design and use of decorative concrete in residential and commercial construction. The winners were selected from nearly 70 contractor entries that featured Cemstone-supplied colored, stamped, and stained concrete.
More information at www.cemstone.com

Apparent Use Reports Map Markets, Trends

PCA and F.W. Dodge have released the 2006 reports on Apparent Use of Portland Cement. They provide detailed information and analyses of cement consumption by market segment at the state, county, and metro-area levels.

Apparent use data are available in a series of reports:

• 2006 Apparent Use of Portland Cement by County and Market Group tracks consumption on a state by county basis for each of the 12 major construction market groupings.
• 2006 Apparent Use of Portland Cement by State and Market Group estimates consumption in 49 construction classifications for 56 state and partial-state geographic areas. This state and market information is also available for individual states (free to PCA members).
• 2006 Apparent Use of Portland Cement by Top-50 Metro Areas and Market Group tracks consumption for the top-50 metropolitan statistical areas by 49 construction market classifications. Available on an individual metro basis for larger metro areas within the top-50.

More information and sample reports
Contact Ninab Maradkel

Lehigh Cement Co. Moves Corporate
Headquarters to Dallas

During the first half of 2008, Lehigh Cement Company will move its corporate headquarters to Dallas, Texas.  The relocation is part of a comprehensive plan to integrate Lehigh Cement with the operations of Hanson plc, a leading aggregates, ready mixed concrete, and building products company, acquired this past summer by Lehigh’s parent, Heidelberg Cement. 

Only the headquarters departments are affected by this relocation.  Several key functions will remain at the Allentown office, including the headquarters for Lehigh’s technical center for cement production, the accounting shared service center for all cement locations throughout North America, the SAP competence center, the regional offices for the Lehigh North Division and the North American headquarters for Lehigh White Cement Company.  The employees at the Lehigh Cement Company cement plant in Evansville, PA, are unaffected.

Currently, 211 employees work in Allentown, in the Lehigh North regional office, Lehigh White Cement Company headquarters, and corporate headquarters.  Up to 100 employees, all working in corporate functions, are potentially affected by the relocation decision.  Some of these employees will transfer to Dallas and the company is encouraging others to apply for jobs that open up in Dallas.

St. Mary’s Bowmanville Plant Recognized by Canadian Government

St. Marys Cement in Bowmanville, Ontario, was recently honored with a Canadian Industry Programs for Energy Conservation (CIPEC) Leadership Award by the Canadian government for its leading participation in energy efficiency.

St. Marys employees formed the Energy Management Conservation Committee in May 2006. Known as E=MC2, the group has developed a total of 45 initiatives and energy-efficiency projects, which have delivered $433,000 in annual savings. As procedures are developed, they will be integrated into the plant's ISO 9001/14001 system to help drive continuous improvement.

The E=MC2 model is being considered for deployment across the company's North American operations.

The CIPEC Leadership Awards celebrate the achievements of Canada's industrial companies and raise awareness that energy efficiency is good for business and good for the environment. These awards are part of a family of ecoENERGY Efficiency Awards supported by Canada's Government to celebrate best practices in innovation in energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy.

ICFs Help Build Dream Home

Insulating concrete forms enabled the producers of Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition to build a family an energy-efficient dream home in Athens, Vt. 

Featured December 9 on the ABC television program, the 2,900 square-foot house will be a welcome change for the Vitale family, which includes parents Lou and Sara Vitale and their two children, Kane and Louie Jr.  They had been living in a small hunting cabin that was shifting off its foundation.  Louie Jr. was born with several birth defects and the family needed a new home without the physical barriers of their current home.

During the segment, Ty Pennington, the show host, made specific mention of the ICF system being durable and providing a high insulation value. Additional information of ICFs is listed in the Green Element section of the Extreme Makeover’s Web site.

Forms for the project were provided by BuildBlock. The general contractor donating the project was The McKernon Group. 
More information at www.abc.com

PCA Conducts Disaster Mitigation Course for
New Orleans Builders

The Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans sponsored a course on Disaster Mitigation for Residential Construction at their headquarters in Metairie, La., last week.  Donn Thompson, PCA’s residential technology manager conducted the program, educating forty-one local home builders on the benefits of constructing more disaster resistant homes.  Special emphasis was placed on the use of concrete residential technologies to better resist hurricanes and floods.      

Attendees reported that strict code requirements have been established by various local parish building departments as reconstruction continues following Hurricane Katrina. 

The mitigation course was developed by PCA jointly with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Association of Home Builders Home Builders Institute as part of the Residential Construction Superintendent Concrete Specialization series.  Each class is designed to educate residential contractors and superintendents on core fundamentals of residential concrete construction.
Contact Donn Thompson