Canadian industry average environmental product declaration for ready-mix concrete
DOWNLOAD Environmental Product Declaration document
IMPORTANT
The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute has updated the Canadian industry average environmental product declaration for ready-mix concrete. Environmental product declarations, or EPDs, have quickly become the industry standard for communicating the environmental performance of construction products, and concrete particular.
The Canadian federal government and Cement Association of Canada recently issued a joint plan to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete products through low carbon concrete procurement. EPDs are the cornerstone to the Greening Government Strategy and are anticipated to become a requirement for procurement of concrete by the federal government and provincial and local jurisdictions that follow their lead.
Participating in the industry average EPD has the additional benefit that participants in the study are automatically on-boarded onto Athena’s concrete EPD platform. This means that at the conclusion of the study that participating companies are set up to start producing their own company-specific EPD's if they choose to subscribe to Athena’s EPD on-demand service. Company specific EPD's for specific mixes are increasingly being specified into development specifications and this trend is expected to continue with the current push by the federal government and others.
Concrete Finishers (Apprenticeship Trade)
Concrete finishers place, finish and protect concrete surfaces. They work on a variety of vertical and horizontal surfaces and structures such as concrete floors, walls, sidewalks, stairs, driveways, curbs and gutters, dams, bridges, and tunnels. They also texture, chip, grind and cure finished concrete work and are responsible for the repair and restoration of damaged concrete.
Concrete Atlantic has been working with Apprenticeship NS to developing training pathways. If there is any interest in being a Concrete Finsher Journeyperson, contact Concrete Atlantic for more information.
This course teaches dispatchers, schedulers and their managers how to take orders, schedule and deliver concrete that meets all the requirements as agreed to with customers. The course hones in on a dispatcher’s job skills.
Course Content
· taking orders
· dealing with priority customers
· using advance notices to ease scheduling and delivery
· callbacks
· clean ups
· add on orders
· will calls
· small load charges
· excessive unloading times
· scheduling math
· plant vs. central dispatch
· managing the dispatch office and personnel
· rapid problem solving skills, including value selling
· expert phone listening skills
· maintaining a proper attitude under stress
To register, call the Taylor at 902 443-4456 ext 1 and get the access code, then use that access code when you register.
Building with ICF
Choosing to build with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) for your next project provides you with one of the most advanced building envelope products available in the construction industry. ICF’s can be used for a variety of building types, residential homes, commercial buildings, schools, hospitals and multi-story buildings.
Insulated Concrete Forms provide a fast, easy, cost-effective and energy efficient solution for residential and commercial structures. ICFs combine 6 building steps into one easy building solution: Form system, air barrier, wall structure, vapor barrier, Insulation, Interior/exterior finish anchorage which replace wood studs. Compare that to wood where a multi-step construction process is needed, requiring multiple trades. ICF’s are a cost-effective alternative.
The building process starts by placing forms on a footing and stacking the wall to the desired wall height. During assembly of the wall, installers will place rebar throughout, providing occupants when finished with a steel reinforced concrete wall. The CICFI recommends that all installations be completed by a trained ICF installer (link to “finding the right installer”). ICF structures can have a variety of window types and sizes to ensure the desired look is met. Window and door openings are easily formed with either wood or specific ICF friendly buck products that are available. Once the wall reaches the desired wall height and has been reinforced, the forms are then filled with concrete.
ICF construction provides versatility when looking for finish options. ICF’s can easily accept a variety of finish options; brick, stucco, stone or alternative products meet any design requirement. On the interior, electrical and plumbing are easily installed. For further details on electrical and plumbing requirements, the CICFI recommends that you visit one of our member companies for further details.
